Thomas Richardson
Thomas Richardson is a Licensed Acupuncturist and a board certified Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, as well as a scholar and teacher of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. From 2012-2014, Thomas lived in Boston, where he completed a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School. His research focused on connections between Buddhism, Daoism, and Chinese medicine, as well as trauma, storytelling, and healing. During this time, he continued seeing patients in private practice and was on the faculty at the New England School of Acupuncture.
Thomas began studying acupuncture and Oriental medicine while living in Austin, TX, and received a Master in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM) from the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin (AOMA). He was drawn to the field for the way in which it brought together many interests and passions he had developed throughout his life up until that point—martial arts, meditative practices, helping others, yoga, herbal medicine and gardening, and writing and teaching. Over the last fifteen years, he has had the privilege and honor to study with several amazing mentors in the field:
- Thomas studied acupuncture and pulse diagnosis intensively under Will Morris, PhD, DAOM, LAc. In addition to over 500 hours of clinical observation and internship with Dr. Morris, he has also attended and been a TA for his seminars on Neoclassical Pulse Diagnosis. Thomas is one of a select few students that Dr. Morris has given permission to teach this system of acupuncture and pulse diagnosis, and is coauthor on his book, Neoclassical Pulse Diagnosis.
- Thomas completed the Medical Qigong program at the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin (AOMA), studying under Dr. Yuxia Qiu and Junfeng Li. He is a nationally certified practitioner of Medical Qigong and often integrates bodywork and meditative practices with his acupuncture treatments.
- Thomas also apprenticed under Trina Sims, ABC, AHG, founder of Green Star Herbs and a phenomenal herbalist based in Austin, TX. Trina has been a continuing inspiration in the realm of herbology, and under her guidance Thomas has gained much insight into the deeper nature and power of herbal medicine.
Thomas has studied many different traditions of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and healing, including 5 element, Dr. Tan Balance method, Tung style acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western herbalism, Ayurveda and others. His primary studies are in Neoclassical Pulse Diagnosis, but he utilizes different styles in every treatment depending on the patient, their condition, how needle sensitive they are, and other factors.
Currently, Thomas is on sabbatical, focusing on writing and teaching. His first book, Extraordinary Chinese Medicine: The Extraordinary Vessels, Extraordinary Organs, and the Art of Being Human, was published in 2018 by Singing Dragon. He is coauthor on William Morris’s highly anticipated book, Neoclassical Pulse Diagnosis, which was released in March 2020 through 33 Publishing. He is currently working on a book that is a translational and editing project undertaken by Dr. Yuxia Qiu of writings of her mentor, Dr. Pang Ming, and will tentatively be entitled The Essence of Meditation and Healing.