Siân Marguerite Sheppard, L. Ac, M. Ac.
(she/her/ella)
Siân hadn’t planned on going back after the first appointment. She wasn’t even sure how she’d ended up on an acupuncturist’s table in the first place—just another thing to cross off the list. But then something happened. A needle touched her wrist, and a current surged through her body.
“What was that?” she asked.
Her acupuncturist met her gaze and said, “That’s the qi.”
She left skeptical but breathing easier. Colors sharper. The weight in her neck and back, the dull ache from years of sitting, lifting, driving—gone. And in the quiet space that opened up, something glimmered. A way of seeing. A way of knowing.
Siân is an acupuncturist, but she was a patient first. She knows the moment when doubt shifts into wonder, when relief replaces resignation. She specializes in helping people bridge that gap—between who they are and who they long to be.
Her background as a domestic violence survivor advocate and child sexual abuse prevention counselor shaped her understanding of the body's stories—its resilience, its silence, its need to be heard. Her years as a child actor and now a circus artist taught her about movement, expression, and the poetry of form.
She trained in Five Element acupuncture, but her practice extends beyond the expected. She listens through pulse, through face, through spirit. She weaves together Shen-Hammer pulse diagnosis, facial gua sha, cosmetic acupuncture, ear acupuncture—addressing not just symptoms, but the unseen patterns beneath them.
curriculum vitae
Formal Education
Bachelor of Arts, Comparative Literature and Gender Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Masters of Acupuncture, Diploma in Herbal Medicine, & Bachelor of Health Science, Academy for Five Element Acupuncture
Licensed Acupuncturist, National Certification Commission, Credential # 091.0134118
Additional Courses and Training
2024: Treating Long COVID with Chinese Medicine, with Brendan Kelly, L. Ac.
2024: Pregnancy: an Energetic Outline according to Chinese Medicine, with Diane Gioioso
2024: 21 Day Facial Gua Sha BootCamp, with Sandra Lanshin Chiu, L. Ac.
2023: Reiki Level II attunement, Usui Lineage, with Winifred Tannetta Costello
2021-2022: Shen Hammer Pulse Diagnosis ongoing study, with Laisha Canner-Ward, AP, MAOM
2021: Qi Gong and Eagle Claw Fire-Earth Term, with Brea Fisher
2021: Prescribing Poisons for Healing? A Lesson from Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, with Yan Liu PhD
2021: Facial Gua Sha as a Cultural Practice, with Dr. Paige Yang and Ivy Lee, MSTCM, L. Ac.
2021: The Ben Cao Gang Mu by Li Shizhen, with Prof. Paul Unschuld
2021: Clean Needle Technique Certified, Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
2021: Self, Community, Nation: Harm Reduction for East Asian Communites. For East Asian Medicine Practitioners and Students with Dr. Paige Yang, Dr. Emily Siy, and Dr. Tamsin Lee
2020-2021: Clinical Days, The Unseen Hand: Medicine from Antiquity, with Laura Clarke Stelmok, L. Ac.
2020: Yoga Teacher Training, RYT-200, with Molly Kitchen
2020: Facial Gua Sha workshop with Dr. Emily Siy
2019: Reiki Level I attunement, Usui Lineage, with Winifred Tannetta Costello
2017: Shamanic Journey workshop, with Dr. Michael Verrilli
2015: Image Theater and Approaches to Consensus-Building, Theatre of the Oppressed, with Marie-Claire Picher
2015: Healing Racism Seminar: Healing Racism Institute Pioneer Valley
2015: The Art of Mindful Living: Insight Meditation Retreat, led by Matthew Daniell, Winnie Nazarko, & Pat Coffey
2015: Mindful of the Body: Insight Meditation Retreat, led by Lila Kate Wheeler & Anushka Fernandopulle
2014: Doulas of North America (DONA) Birth Doula Certification Course
Experience
2023-present: Ongoing training in Aerial Hoop, New England Center for Circus Arts
2018 & 2020: Double Edge Theatre Open Training
2018: Multiple Exposure, life drawing master class, with Gabriela Handal
2018: Entrainment, contemporary dance workshop, with Riley Watts
2018: Uncertain Distances, contemporary dance workshop, with Lailye Weidman & Meredith Bove
2018: Grotowski: The Cat, Corporelles, and Plastiques, with Martha Cuomo
2018-present: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Counselor, Stop It Now!, Northampton, MA
2015-2017: Ongoing studies in Studio Art, Greenfield Community College
2015: COFFEE Parenting in the Pioneer Valley Un-Conference, Amherst, MA
2014-2020: Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP) Advocate, Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Greenfield, MA
2014-2021: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Counselor, State of Massachusetts