Ouch. I was stepping out of my friend Scott’s big truck near the Mother Lode Theater in Butte to hear John Prine and something twisted in my left knee, something that should not be twisting. Yikes. It hurt and I started limping. Sitting in the concert was fine, but standing? Walking? Forget it. All the way home, I had visions of knee braces, torn ACLs, meniscus tears, and more. As is my way, I went on to imagine expensive surgery, weeks of time-intensive PT and no yoga for six months.

And those thoughts got me only as far as Three Forks. By the time we pulled into Bozeman, I was convinced that I’d never be able to walk again. Thank goodness for friends more athletic than me; they assured me that despite my pain, it was unlikely I’d torn anything. How about trying some alternative wellness techniques and see if it helped? Right. That’s what I’m supposed to be doing in this column. Someone said try acupuncture. A few more people said, “Go see A.I. Lieber” so the next morning I called him.

Lieber’s receptionist, Kelly, got me an appointment right away. I hobbled in to his office off 19th and Stoneridge, filled out a new patient questionnaire, and settled in to the treatment room to wait for him to tend to my sore knee.

While I was waiting, I replayed all the worst-case scenarios that I’d indulged while en route home from Butte. Surely a bunch of needles stuck into my leg wouldn’t help. Surgery was coming, I just knew it.

A few moments later, Lieber walked in grinned and told me he’d treated a lot of knee injuries. His manner was calm and kind. He listened carefully to the story of my poor knee. Then he wanted to know stories about the rest of my body. He wanted to know how my neck was. My neck? What did that have to do with my knee? Turns out it’s all connected energetically, he said.

And then he put his hands on my leg. Now I’ve had some bodywork in my day, but these hands of his were, well, the kindest I’ve ever felt. And the strongest. At the risk of sounding too woo-woo, even for this column, his chi was powerful and radiated off his hands and into my leg. I don’t know how else to explain it, but those hands were making my leg feel better before a single needle came out.

So why this powerful chi? Turns out Dr. Lieber has been practicing Aikido since he was a little boy. Aikido is a Japanese martial art that uses energy – or chi—to thwart an opponent’s attack. Lieber started in Aikido at the age of 6, and began studying Japanese Medicine (acupressure and acupuncture) with his teacher at age 19. Japanese medicine and Aikido took Lieber to Santa Fe, San Diego and Japan before he and his wife (who works with him as his assistant, office manager and receptionist) settled in Connecticut and opened a practice. They moved their family and the practice to Bozeman five years ago.

How does a nice Jewish boy from New York City end up practicing Japanese medicine in Montana? Well, like all of us, Lieber has a story. His mother was one of the original hippies of the 60s (Lieber actually attended Woodstock with his mom, making him probably the only alternative wellness practitioner in the Valley who’s heard Hendrix, Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie live at the same event) who enrolled her only son in Aikido after her husband, Lieber’s dad, died when he was 6.  “My teacher treated me like a son, which I desperately needed” Lieber says now. “He filled the gap my father’s death had left, and it seemed logical that I would follow in his footsteps, learning Aikido and the medicine.”

His teacher, Dr. M. Nakazono, (along with his son, Dr. K. Nakazono), opened and ran the Kototama Institute in New Mexico where Lieber lived and studied, receiving his DOM (Doctor in Oriental Medicine) in 1984. After studying Aikido in Japan, he went to New Haven, CT, began practicing, and was voted “Best Acupuncturist” twice by the Advocate newspaper there. He has his Diplomate of Acupuncture with the national accrediting group the NCCAOM and is certified to practice in the state of Montana. He taught Aikido up until recently, choosing to focus his time on helping people heal through his Japanese Medicine practice.

Lieber practices Japanese style acupuncture, “which is a bit different from Chinese acupuncture – the needles are finer and more shallowly inserted,” he explained. “I don’t prescribe herbs, and I include acupressure as a major component of each session.” These modalities are based on Dr. Nakazons’s Kototama school and philosophy, which stresses being in harmony with the force of nature and life. “It’s a powerful and gently healing work, effective and non-invasive” Lieber states.

Lieber says most of his patients seek treatment for chronic pain. He finds that treatment is also effective for female complaints, infertility, digestive issues, fatigue, and thyroid issues.
To treat my knee, Lieber used some needles, did some acupressure, and spent a lot of time on places on my body that were not the sore knee. Immediately – yes, immediately – my pain lessened. I hopped off the table and made another appointment. After the second treatment, my pain was gone almost completely. No surgery, no PT and I’m back on the mat doing yoga.
It’s hard not to rave about a practitioner who delivers like Lieber does. But I’ll restrain myself and just say this: if you are suffering from pain, or are curious about what acupuncture and acupressure might do to alleviate your symptoms, check him out. I think he might just be the real thing.    

Liz Harrison is an alternative health and wellness junkie who lives in Bozeman. This column explores the many alternative wellness offerings and practitioners in the Gallatin Valley.  Suggestions, raves and rants may be sent to wellnessepicurean@gmail.com

East Asian Medicine
2135 Charlotte, Suite 1-B
Bozeman/406-586-3133
$100 initial session,
$75 for subsequent visits
Sliding scale available.