Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Kade Stotler DACM, MSOM, L.Ac (They, Them). They and their team shared their story with us below:
Golden Oak Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine opened its doors in Dogtown, St. Louis in the fall of 2022. When Dr. Kade Stotler DACM, MSOM, L.Ac (They, Them) moved back home to St. Louis after their BFA and 10 years of professional modern dance career in the PNW and an additional 6 years of Masters and Doctoral degrees of study in Acupuncture Medicine in CO and CA, they wanted to bring back to St. Louis with them the concept of a family health care clinic where diversity and personalization are both prioritized. Fully licensed as an in-home practice, Golden Oak Acupuncture brings the professionalism of an integrative Acupuncture Medicine practice into the privacy of a personal treatment center located within the comforts of a single home office. We are a patient led practice and at each treatment, patients are given numerous resources, exercises, and even take home treatments in order to make healthcare a daily event-not just a weekly visit to an office. At the office, we provide all 5 branches of Acupuncture Medicine with its numerous adjuncts such as moxibustion, guasha, plum blossom, electro-stimulation, myofascial cupping, tuna/shiatsu, nutritional support, qigong instructional exercises, and individual patient customized Chinese Granular Herbal Formulas. We serve all ages and stages of life from pediatrics with our needle-free Japanese Sho-ni-shin technique treatments to adulthood including end of life care and hospice treatments. Queer owned and run, Golden Oak Acupuncture brings integrative healthcare away from the politics of institutions and back into the hands of patients. We prioritize the individual in our treatments and go the extra step to maintain current DEI training in order to provide each patient with the level of expertise they need in order to feel safe and thorough in their wellness care. Here at Golden Oak Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine, we’re proud to help our St. Louis community Root, Revive, & Thrive!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The transition back to St. Louis was really initiated by the COVID pandemic. It was such an unprecedented time where health became the number one focus of the world and the gaps in Western Medicine’s ability to reach all populations and serve all patients needs were really highlighted. During this time, I was at a transition place in my personal as well as professional life where I realized the importance of being around extended family as well as recognized the importance of the resources I had to offer my community with my Doctorate degree in Acupuncture Medicine. It began to occur to me that as a queer non-binary identified practitioner with a doctoral degree level of education in healthcare who was approaching their 40s, it was no longer my place to be looking for a mentor or remain cozy surrounded by a community of support. Whether or not I had realized it or was ready for it, I had transitioned into a role of being an educator, trailblazer, and a person who could effect change in my community. And I had really prime Acupuncture Medicine resources for immunity support, and healthcare supportive treatment skills to offer during a time where there seemed little other answers-at least for many marginalized communities.
Moving back to St. Louis after being in such LGBTQIA supportive communities like the PNW and CO offered me for 20 years was a bit abrupt of a shift for me. I have since found that there are LGBTQIA community support resources in STL. And we still have quite a ways to go in terms of supporting gender nuanced diversity in this city- especially with regards to healthcare. There is a wonderful STL Queer Health Exchange that just began its roots this past year for local queer health practitioners in which to network that I have been honored to be a part of and I have hopes to get some LGBTQIA DEI classes offered to the Acupuncture Association of MO in order to promote better Queer, Non-Binary, and Transgender health care offerings for St. Louisans.
I would say the lack of immediately accessible community or gender diverse and anti-racist healthcare resources provided the fuel for the way Golden Oak Acupuncture has grown and developed. We are still in our formative stages of establishing a community garden and food forest accessible by the sidewalk entrance to the office and we are beginning the construction of our learning library and health & wellness idea board also to be located on the front yard of the in-home office. While we have outgrown our budding acorn stage, we are fully welcoming our sapling growth and looking forward to establishing a full rooted Golden Oak presence in the next few decades. Golden Oak Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine is here to help all people to Root, Revive, & Thrive!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I always like to do a little good PR for Acupuncture Medicine. It often gets mistaken for being “woo-woo”, only spiritual, or overall esoteric. Which is both a bit of a communication problem on our end as well as a challenge of respectful cultural translation and lack of validation for other non-Western models of scientific research.
However, it’s important to be clear that Acupuncture Medicine (please refer to it as this. The outdated “Orien*** Medicine” term is a racist terminology that is being phased out for “Acupuncture Medicine”) is a scientific system of practicing medicine. It is a comprehensive ancient system of medicine with plenty of current research and modern health applications. We treat the body with tiny hairlike needles in both a local and distal format. Locally, we trigger the nociceptors (“ouch”) & proprioceptors (“here”) in the skin layers to send a feedback loop to the brain. The brain then automatically releases a cascade effect of blood flow (with blood comes nutrients), & enkephalins and endorphins to the needle site. This produces a physiological effect that assists the body to begin tissue repair-which helps with inflammation, pain, muscle tension, etc.
How acupuncture then differs from other trigger point therapies is that we then go further to treat the distal aspects of the channel above and below where these injuries are located (like siphoning out a drain or a pipe to ensure it does not clog again). And finally, Acupuncture Medicine will add a few additional distal points that treat the constitution of the person helping restore the underlying condition of what initially led to the injury or the illness in the first place. Treating the trigger points without the distal points is missing 2/3 of the impact of Acupuncture Medicine. This combination of balancing the body & triggering the release of the body’s natural neurochemicals to aid in nervous system regulation & vagus nerve stimulation is how Acupuncture goes beyond treating pain and muscle tension and actually effects the organ, emotional, & limbic system functioning of the body to treat a plethora of symptoms and conditions.
Interesting fact: The auricular acupuncture treatment called the NADA protocol which stimulates the vagus nerve to prompt the parasympathetic nervous system to assist the body in down regulating from “fight/flight” into “rest/digest” was first utilized systemically in the US by the Black Panthers and Young Lords in the 1970s at the Lincoln Detox hospital. Currently this protocol is one utilized by the US Military and at Veteran Hospitals across the US as well as for first responders and at other international relief agencies to assist with PTSD, addiction, and trauma response treatments.
Acupuncture Medicine truly is a scientific-based and research-supported medicine with community and cultural affirming applications that focuses on individually personalized treatments while recognizing the importance of the interconnectedness of community health.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Here at Golden Oak, we’ve got your back (& whole body too!) to help you make wellness a priority. We offer acupuncture, herbal medicine, body work, dietary & lifestyle advice, & body/mind calming movement techniques from an Acupuncture Medicine lens with thousands of years of history paired alongside modern medical research. We are a family practice. We treat infants trough elderly patients of all ages, stages, abilities, and identities.
- Feel free to schedule a free 15 minute phone or in-person consultation with Dr. Kade to discuss how acupuncture can be of benefit to your health!
- We offer 60 minute treatments (first treatment is 90 minutes) for adults and 30 minute treatments for pediatrics (first visit is 45 minutes).
- We offer herb only consultations for 45 minutes in case someone only wants herbal and not acupuncture support, but herbal consultations are always included in your full acupuncture session.
- In order to make your treatment plan affordable, we offer discounts for multiple appointments made in a month with our “treatment Tuesdays” discount of 50% off sessions if signed up for multiple treatments a month on Tuesdays.
- And for low income residents, we offer 30 minute basic treatments at a 50% off rate.
- We are open by appointment only most Tuesdays and Fridays from 8a-6:30pm with an occasional Thursday morning availability. Our home-based practice is located at 1034 Childress Ave. Please call or sign up online to make an appointment. We do not take walk-ins at this time. (Though you are always welcome to walk by the sidewalk and see what’s growing in our community garden).
Feel free to visit our website: www.GoldenOakAcu.com to schedule an appointment with our online EHS or call us 206-218-6298 or email us GoldenOakAcupuncture@gmail.com to learn more about us and schedule an appointment today!
Pricing:
- Initial appointment (90 min) $125
- Follow-up appointments (60 min) $90
- Treatment Tuesdays Discount 50% off any treatment if there are multiple monthly bookings.
- 30-minute treatments $45
- Herb-only consultations and pediatric treatments run $65 for 45 min initially and $45 for 30 min follow-up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.GoldenOakAcu.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenOakAcu/
