By Joseph T. O’Connor Big Sky Weekly Editor
BIG SKY – In early September, a Big Sky health and wellness spa welcomed to the scene a new acupuncturist, one who plans to stick around.
Christina Clark, a native of Bozeman, started at OZssage Therapeutic Massage and Day Spa on Sept. 10, bringing with her an extensive knowledge of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. She is eager to treat patients in Big Sky alongside OZssage owner Jacquie Rager.
“Jacquie has such a good reputation and the spa is beautiful,” Clark said of the wellness center located at 32 Market Place in the Meadow Village.
Rager, in turn, feels Clark’s unique brand of treatment will bolster OZssage’s ability to be a versatile spa. “Having acupuncture takes our treatment to another level,” Rager said. “The clients who have been going to Christina are definitely very happy with her and her level of expertise.”
Clark earned a master’s degree in Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, N.M. and is licensed by the state Board of Medical Examiners. She has also maintained an acupuncture practice of her own in Bozeman for six years and previously worked at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital as a certified health professional.
“Utilizing well-established principals of East Asian medicine, [Clark] is qualified to provide quality health care for a wide range of acute, chronic, physical and emotional conditions, for the entire family,” Rager said.
Acupuncture is an ancient practice used to treat everything from migraines and muscle aches, to anxiety and depression. Consistent treatment by one acupuncturist is just as important as the treatment itself, Clark says.
“It’s a healing journey that the patient and the practitioner take together. If you’re with the same acupuncture practitioner, you really establish a relationship.”
And, she said, remaining with one acupuncturist eliminates the need to tell your story to a number of different practitioners, a weight she doesn’t plan on asking her patients to shoulder.
“I’m hoping to be around for a while.”
