Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Kolter, L.Ac..
Hi Jennifer, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a mom of 4 children. As a mom it’s extremely hard on us when the littles get sick and you don’t know what to do. I did lots of digging on ways to build health. Found Traditional Chinese Medicine in my search and fell in love with the idea of knowing what herbs to use for colds and flus and so much more. I also was able to learn acupuncture, TuiNa, GuaSha, Cupping and more. I went back to school in the fall of 2011 and graduated with my Masters in 2015. I have just celebrated 10 years in my Henderson office. Why Henderson as my main clinic, first, because I lived there and when I did my research, I was right in the center of a void of natural medicine by 30 miles in every direction. The surrounding communities would now have another choice when searching for help in their health journeys. Many were happy to see a service like mine in such a small community. I have built a strong following and brand over these last 10 years.
I have had the opportunity to help two more acupuncturists get on their feet. Currently, I have taken a big step away from my Henderson office, so that our new graduate, Dr. Gretchen can continue to help us grow in Henderson, while I build a satellite office in Mankato. I started that about 3 years ago and have moved three times also.
I work with Mankato Chemical Health to provide their clients holistic services alongside counseling to help them reach a successful outcome, more easily.
I also partner with Minneapolis VA Community Care, so that veterans don’t have to travel all the way to the cities to get the care I provide, acupuncture and therapies.
My passion is helping people with their digestive health, learning about their bodies and how to sustain health and vitality. My goal is to keep building on what I have created in Henderson, a multi-discipline holistic therapy center. For health care providers who want to practice individually, but with other like-minded professionals. Where others may find exactly what they need to build their health get through the healing with more natural mind-body & soul therapies. To go within to find the answers first and find guidance that builds and sustains immune systems, better mental health and so much more.
In Henderson we have a beautiful studio for anyone to come and teach a class to the public and also where they will find a full-spectrum infrared sauna. Healers within offer massage therapy, healing touch, emotional therapy, mental health therapy, somatic therapy and of course traditional medicine that provides acupuncture, herbal & nutritional prescription, TuiNa, GuaSha, and cupping. Both Gretchen and I have furthered our studies and completed a Nutrition Certificate. I have also learned muscle testing, which I now do energetically. And finally, MicroNeedling for cosmetic and hair loss therapies.
I’m currently renting space from Mankato Acupuncture Clinic in Mankato. My hope is to find a stand-alone space to house the next multi-professional, natural medicine center, like I have cultivated in Henderson.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No. Building a business like mine in a small community took time and patience. I put everything I could back into the business and into advertising and marketing. Just when things were getting good, that’s when Covid hit and literally brought me back to almost square one. I had a lot of support and encouragement along the way. I just kept going.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being a Licensed Acupuncturist trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine gives you the space to treat each client individually. Everyone is so unique and different and has such unique and complex challenges. The medical theory we are taught gives us a broad canvas to choose specific points, herbs, or therapies to help their bodies move, shift and heal itself. It’s like a work of art or creative piece. We never have the same exact scenario walking in through our doors, they are all different. I think that is what makes our practice so unique, we have to keep thinking and learning and evolving our craft. It’s very challenging but so rewarding when you see a person come back to life and the joy come back into their face and live a fuller life.
So just like a detective, we peel back the layers of each life and uncover signs and symptoms and using our knowledge and tools we keep working until we get to the root of what may be causing a particular symptom or complexity.
Acupuncture is highly known for treating pain and that includes neck, back, feet, arms, head/headaches/migraines, any pain. We typically shine in that area. What I like to work on is digestive health and nutrition. Because that is really where it all begins. As the old cliche says, “we are what we eat”. That is true, everything from our organs to skin and beyond was fed and grew from the time we are in-utero and continues to be created, healed and repaired using the building blocks from what we eat, drink and breathe. Changing the selection of what we eat can literally change our health outcome and how we feel. And then symptoms start falling away. It’s amazing to watch it all unfold.
I take pride in helping those that don’t get great results or long-lasting effects with medications or other therapies. Some of them are Fibromyalgia, COPD, PCOS, infertility, complex cases, neuropathy, arthritis, etc.
I think what sets me apart from my fellow acupuncturists is the continued learning I have done that gives a different perspective, maybe. And me just being me.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I wish our profession wasn’t viewed as “alternative”. This medicine has been refined for thousands of years and to be discounted just because our country has decided that the mainstream medicine should be the only system, just ends up making others suffer needlessly for no reason. We shine when it comes to helping colds, flus, and viruses with herbal medicine and so many others.
The other thing that gets lost on us is the pieces of our medicine that gets used by other professions. Those pieces get distorted, not used correctly and sometimes causes harm. So, my ask as a reader, is that you seek out a fully trained, licensed acupuncturist. One that uses L.Ac. behind their name, like doctors use MD or DO. One place you can go is www.NCCAOM.org to find a licensed acupuncturist in the USA.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HendersonHealingHub.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HendersonHealingHub
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hendersonhealinghubllc3334
