Sharon E. Miller, M.Ac.

After working in a conventional medical facility for about 10 or 12 months back in 2008, I became tired of hearing the pharmaceutical reps talking about their different drugs and comparing their side effects to one another. I kept thinking there must be a better way to maintain health other than pharmaceutical drugs. Not long after this, the company reduced my hours in half. I was forced to find another job, in order to care for my two children and pay for my mortgage. So I talked to the chiropractic office that I had worked for as an independent contractor for years and it happened she was looking for someone part time.

I had begun at this time looking for schools related to energy medicine, which is something I had been interested in for some time. Not finding quite what I was looking for I enrolled in an online school to learn Alternative Medicine. Within two and a half years I earned my Bachelor’s degree and found myself further intrigued with energy medicine.

During my employ with the chiropractor, I was trained in Nutritional Response Testing through our supplement company, Standard Process. I was then able to assist another employee in offering Nutritional Response Testing to our current and future patients. I found this modality extremely amazing and was further amazed each time we gave a patient information that lead them to seek further testing to confirm what we had discovered through the muscle testing. Not only were our finding confirmed but also we were able to help others by offering specific supplements to treat certain conditions. I was enamored and loved helping people through this modality. However, I was still wanting more.

In late June of 2010, the chiropractor offered all employees to join her in learning Reiki with a local practitioner in Shepherdstown. Both the chiropractor and myself learned Reiki to the master level. I was astonished at how easily it came to me and was delighted to reap the benefits of its effects. We were trained according to William Rand’s Reiki manual. “Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.” (Rand 1991) It is a wonderful form of energy medicine and was a great pivotal modality for me.

I went on to get my practitioner status in Reiki and began a practice. Unfortunately, my practice did not take off as I had hoped, which left me wanting to find something more in the energy medicine field.

In 2012 the chiropractor decided to learn acupuncture as an adjunct therapy to her practice. While she earned her certificate, she refused to actually practice as she was not well during her schooling and was not comfortable in actually practicing. However, I was thoroughly intrigued by some of the things she told me about her learnings and by some of the things I read as I was making copies for her upcoming classes. I began to see a similarity to some of the teachings I learned with my Alternative Medicine degree. Specifically, the concept of body, mind and spirit. The more I learned, the more intrigued I became, to such an extent that I began looking in to schools of acupuncture.

In January 2014 I began my journey in Acupuncture school at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Now, four years later, here I am with a Masters of Acupuncture degree. Additionally, I have earned a further designation as an Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist.

I am hoping to join a detox program here in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia where I can utilize my detox protocols to assist those whom have fallen victim to addiction(s). I have seen the perils of this dis-ease within my community and through friends and friends of friends and family. I am willing to give back to my community, in an effort to reduce this plague on our loved ones.