Claudia Citkovitz

(Attendees must be present both days)

This two-day intensive workshop provides a practical, clinically-focused framework for understanding stroke from both biomedical and Chinese medicine perspectives, then translating that knowledge into effective acupuncture treatments and home care guidance for patients and their families. Attendees will gain practical skills for setting and prioritizing treatment goals, including common post-stroke complications like aphasia, dysphagia, hemiparesis, mood disorders, and bowel or urinary dysfunction. Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Along with diabetes, long COVID, and environmental toxins, prevalence is rising fast. Acupuncturists can be of tremendous help to patients at all levels of recovery, but it’s not as easy as just knowing the special points. In order to meet stroke patients where they are, we need a clear integrative framework for assessing the size and scope of their challenges and understanding their life priorities. Afterwards, to help them move forward, we need a flexible Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment planning toolkit for home self/family care that incorporates acupuncture, bodywork, and lifestyle medicine with rehabilitation-specific techniques and insights. The course bridges modern neurological knowledge with classical Chinese medical theory, offering a “Rosetta Stone” that connects post-stroke clinical presentations to familiar diagnostic and treatment planning strategies in acupuncture practice. The workshop lays out a comprehensive acupuncture therapy toolbox for stroke rehabilitation, including techniques and protocols for body acupuncture, scalp acupuncture, auricular therapy, and bodywork, as well as key elements of home care, including self-acupressure and lifestyle medicine. Through diagnostic frameworks and step-by-step treatment strategies, this course equips practitioners with the knowledge and confidence to safely and effectively improve stroke patients’ quality of life.

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Kiiko Matsumoto

Stomach 9 is worth special attention, for reasons beyond the necessity of needling carefully to avoid bruising. This focused one-day seminar with world-renowned instructor Kiiko Matsumoto will explore the clinical significance and use of Stomach 9, one of the most dynamic yet under-utilized points on the stomach meridian, which plays a vital role in regulating qi, blood circulation, and disorders affecting the throat, head, and cardiovascular system. According to classical Heaven–Earth–Human theory, Stomach 9 is strategically located to influence multiple sensory domains: visceral sensations such as pain, hunger, and nausea; somatosensory functions, including touch, movement, and temperature perception; and the special senses, such as vision, smell, and balance. Needling this point effectively, as a result, can affect everything from breathing to disordered eating patterns. Since it is located at the area where the carotid artery runs, ST9 is also closely related to the carotid body, a small, oval-shaped sensory organ located at the bifurcation of the common carotid artery in the neck that is part of the chemoreceptor system, which plays a crucial role in regulating breathing and cardiovascular function. The carotid body chemoreceptor is primarily known for its oxygen-sensing mechanism, which regulates blood oxygen levels, but it also plays a role in glucose regulation. Therefore, if there is a lack of oxygen in the blood, it may affect blood glucose levels as well. Through lecture, demonstrations, and case discussions, attendees will develop a deeper understanding of when and how to use Stomach 9 effectively in clinical practice, from treating disordered eating to breathing problems and more.

Livestream NOT available for this session.

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Plenary Session:

• 9-10 am Dizziness Demystified, Clayton Shiu PhD. LAc
• 10-11 am  Recovery, Resilience, and the 8 Extras, Yvonne Farrell DAOM, LAc.
• 11 am-12 pm  The Whole Health Revolution, Tracy Gaudet, MD.
• 12:10 pm – 1:00 pm   Afternoon Qi Gong, Dan Halpain

Afternoon Workshops 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm (3 CEUs)

• Neck and Shoulder Pain B, Kiiko Matsumoto, Lic. Ac.
• Vertigo and Tinnitus: Not All Just In Your Head—But the Brain May Be the Key, Clayton Shiu PhD. LAc.
• Evolutionary Stress: How Surgery and Chronic Illness Can Bring Clarity or Derail Life, Yvonne Farrell DAOM, LAc.
• Transforming Healthcare: Practical Steps That Work, Tracy Gaudet, MD.

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Plenary Session:

• 9-10 am Herbal Alternatives to Drugs: An Overview, John Chen, PhD, OMD, LAc
• 10-11 am From Dao to Data: The Origins, Traditions, and Internal Alchemy of Taiji and Qigong, Roger Jahnke OMD
• 11 am-12 pm Acupressure is the New Acupuncture! Claudia Citkovitz, PhD, LAc
• 12:10 pm – 1:00 pm   Afternoon Qi Gong, Dan Halpain

Afternoon Workshops 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm (3 CEUs)

• Herbal Alternatives to Drugs: Analgesics and Antibiotics, John Chen, PhD, OMD, LAc.
• Decoding the 12 Tidal Hexagrams and 12 Organ Networks: Clinical Insights for Diagnosis and Treatment, Michael Bertelich, DAOM, LAc.
• Anxiety and Depression: Key Clinical Pearls, Holly Guzman OMD LAc.
• The Healing Promise of Qi: The Ten Phases of Qi Cultivation, Roger Jahnke OMD
• Women’s Health Acupressure and Patient Self-Care: From Menarche to Menopause, Claudia Citkovitz, PhD. LAc.

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Plenary Session:

• 9-10 am Decoding Jing Essence, Heiner Frühäuf PhD, LAc.
• 10-11 am Huang Di’s Acupoints: Ancient Nervous System Maps, Poney Chiang, PhD. LAc.
• 11 am-12 pm Cycles of 7 Reconsidered: Su Wen Insights/Endocrine Realities, Heidi Lovie DACM
• 12:10 pm – 1:00 pm   Afternoon Qi Gong, Dan Halpain

Afternoon Workshops 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm (3 CEUs)

• Nourishing the Waters Within: A Deep-Dive Into the Hidden Source of Chinese Medicine,Heiner Frühäuf, PhD, LAc.
• Perimenopause as Portal: Second Spring Solutions and What Emerges After the Fire, Heidi Lovie DACM
• Intentionality and De Qi Sensation: Bridging Neuro-Anatomy with Channel Pathways,Poney Chiang PhD. LAc.
• Integrative Oncology Acupuncture, Angela Lorbeck DACM, MPH, LAc
• TCM Lymphatic Drainage for Beauty Inside and Out, Shellie Goldstein /  Yueying Li

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Plenary Session:

• 9-10 am Creating Joy: Acupuncture for Contentment and Peace, David Hartmann LAc
• 10-11 am Placebo Positive, Troy Lavigne
• 11 am-12 pm Infantile Eczema: The Bathing Method, Mazin Al- Khafaji FRCHM
• 12:10 pm – 1:00 pm   Afternoon Qi Gong, Dan Halpain

Afternoon Workshops 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm (3 CEUs)

• Joy and Contentment Point Combinations for Anxiety and Depression, David Hartmann, LAc.
• Pain: The Other Four Letter Word, Troy Lavigne
• Chinese Medicine Approaches to the Treatment of Acne, Mazin Al- Khafaji FRCHM
• Menopause Group Acupuncture and Education, Lisa Taylor-Swanson

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Mazin Al-Khafaji, Monday, November 2, 2026, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm  (5.5CEUs)

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive autoimmune disorder that affects the joints, leading to pain, stiffness, and gradual structural damage and deformity. As a systemic autoimmune disease, it can also affect many other aspects of health. Like many autoimmune conditions, its incidence continues to rise, and despite advances in modern pharmacological treatment, many patients remain symptomatic or experience significant side effects from long-term use of immunosuppressive, biologic agents, and newer targeted therapies such as JAK inhibitors. While these approaches can be highly effective in suppressing inflammation, they do not restore normal immune regulation and may leave patients vulnerable to ongoing instability or relapse. In contrast, Chinese medicine offers a more integrative approach to the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Rather than focusing solely on suppressing inflammation, it seeks to regulate the underlying immune dysfunction, improve circulation within the joints, and address the deeper systemic imbalances that sustain the disease process. When applied appropriately, this approach can lead to meaningful reductions in pain and stiffness, improved joint function, and, importantly, greater long-term stability with a reduced reliance on continuous symptomatic suppression.

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David Hartmann LAc (must be present both days)

This course will explore how acupuncture point combinations can be designed and used to build self-esteem, as well as treat depression and anxiety, through lecture, analysis of acupuncture point combinations, discussion, group work, and clinical case studies. We will explore the role of the heart and pericardium. The unique characteristics of depression related to each of the six organ systems that affect and are affected by depression, and associated point combinations, will be examined, as will the key features of different presentations of anxiety related to two main organs (plus three secondary organs) that affect and are affected by anxiety.

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