Meet the Staff

Katherine “Kat” MacKenzie
Licensed Acupuncturist
Master of Science in Acupuncture
Tri-State College of Acupuncture

A little about myself: Hi, my name is Kat.  I have been practicing acupuncture since 2009.  When I was 7, my father left his job at Hewlett Packard to go to medical school. While he was there, he showed me the anatomy dissection lab, and pointed out what a human heart and liver looked like.  I thought it was so magical that I took a chicken’s heart to the next show and tell at school.

During my father’s rotations, he took me to see a baby being born. I got to go with him when he was on the night shift working in the ER. For a long time, I thought the smell of a hospital was homey because it was where my father was. When I was 23 he died of cancer.

When I thought about allopathic medical school, I didn’t feel inspired. I felt like in some ways, my father’s medicine had failed him. He died in a great deal of pain – he died in the same ER he had worked. He had worked 72 hours shifts at the ER and developed insomnia as a result. He was often in pain. His immune system kept breaking down. I remember thinking, why didn’t we know more about holistic medicine when he was fighting with cancer? It could have done so much to ease his suffering.

When I started getting acupuncture, I felt the same awe for the medicine that I felt when my father showed me that human heart and liver.  I felt wonderful, like I was full of energy, relaxed, and in my most vibrant state of health. I quickly became an acupuncture fan, and not long after, applied to be a student at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where I learned the fundamentals of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  I later transferred to Tri-State College of Acupuncture. I got to study with some of the great acupuncturists like Mark Seem and Kiiko Matsumoto and also studied in Chengdu, China.  After 5 years of graduate study from PCOM and Tri-State, I graduated from Tri-State College in NYC with a Masters degree in acupuncture and am licensed by the State of New York and certified in Clean Needle Technique.  I am also a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where I got a Bachelors in English Literature and a cognate in Philosophy.

From 2009 to 2011 I worked in NYC as an acupuncturist in rehabilitation facilities in NYC treating pain, injury, and muscular and skeletal conditions. I moved to the Glens Falls area in 2011 in order to be closer to family and to start my own practice in a small town.  I also worked in Glens Falls Hospital on T2 Cancer floor while attending nursing school before I decided to just focus on Acupuncture Nirvana.  I found the more I focused on my specialty of holistic medicine (acupuncture and herbs) the better patients did and the more the clinic has thrived.

Acupuncture: I practice acupuncture in 3 different styles: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) , Japanese Acupuncture (in the tradition of Kiiko Matsumoto), and Acupuncture Physical Medicine as taught by Mark Seem with a French meridian focus (with dry trigger point needling in the tradition of Janet Travell M.D.)  I am on the gentle side as a needler, because I prefer gentleness overall.

Herbal training: Herbal training is a part of most acupuncture programs. Mine started in 2005 at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where I studied single Chinese herbs for 3 semesters. Then it continued at Tri-State where I took 1 year of their herbal formulas education focusing on Chinese and Japanese herbology. While at Tri-State I also worked at Integral Yoga Natural Apothecary, where part of on the job training was to learn homeopathy, supplements, vitamins, and herbal formulas that would provide solutions to the problems people came in with.  I also studied with David Winston, in his 2020-2022 Two year Clinical Herbal Program.

Other Interests:  I love to cook from scratch and make my own bone broths.  I buy mostly organic food and read the back of labels carefully.  I also love to read and probably read about 3 books a week!  I’m a musician and a songwriter.  I’m often quiet and a bit of an introvert.  I am 200 hour yoga teacher certified, and practice yin and restorative yoga.  I like to take long walks and listen to music.

As a clinic owner: I strive to create an environment of harmony and happiness, with good patient care and quality treatments.  Acupuncture Nirvana is slow paced with a focus on calm and cleanliness.  I want us to be a resource to you and your family and friends, throughout your lives.  Our goal is to help you live a healthier happier life, able to do the activities you love without pain or anxiety.