Canyon Acupuncture

David Filipello, BS, L. Ac.

Acupuncturist, physician of Oriental Medicine, researcher of herbs and alternative medicine and therapies, amateur mycologist, amateur ethnobotanist.

Objective: I stand for people living lives they fearlessly love and to be a part of that awakening.

I have been practicing Traditional Oriental Medicine for 30+ years. I am currently in private practice in Dunsmuir, California. Where heaven meets earth under the watchful eye of Mount Shasta’s peak along where the mighty Upper Sacramento River flows. This successful practice was established 5 years ago. It operates under the name of Canyon Acupuncture. It is currently located at 6109 Rose Ave. in Dunsmuir and the telephone number is 530-235-4054.

I became interested in Traditional Oriental Medicine in 1975 during which time I was actively studying Western Medicine as a vocation. During my premedical training I was witness to a loved one undergoing acupuncture and herbal therapy for a possible life-threatening ailment. The western treatments for the ailment were of great risk and offered little or no hope of survival. I believe I was as frustrated as my friend in that our medicine, here in the West, had its limitations. Anyway, the therapy of herbs and acupuncture took place over a two week period and the process and cure was, in my mind,  short of miraculous. My loved one had a total recovery. My “Western” mind just could not comprehend how this “cure” had taken place. I made a decision then that altered my life. With my interest peaked, I threw myself head long into the study of Oriental Medicine and alternative therapies.

At the time there were no schools offering the curriculum and to go to China was unfeasible. So, I apprenticed, at different occasions, with two acupuncturists in San Francisco. I studied with these practitioners for a total of 2 years where I observed the art of acupuncture and herb use. Now, with some knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), I went to China for the first of two, 60 day intensives of TCM. There I studied the use of TCM in a biomedical setting  offered by leading hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai. The experiences were thrilling, educational and  useful. I was witness to seeing the use of acupuncture as anesthesia during several surgeries including but not limited to open heart surgery and the excising  of a brain tumor. It was nothing short of amazing.

Upon returning I furthered my apprenticeship with a Korean acupuncturist and herbal expert in Monterey, California and an English practitioner in Esalen, California. I might note that this English practitioner trained at the Worsley School in England. The Worsley method introduced me to how Oriental Medicine is being taught to Westerners using a method of TCM known as “Five Element” Acupuncture. These enriching and empowering apprenticeships lasted for 2 years.

By this time, the first Californian acupuncture colleges were beginning to accept students and train Westerners in TCM. I attended the San Francisco College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The studies were vigorous. The program was a three year curriculum intensified into 2 years with classes 6 days a week and 14 hours a day. I was to become one of the first graduates of this school. After completion with honors and passing the California certification exams, I entered into a private practice in Santa Rosa, California.

A year after  starting this practice I also became the assistant to a teacher and colleague in the Livermore-Danville area of California. I soon was managing his two practices, as well as my own in Santa Rosa, where I learned the intricacies of office management. I also learned much about the use of TCM with cancer patients and victims of paralysis. These were two of this teacher’s specialities. I worked with him and managed my own practice for a number of years.

After fulfilling my contract with him, I helped with another colleague’s venture in San Francisco. I became the manager and  Assistant Clinical Director for the Quan Yin Healing Arts Center in San Francisco. Here I was able to learn about managing a large and busy clinic. I was responsible for the running of a 400+ patient per week clinic, as well as, managing 15 other practitioners. This clinic was a general practice clinic but we soon became interested in the use of TCM in treating HIV. During our research we found TCM to be very useful for the treatment of HIV and AIDS related problems and opportunistic infections. We developed protocols and procedures that have proved to be successful in helping to manage this debilitating ailment.  To this day I see a high percentage of HIV clients at my private practice and use the protocols we developed at the Quan Yin clinic. Also at the Quan Yin Clinic we researched and developed protocols for the use of TCM for Chronic Hepatitis, Menstrual disorders, menopause and chronic pain.

From 1988 – 2005 I owned and operated 3 different TCM clinics in San Francisco. I continue to stay in professional contact with the Quan Yin Clinic. I have also volunteered my services and expertise with a few Native American clinics in the Bay Area for drug and alcohol detoxification treatments as well general well being.

Besides managing a private practice, I have written articles for several trade magazines. I have lectured and presented slide shows at organizations for lay people and professionals alike. The topics of these lectures have included basic knowledge of TCM and its principles, TCM and HIV, how to integrate Western medicine and TCM, and a self help series. I strongly feel that the medicine of the future is an integration of Alternative and Allopathic (Western medicine as we know it) modalities. My calling as a healer influences my possibility as an educator. Like the Great Tao, neither  Alternative nor Allopathic medicine is better – they are only parts of the whole. Together they offer a complete and holistic healing by complementing the human body’s power to heal itself.

Professional affiliations:

AAOM -  American Association of Oriental Medicine – member at large

CAA – California Acupuncture Association – past board member, currently member at large

Assistant to the board of the Acupuncture Committee of California – ethics committee and exam preparer

San Francisco Mycological Society- member

Herb Research Foundation – member

Higher Education

Paideia University

Hawthorn University – BS in health and nutrition 1980

San Francisco College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine – 1982

Numerous seminars and lectures of continuing education regarding alternative medicine and TCM from 1982 to present.