Therapeutic Services
Ritual Health offers classical acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, Tibetan medicine, and seasonal therapeutic care rooted in traditional East Asian medicine in Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our clinical work draws from traditions that understand health through relationship: between body and environment, season and physiology, constitution and daily life. Treatments are individualized according to each patient’s condition, history, and stage of life.
We support patients experiencing pain, stress, fatigue, digestive disorders, hormonal and fertility concerns, autoimmune conditions, recovery after illness, and long-term constitutional imbalance.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a central therapeutic method within the practice of Chinese medicine, rooted in thousands of years of clinical observation and practice. By stimulating specific points along the body’s channel system, acupuncture regulates circulation, nervous system activity, inflammation, digestion, sleep, and the body’s capacity for healing and recovery.
Our approach is informed not only by formal doctoral training, but by decades of direct apprenticeship with master practitioners in the United States and abroad with doctors such as Z’ev Rosenberg, Bob Levine, Liu Ming, Phuntsog Wangmo, and Ashwin Shastry. This ongoing lineage-based education deeply informs our approach to diagnosis, treatment strategy, and long-term patient care.
Clinical treatments are individualized and may incorporate acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, gua sha, herbal medicine, dietary guidance, and hands-on therapies depending on the nature of the condition and the needs of the patient.
Treatment Rates:
-New Patient Intake & Treatment — $225 (60–90 min)
Includes consultation, tongue and pulse diagnosis, treatment, and herbal recommendations if appropriate.
-Follow-Up Treatment — $135 (45–60 min)
-Extended Session — $195 (90 min)
Additional time for complex or orthopedic cases and hands-on therapies.
-Re-Evaluation — $195 (60 min)
For returning patients needing a deeper reassessment or returning after an extended break in care.
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Chinese herbal medicine uses carefully composed traditional formulas to support the body through illness, recovery, and long-term constitutional care.
Our herbal practice draws heavily from the classical formula tradition of the Shang Han Lun and related jing fang lineages, emphasizing precise pattern differentiation and individualized treatment according to constitution, environment, and stage of illness.
Herbal prescriptions are organic and pesticide-free whenever possible and are prepared for our clinic primarily as liquid concentrates. Formulas may also include raw herbs, powdered Ayurvedic churnas, topical preparations, dietary recommendations, or herbs incorporated into cooking and daily life.
Herbal medicine is often used alongside acupuncture to support digestion, sleep, immunity, hormonal balance, recovery, emotional health, pain conditions, and chronic or complex illness.
Treatments (online or in-person):
-New Herbal Consultation — $225 (60–75 min)
Includes full intake, assessment, and customized herbal recommendations.
-Follow-Up Herbal Consultation — $135 (30–45 min)
-Acute / Brief Herbal Consultation — $75–95
For established patients needing shorter follow-up support or formula adjustments.
Chinese Polestar Astrology
Within East Asian traditions, astrology was historically used alongside medicine, calendrics, and seasonal observation to understand constitutional tendencies and periods of change.
Chinese Polestar Astrology (Zi Wei Dou Shu) is an imperial astrological system historically used to understand temperament, timing, destiny, relationships, health tendencies, and the unfolding fate and free will patterns of a human life.
Rather than predicting fixed outcomes, this tradition helps illuminate periods of change, challenge, growth, and opportunity — offering perspective on when to push forward, when to conserve energy, and how to move more harmoniously with the larger rhythms shaping a life.
Anne Shelton Crute studied Chinese Polestar Astrology directly with Liu Ming for 12 years and has been in practice for over a decade since then. She integrates this work with a background in classical Chinese medicine, cosmology, and seasonal practice.
Sessions may include discussion of:
-life direction and timing
-health and constitutional tendencies
-relationships and family dynamics
-career and creative cycles
-major transitions and decision-making
-annual and decadal cycles
Both full natal chart readings and shorter focused sessions are available online.
Session Rates:
-Full Natal Chart Reading — $395 (60–75 min)
-Focused Follow-Up Session — $195 (30–45 min)
-Annual Transit / Timing Session — $225 (45–60 min)
Tibetan Medicine
Tibetan medicine, known traditionally as Sowa Rigpa (“the science of healing”), is a holistic medical system that developed through centuries of exchange between Tibetan, Indian, Chinese, Persian, and Central Asian healing traditions.
This tradition understands health through the dynamic balance of elemental forces within the body, mind, and environment, with careful attention to digestion, constitution, emotional life, season, and lifestyle.
Dr. Adam Okerblom’s work in Tibetan medicine includes herbal medicine, dietary and lifestyle guidance, external therapies, and hands-on bodywork informed by more than a decade of clinical practice and study.
Treatments may include:
-Tibetan Kunye massage
-Acupressure and channel-based bodywork
-Hot oil therapy
-Cupping and moxibustion
-Herbal recommendations
-Seasonal and constitutional guidance
Tibetan medicine may be especially supportive for fatigue, stress, chronic pain, nervous system dysregulation, digestive imbalance, recovery, and conditions involving depletion or long-term imbalance.
Treatment Rates:
-New Patient Intake & Treatment — $225 (60–90 min)
-Follow-Up Treatment — $135 (45–60 min)
-Extended Bodywork Session — $195 (90 min)
-Online Consultation — $135 (45–60 min)
Courses and Community
Ritual Health offers classes, workshops, and ongoing educational programs exploring Chinese medicine, seasonal living, cosmology, meditation, astrology, and contemplative traditions rooted in East Asian practice.
These offerings are designed for both practitioners and non-practitioners seeking a deeper relationship with health, seasonality, embodiment, and the rhythms of daily life.
Current offerings include:
Yangsheng: Art of Living in Season
Chinese Polestar Astrology Classes
Seasonal workshops and lectures
Clinical mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities
Recorded educational series and online study
Many programs include live discussion, question-and-answer sessions, and ongoing community participation through online groups and seasonal study.
Selected programs and recordings are available remotely.
Contact us to join.