Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Choi.
Hi Olivia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Even as a child, I’ve always noticed when people look unwell. The bus driver taking me to school was so tired—I could see it in his face, and it made me want to help. People I passed on the street would look sick, and while I didn’t know them, I wanted to help them too. I was the kind of kid that packed a fake injection and band-aids in with my school supplies, so if anyone got hurt, I would be ready.
I grew up in South Korea, but went to study in China. The main stream of oriental medicine originated there, and I wanted to see a big land with lots of people. I’ve been to several countries since then, for jobs and medical missionary work, and what I heard about the diversity of the United States interested me. I wanted to meet all the different kinds of people here.
In 2016, I came to the US to practice, first working at other acupuncturists’ clinics, then opening my own. I’ve worked with Korean, Chinese, and American practitioners, everyone who tends to work in this field—a benefit, since I could learn from all of them. My clinic, VIVE Energy Medicine, has now been open for three years.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every step was a struggle! When I started my classes in China, I could say two sentences in Mandarin and one of them was, “Don’t talk to me.” A single page of my readings would take me an hour an a half to translate. I cried… a lot.
Crying wouldn’t help me learn medicine, though, so I formed a student group with others from Korea. With the help of some Chinese students, we translated, discussed, and studied together. I couldn’t do it alone, but I didn’t have to. Eventually, I even became the person connecting other students to the professors, helping them catch up on lessons and teaching them a little myself.
In America, it happened all over again. At first, I could only say simple things in English. Mixing up words made me so embarrassed. (Why do bag and back sound so similar?) I used to get depressed about it, but then someone told me that, actually, I was doing pretty well to speak three languages. That was kind of them. I feel a lot better about it now.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My approach to acupuncture is based in the idea that it’s best to treat the body as a whole: the muscles and bones, the nervous system, and the internal organs all working together. Western medicine focuses on treating symptoms, like cutting away a weakened branch on a tree. I want to dig deeper and find the causes, find the roots that are making branches weak, and strengthen them with good soil.
The goal of my practice is to combine the western and eastern approaches to treatment. When someone is my patient, I want to improve the symptom that made them come in, of course. But I also want to balance their whole body, so not only does their general condition improve, but the symptom doesn’t come back or reemerge as another problem. People are not systems you can separate out; our emotional, physical, and mental aspects all intertwine and affect our health. The VIVE in the name of my clinic comes from “revive”—I like the idea that the whole of a person must be tended, like bones, tendons, flesh, and breath coming together to make life.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
That interest in digging for root causes is the strength of my approach, taking care of outer systems with the knowledge that optimal treatment includes emotional and mental factors just as much as the physical. I was startled the first time someone cried in my clinic, then I realized—it was genuinely great that they could let down their barriers enough to do that. I want to practice the kind of medicine that considers everything about a person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://viveenergymedicine.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/viveenergymedicine
