Celebrating the Difficult

Alumna Ann Cecil-Sterman, L.Ac., recently described her typical week in private practice in Manhattan to current students in the Acupuncture Program. Cecil-Sterman was unassuming and soft spoken as she nestled her one-year old son in her arms and described the challenging cases that are the heart of her work. At present, she said, she limits the number of people she sees to twelve a week. Though she has never advertised, her appointment schedule is always fully booked, and it soon became apparent why.

"The first person I saw this week was a woman who came in with a pulled shoulder," Cecil-Sterman began. "The pain in her shoulder was so bad, that she couldn't use her arm. She kept expecting the pain to go away, but after three weeks, it was as bad as ever. As a mother of three, she couldn't rest, which wasn't helping. The patient had considered going to her doctor, but felt she would only be given a cortisone injection. So she decided to try acupuncture."

Says Cecil-Sterman of the outcome, "I chose to do a Sinews Channel treatment, which addresses the energy involved in acute and tendinomuscular issues. The pain was resolved in a single session." 

Evaluating a System instead of Looking at Symptoms

Though acupuncture can be very successful in treating pain, for Cecil-Sterman it is not the focus. "In Classical Chinese Medicine you don't treat symptoms," she explained. "I love the challenge of addressing deeper needs. For instance, I also treated a woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) this week. Her symptoms had begun with numbness and tingling in her foot. However, her treatment did not involve needline her foot. The focus was on building fluids, blood and Qi (energy), in order to nourish the nerves. In order to do this I used on the Stomach Divergent Meridian. Divergents are involved in more chronic issues, especially if they begin on one side of the body." 

A Different Way of Looking at Emotional Needs

Cecil-Sterman credits her training in Classical Chinese Medicine for the ability to take a very different approach to emotions. "Symptoms related to depression are often seen as an imbalance in one of the Luo Vessels," she explained. "It can be traced to any of the Luo Vessels really, because it can manifest in many ways. A person may present as fatigued, angry, or grieving, but all of these emotions can also mask other feelings. All have an energetic basis, which can be assessed through the body. Reading the signs and symptoms is done by taking the pulses, looking at the tongue, and asking question, in order to know which points to treat. In one patient's case, the Lung Luo Vessel was empty, which was identifiable because of his symptom of daily weeping, severe enough to affect his ability to work." In his case, a three-week course of treatment had a profoundly stabilizing influence. 

"I'm happiest doing the difficult cases," Cecil-Sterman concluded, "because it is an intellectual challenge for me, and it can often help people avoid interventions that may be painful or have risky side effects." 
Cecil-Sterman's love for her work is apparent and her calm penetration into challenging issues makes her a much sought-after acupuncturist. 

For more information

Read Cecil-Sterman's explanation of the Sinew Channels at her web site www.classicalacupuncture.com.

Read an excerpt from Jeffrey C. Yuen's lecture on acupuncture for alleviating stress.

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