Chris Helmstetter, LAc
Chris Helmstetter is nationally licensed and board certified in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He maintains state licenses in both North Carolina and California and specializes in the treatment of chronic pain.
Chris earned his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at St. Lawrence University and began work as a substance abuse counselor in New York State. He encountered acupuncture for the first time as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of addiction. He trained at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and was certified as an Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist (ADS) in 1998. After running an auricular acupuncture detoxification program in a substance abuse facility in New York, Chris moved to California to study acupuncture in depth at an accredited acupuncture college. He earned his masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at Five Branches Institute in 2003. He opened Triangle Acupuncture Clinic with Katherine Rowe in 2004. Since then Chris focused on clinical skils and practice to best reach his patient's goals in healing while being very active at the state level in Board positions on NCSAAM and Acupuncture Advocates.
In California, Chris's interest in the suffering caused by addiction transformed into the overall suffering of chronic pain (physical pain that is unresolved, addiction to substances used to treat pain, emotional pain, autoimmune pain responses and the entanglement of them all). He first trained in the tretament of sports injuies, studying Channel Theory under Frank He. Chris continuied to study sport, orthopedic, severe and chronic pain conditions under Dr. Richard Tan (The Balance Method), Dr. Wei Chih Young (Tung's acupuncture), Matt Collison (Motor Point acupuncture), and Jeffrey Yuen (Classical acupuncture). The various syles and acupuncture techniques Chris is trained in allow him to successfully treat a full spectrum of chronic pain conditions. His focus is to hear each person's story of personal suffering and apply the skills and knowledge available to work together to enter a new chapter of health and balance.