About the Practitioners

DARLENE BERGER, MSAc, LAc (NJ), Dipl Ac (NCCAOM)
After spending a junior year abroad in Freiburg, Germany, I graduated from Michigan State University in 1987 with a BA in German. While looking for work in Michigan, I spent a short period of time volunteering for an entertainment newsmagazine, Capital Times. After that it was off to New York for a paid job. I spent many years working in medical publishing, first in books, then in periodicals. Later, I worked for a project house that developed continuing medical education programs for physicians, all paid for by the pharmaceutical industry.

I saw first hand how research can be spun or ignored to put new medications in the best possible light, which led me to explore some alternatives to my job as well as to biomedicine. In 2003 I decided to study acupuncture because of a very positive personal experience with acupuncture used to treat my neck pain. In August 2007, I graduated from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM), New York, NY, with a masters in acupuncture. PCOM also granted me a second bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies. Shortly before graduation, I took my national exams, and I am nationally board certified in Acupuncture by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). As an NCCAOM Diplomat, I must maintain and update my skills via continuing education credits earned throughout the year. Luckily for patients, this doesn’t involve the pharmaceutical industry, or even the acupuncture needle manufacturers! I also hold a license to practice acupuncture in New Jersey.

Some of my experience includes treating patients for migraine headaches, muscle aches and pains and sprains, anxiety and depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, smoking cessation, digestive disorders, menstrual disorders, side effecgts of menopause, and side-effects of chemotherapy. I have performed more than 2000 patient treatments since opening the Ferndale clinic in July 2008.

I am a also a proud member of the Community Acupuncture Network, an organization that strives to make acupuncture more widespread and useful to people by making it more affordable.

CAROL SOBOROWSKI, MSOM, Dipl Ac (NCCAOM)
Since childhood, I have lived with asthma, using inhalers, trying multiple medications, including experimental drugs, in search of something to relieve the terrifying bouts of breathlessness and eliminate nights spent in the hospital because I couldn't catch even one full breath. All that changed after I discovered acupuncture. During my first year at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where I was studying nutrition, my asthma escalated with the change of seasons. I had to prepare for every walk to class by using my "emergency" inhaler. Thankfully, acupuncture was recommended to me by a chiropractor. After weekly acupuncture treatments supplemented with Chinese herbs, I was able to throw away my inhalers by summer's end! That was almost five years ago, and the fear of an asthma attack is now only a faint memory.

I was so pleased with the results I got with acupuncture and Chinese herbs, I decided to change directions in my education and moved to Racine, Wisconsin, to attend the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine. I graduated magna cum laude with a master of science in Oriental Medicine and with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition. I am nationally board certified in acupuncture and Chinese herboloby by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM).

In school I saw over 500 people in the student clinic and treated conditions such as arthritic pain, back pain, the common cold, headaches, insomnia, irregular menstrual cycles, night sweats, and stress and anxiety.

I am very excited to be home in Michigan and able to share acupuncture and Chinese herbs wiht my family, friends, and community.