Update: After a long sabbatical, Dave is back in the office, refreshed, with deep growth, learning, new knowledge, and new therapeutic skills to offer.
Read on below and see Dave’s updated rates at the bottom of this page!
During my sabbatical, I immersed myself in meaningful work and learning experiences to expand my ability to support you holistically. Over the past 2 and half years I have dived deep into Men’s work, Hypnotherapy, Shadow Resolution, Trauma studies, shamanism, tantra, and group facilitation.
- Men’s Work with The ManKind Project (MKP): As a trustee with the Philadelphia Area MKP, I’ve been co-leading men’s groups four times a month, helping men develop greater accountability, emotional maturity, and compassion. I also serve on the board, creating and staffing training opportunities for men in the Philadelphia area.
- Hypnotherapy Training: I completed a comprehensive program in hypnotherapy and am now offering sessions to address addictions, smoking cessation, phobias, stress, anxiety, and more.
- Shadow Work and Facilitation Training: I’ve trained in shadow work facilitation and have completed a course on Shadow Resolution in Chinese Medicine, adding powerful tools to help release old emotional patterns.
- Other Studies: I’ve also explored The Tao of Trauma, shamanism, addiction treatment, tantra, and group facilitation techniques, all of which inform my holistic approach to health and healing.
Read on below and see Dave’s updated rates at the bottom of this page!
My Story
In the 4th grade, at the age of ten, I began to meditate. Not because I came from some long line of healers, but because I had been waking up in the middle of the night in agony.
My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, was mean as a nest of hornets, and I was having nervous stomach pain. I was lucky that the ER doc told me I needed to learn to relax, instead of throwing a bunch of Ritalin or Prozac at me.
So, I began exploring ways to relax. I was practicing martial arts with my friend Jim, and had learned how to use my mind to overcome pain while fighting. I was a big science nerd, and I began to read about meditation and visualization exercises and biofeedback. Out of that, I began practicing a simple form of meditation. No gurus, no “grass hopper”, just a simple from of mental and physical relaxation.
It worked. I overcame my fears of Mrs. Wolfe, quieted my nervous stomach, and learned that the mind and the body are connected in ways we have just now begun to understand. Out of that, my interest in Chinese philosophy and ways of life were born. It also didn’t hurt that my grandfather, who had been stationed in China, had brought lots of Chinese artwork back from WWII………it was always there as a backdrop during my visits to their house. Funny how staring at a big Buddha for 18 years can make you wonder about the world!
After that early exposure to meditation and the power of the mind over the body, I began using sports as a sort of moving meditation. My favorites were basketball and volleyball because of the steady action and movement. Later, I became an avid cyclist.
My father’s mother taught me that you could eat things out of your yard, and that some plants were medicinal. My father’s father taught me about vitamins and standing on your head (he said it clears the brain and helps you live a long time….which evidently worked. Or maybe he lived a long time in spite of it My mother taught me that eating right and getting rest were the most important things to good health. My dad taught me how to hit golf balls, be nice to people, and to do the hard work in life, first.
Later in life, I worked for Greenpeace, and was surrounded by people into all kinds of alternative healing work. That exposure to new ideas, and to the problems our planet faces, changed my life. After that, I began looking for a new career…. a career that would allow me to help other people, provide solutions to problems, and be a life long learning and growth process. This is something I can do until I am very old.
After much soul searching I discovered acupuncture. I explored many therapies, including chiropractic, massage, allopathic medicine, etc., but acupuncture seemed to be to be the very best fit for how I viewed health.
Acupuncture took into consideration all of who a person is, and all the influences on their life, including; diet, exercise, parent’s health, job and relationship stresses, sleep, and on and on. It is also profoundly effective, well established (3,000 year history), and extremely safe. It turned out that my wife’s college roommate’s mother was an acupuncturist. I went to visit her and she was radiant, happy, and very wise. I knew I wanted those qualities in my life. Then I met the faculty and students at the Tai Sophia Institute in Columbia, MD, and that sealed the deal!
I studied at Tai Sophia (then it was the Traditional Acupuncture Institute) for 3.5 years, earned a Master’s degree, and started my first practice. All together with the clinical portion of my studies, I have been practicing for over 25 years and have seen over 5,000 patients.
I am deeply involved in the Mankind Project and believe strongly that men need each other as friends and brothers to hold each other to account, grow spiritually, challenge and support one another, and become the men the world needs now. I am passionate about working with men who are committed to personal transformation and I am deeply familiar with men’s issues and how to overcome the past patterning that has led men to be less powerful and compassionate than they truly want to be.
Want to know more? Then sign up for an appointment and come see me!
Updated Rates
As part of my return, I’ve updated my rates to reflect market standards. I truly value the trust and commitment you place in your healing journey with me, and I’m confident these rates reflect the value of the care and expertise I bring to each session:
- Treatments for pre-existing clients: $95 (old patients from 2023 and before
- Treatments for New Patients:
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- Initial Intake and Treatment: $175
- Follow-Up Treatments: $125
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- Hypnotherapy: These rates vary according to case. Generally, a package of three sessions plus tune-ups is $595. The fee for one off followups or simple cases is $175. Book a free consultation to explore whether hypnotherapy is right for you now.