Written for the Island Packet by Justin Paprocki
The Island Packet
Need to find a good aromatherapist on Hilton Head Island? Check out WellnessDestinationsCentral.com.
Local massage therapist Carla Golden has started the online directory of alternative medicine practitioners from around the country. Within a few clicks you can find anyone from a massage therapist in Massachusetts to a reflexologist in Alaska.
Golden talks about the misconceptions of alternative medicine, crazy people and dental spas.
Question. Where did the idea for the site come from?
Answer. When my daughter started school full time, I needed to figure out what to do with myself. I thought about being certified to teach yoga, but my husband, who’s a dentist, suggested massage therapy.
Q. Where’d he get that idea from?
A. Dental spas are starting to become more common. It’s a merging of the dental industry and the spa industry.
Q. I can see that — I need to relax before a root canal.
A. It’s taking away some of that fear factor for going to the dentist. You have rooms with tables and a chair and you get a massage before your dental work.
But I ended up enrolling in massage school. I opened up my practice in my husband’s practice about two years ago. Not quite a dental spa. It’s really two independent businesses. And I was trying to find a way to get my name out there, and I looked for something like this site and nothing was out there.
Q. Have you tracked down many people on Hilton Head?
A. There’s not a lot of highlight to that progressive, alternative stuff on Hilton Head. It’s like an underground population.
Q. How did you get people signed on to the site?
A. I’ve been involved in massage therapy and I use essential oils, which are like liquid herbs. And the company I use (to buy the products) is all about education so I’m involved in several discussion groups online. As soon as I started up the site I told my company and they’ve been spreading the word. I just launched it last week and we’ve had about 125 national listings in 29 states.
Q. What’s the farthest place?
A. Someone’s signed up in Alaska. It’s an exciting time. My personal mission is to bring alternative medicine into the mainstream. I want to break some misconceptions. It’s not just this hippie dippy stuff.
Q. So, you’re not crazy people?
A. Right, but you’ll have some of those people (laughs).
Q. Some people are kind of crazy, but I guess that’s across the board.
A. Yeah, it’s just like that. … It doesn’t have to be feared. It’s not like we’re witches coming in and stuffing us full of herbs and burning stuff. It’s not that way — unless you want it that way (laughs). That’s available, too. But that’s not us (laughs).
Q. That’s a whole different directory.
A. Right.
{ 0 comments… add one now }