Cecilia O'Connor
Features Reporter

Photo by Michelle Scott

Welcoming patients with warm colors, a warm atmosphere and warm tea, Healing Horizons Integrated Health Solutions is home to an alternative look on healthcare.

Dr. April Schulte-Barclay combines eastern with western medicine to provide optimum care.

“The whole premise behind Healing Horizons is that we work together, although there is a large variety of complementary therapists here as a team for the patient,” Schulte-Barclay said. “We also work with doctors and other professionals outside of Healing Horizons to merge care.”

Schulte-Barclay opened her acupuncture practice in 2004 and has been adding a variety of therapies ever since.

“I was a professional dancer, and I was having a lot of pain,” Schulte-Barclay said, “and I knew I wanted to help athletes, so I decided I wanted to help them in a way without drugs if possible. I wanted to find a form of medicine that is truly preventative and more holistic and more on the natural side of things. Chinese medicine fit that bill pretty well.”

Instead of treating symptoms, Chinese medicine treats the system. Using different therapies, the Healing Horizons team collaborates and chooses specific treatment plans for each patient. Treatments include combinations of acupuncture, massage, Rolf Structural Integration, meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, nutrition, and behavioral health and psychological therapies.

However, that does not mean that western medicine is put out of mind.

“Sometimes we need both drugs. It just depends,” Schulte-Barclay said. “I’m actually a very strong believer in integrating western medicine with complementing therapies.”

Western medicine still is very prominent in the modern culture. Many are weary of the effectiveness of using alternative medicine.

Just one example is a 2010 study by Chinese doctors that measured the effects of methotrexate against traditional Chinese medicine on psoriasis patients. The study was unable to confirm the efficacy of the traditional Chinese techniques.

Nicole Fuller has been a long-time believer of more natural medicines and has worked at Healing Horizons for five years. She is a strong advocate for Healing Horizon’s most popular therapy, acupuncture, because she has a personal success story.

“[Acupuncture] was able to get me pregnant, and I couldn’t in western medicine,” Fuller said. “Acupuncture is pretty amazing in my mind.”

“I think that there is definitely more open-mindedness out there regarding complementary therapies and what we have to offer. And as more and more science points to what we do as something valid, it’s great,” Schulte-Barclay said.

caoconno@mavs.coloradomesa.edu