Cita Oudijk

I came to Chinese Medicine through a circuitous route.  I wanted a career in which I could help people, and I’d had a long time interest in psychology; health and nutrition; and energy or qi and how it worked in the body.  I was looking for a way to blend these three interests together.

Then, I injured my knee and wound up on crutches as I was unable to straighten it.  Neither x-rays nor MRIs showed anything to be wrong.  A friend suggested I try acupuncture.  I did so, and my knee began to heal.  Not only that, my practitioner was interested in learning not only about my knee, but also about my overall health, life history, and feelings about things.  He wanted to get a fuller picture of who I was, rather than just treat my knee.  Not only did my knee improve, but I noticed that treatments gave me a feeling of relaxation and well-being.

I began to explore Chinese Medicine further and eventually graduated from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in 1998.

Today I treat a variety of people for different ailments.  Pain is a very common problem that I treat.  While I have always believed this, one of the things that has struck me in my practice is the connection between emotional stress and physical ailments.  Sometimes the problem is more acute and/or physical in nature, other times the emotional relationship is more deep-seated.  When it seems appropriate and when the client is open to working at the emotional level, I have witnessed that working with the emotional level along with the physical level can deepen the treatment quite a bit.