Exploring Life & Business with Jack Schaefer of Mountain West Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Schaefer

Hi Jack , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Colorado practicing martial arts from early childhood. This created a great appreciation for multiple aspects of traditional asian culture including martial culture, languages, medicine, philosophy, etc. Through this process I had an opportunity to experience traditional east asian medicine from an early age. By the time I was in college I had decided to study biology and study medicine. This was partly out of interest and partly out of the influence of a martial arts teacher who shared that if we were going to learn these arts that can hurt people we should also learn to help people. So, while I was applying to different types of medical schools I had a severe knee injury. In the process of dealing with that I opted to avoid surgery and only used acupuncture, exercise therapy, herbs and supplements to treat it. As a result I never had to have surgery and to this day my knee is still great! This process really influenced my and pushed my decision to study east asian medicine. That led me to begin my studies in Chinese medicine in Oregon 27 years ago, then to my time in Nanjing China studying. To this day I still travel to China regularly to study and work with senior doctors and educators. After my time in China I took a detour in Portugal where I was invited to come and lecture as well as be a guest practitioner in a medical clinic. Finally I settled back in my home state of Colorado. In 2001 I began working as a professor at Southwest Acupuncture College and had a hand in training the many of the acupuncturists in Colorado. Currently I run a clinic in Boulder and take students on private study trips to China one or two times per year.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would not say that the road has always been smooth. In the last 25 years Colorado has changed a lot and there have been ups and downs in public acceptance of alternative medicine and acupuncture. Additionally, during the pandemic, like most businesses, we had our struggles as well. My strength has always been trying to keep a positive attitude and remember that I am in this business to help people. If I keep that as a goal everything else seems to work out.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Mountain West Wellness?
My clinic is called Mountain West Wellness. Since I was trained as a traditional Chinese physician I use many different types tools to help people in their healing journey. This includes multiple styles of acupuncture because different people and different problems need different styles of treatment. We also use manual therapy massage, guasha scraping methods also called Graston, myofacial decompression also called cupping, custom herbal medicine, custom medical dietary therapy, functional medicine, and lifestyle coaching.
I don’t really believe in specialization because I find that it creates to narrow a view in a practitioner. I find that many patients actually complain about specialists, so I try to function as a general practitioner.
I really believe that every patient needs to be seen as an individual and treated that way. I don’t like cookie cutter approaches to health care.
What sets me apart from many other clinics is my experience. I have given thousands of treatments. On top of that I have a network of senior practitioners that I rely on for consultation when a case needs extra opinion.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Aside from my clinic I also cofounded an organization dedicated to teaching Daoism call Parting Clouds Daoist Education. It is something I don’t talk much about to patients, but we have students all over the world in more than seven countries and have translated four divergent Daoist texts that can be purchased.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.boulder-colorado-acupuncture.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boulderacudoc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063648756955
• Other: https://www.partingcloudsdaoisteducation.com