Practitioners at CCPH
Healing Arts Providers
Professional Services
Services include: Acupuncture, Structural Therapy Bodywork, Cranial-sacral Therapy, Shiatsu Massage, Energy Healing, Herbal and Nutritional counseling.
Services are by appointment only. Walk-ins welcome during Community Acupuncture hours Sundays & Wednesdays 1-4pm.
What is Community Acupuncture?
A group space to allow multiple people to access acupuncture treatment at an affordable rate. In these sessions your initial consult with Katie Beshku will be private, but you will share space with up to 3 other individuals receiving acupuncture in a quiet and tranquil setting. Walk-ins are welcome during community acupuncture sessions from 1-4pm every Sunday & Wednesday. You can contact Katie via text or WhatsApp at 815-370-1190 to reserve a spot during community acupuncture. Treatments are 20-40$ sliding scale.
What is Structural Therapy?
From practitioner Jane Woodcock:
The effectiveness of Structural Therapy to create lasting change comes from its unique approach to the fascia, the interconnected web of flexible tissue that all other tissues (bones, muscles, organs, nerves and blood vessels) arise from and are supported by. The fascia of muscle and bone exists as continuous sheets of tissue spanning head to toe and fingertip to fingertip in superficial and deep layers throughout the body.
Whenever we reach for something on a high shelf, throw a ball, walk, dance, bend, lift or twist, the fascial sheets activate throughout the entire system, bringing balance and power to our actions. If restriction exists due to injury or old habits, postural compensations and pain can result. By working with the fascial system in an intelligent way, we can support your body’s return to more healthy posture and movement.
The first three sessions open your outer sleeve muscles, bringing a greater sense of freedom as the surface and deeper layers begin to move more separately from each other. The next 4 sessions focus on your core muscles, helping to unwind and rebalance deeper patterns created by stress, old habits or injuries. The final three sessions work to integrate the sleeve and core, helping your body find its best natural balance.
The addition of movement exercises helps the body to build upon the changes created by Structural Integration by building on the freedom and balance achieved in the sessions.
“There is no greater reward for me than to see the smile on a person’s face when they realize the pain they came in with is relieved.”
Sessions are 1 to 1 ½ hours, depending on the client’s individual needs or preferences. Half hour initial consults are also available.
Althea Northage-Orr
MA, RH, CST, L.Ac
Jane Woodcock
BA, IST
LeeAnn Lodder
LMT, CST
Julissa Gillig
Community Herbalist
Katie Beshku
L.Ac, Herbalist
Alec Schuetter
LMT, Herbalist
Betsy Merbitz
Herbalist, CPM, LMT
Krisi Anthemum
Herbalist, Yoga Instructor
Angelique Thompkins
Shamanic & Sound Healer
Althea Northage-Orr
Services offered:
Structural Therapy Bodywork
Acupuncture
Herbal Medicine & Nutritional Counseling
Cranial Sacral
Energy Work
Initial 1 hour session $140
$75 Half hour acupuncture follow ups
Access Althea's educational archive at
Patreon.com/GlastonburyInstitute
Althea began her practice in 1981 after completing her professional training as an Oriental Manipulative Therapist at the Midwest College for the Study of Oriental Medicine. She subsequently went on to complete a degree in Acupuncture and began her practice in 1984. She has numerous certifications in bodywork (Structural Therapy, CranialSacral Therapy, Masters Method of Psychophysical Reeducation), psychotherapy (Gestalt Institute, Hakomi Institute) and recently completed her Yoga Teacher Certification with Yoga Now. Currently she practices as an herbalist, acupuncturist, body worker and functional nutritionist.
In 2000 she founded the Chicago College of Healing Arts which operated for fifteen years, a school dedicated to teaching clinical herbal medicine and numerous other healing arts. She has served two terms on the governing council of the American Herbalists Guild, and was on their committee for admission to professional membership for over a decade. A passionate gardener, Althea also operates Glastonbury, an 80 acre United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary. She maintains a busy clinical practice in Chicago, where she also hosts and teaches classes about health and healing.
Contact Althea through the CCPH office at
Jane Woodcock
Services offered:
Structural Therapy Bodywork
Movement Education
Contact Jane for rates
Jane Woodcock is a Structural Integration Therapist and Movement Educator with 35+ years experience helping people find relief from pain and restriction, and to move more freely with increased enjoyment and awareness.
She trained with Althea Orr in Structural Integration and Psychophysical Re-education in the late 80’s, and later partnered with her to teach Structural Integration and Movement Education at the Chicago College of Healing Arts and the Chicago Center for Psychophysical Healing. She also studied Tai Chi with Andrew Heckert, student of William C. C. Chen, and Movement Education with Sondra Howell at the Educated Body School.
Her style of bodywork is deep, gentle and respectful of each individual’s unique resilience and limits. While some people opt for occasional individual sessions, more permanent change can be achieved through the Structural Integration 10 Session Series.
Jane can be contacted through CCPH or directly by voicemail or text at 773-972-1984.
Julissa Gillig
Services offered:
Herbal Medicine Consult
Energy Work
Group or Private Ceremonies for Empowerment
30-50$ sliding scale for herbal medicine consult
Contact Julissa for more information on services.
Julissa Gillig is an herbalist, medicine maker and educator based in Chicago. She began studying herbal medicine in 2016 and completed her studies in clinical herbalism in 2019 under Althea Northage-Orr. She currently assists Althea in teaching her Alchemical Herbalism Course and runs the CCPH apothecary.
Completing her BFA from SAIC in 2017 Julissa came to herbalism as an art form and views medicine making as a creative practice. She worked under distiller Brian Harper of Toms Town Distilling learning the basics of distillation and exploring a hands-on interest in alchemy. From 2019-2024 she co-hosted many experiential wellness events and workshops through therapy practice Sacred Psyche.
In 2020 she began practicing herbalism as an act of radical care for communities that face stigmatization. During the covid pandemic she worked at Midtown Kava as an herbalist and made home deliveries to impacted communities. From 2020-2022 Julissa worked with the MO Ho Justice Coalition through the ACLU of MO to provide herbal medicine support to trans and sex working communities. She hosted the Every Woman show on KKFI monthly from 2021-2023 educating the public on herbal medicine and uplifting the voices of people in the healing arts practices of greater Kansas City, MO. At the end of 2023 Julissa returned home to Chicago to join the CCPH practice.
Julissa is CPR and first aid certified, along with a certificate in Layperson Naxolone Adminitration Education.
Contact the CCPH office to book an herbal medicine consult with Julissa at 773-764-0960.
Katie Beshku
Services offered:
Acupuncture
Community Acupuncture
70$ for private sessions
20-40$ sliding scale for Community Acupuncture
Katie obtained her masters degree in Oriental Medicine from National University of Health Sciences in Lombard Illinois where she graduated valedictorian of her class. Oriental Medicine encompasses acupuncture, accessory techniques such as moxa, cupping, tunai, as well as Chinese herbal medicine. She has a bachelors degree in nutrition as well as additional trainings and experience with herbal medicine.
Katie believes whole heartedly in the body and spirits’ ability to heal and come into more balance. She loves helping people achieve their health goals and find harmony in their lives through acupuncture, herbs, lifestyle, and diet. Katie grew up learning about natural medicine and the body from her father who was a chiropractor and her mother who is a physical therapist. She played college sports and developed an interest in diet and health from that time where she also found community gardens which sparked her deep love of gardening and eating locally.
In her free time you can find her growing food and herbs, cooking, playing soccer, spending time with her family and getting involved with water protection and preservation of Lake Michigan.
Katie is available for private acupuncture sessions and hosts Community Acupuncture Wednesdays & Sundays 1-4pm at CCPH.
Contact Katie by text/WhatsApp message at
Alec Shuetter
Services offered:
Shiatsu Massage
Acupuncture
Herbal Medicine Consult
Contact the CCPH office for rates & booking
Raised by pharmacists who learned how to prepare medicinals at the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy in Chicago, I have always admired folk and indigenous knowledge of how to use herbs for health and healing.
My path has led me through studies with native practitioners of North, Central and South America alongside a Zen Buddhist path that began in 1996 and resulted in my studies in meditation, Tai Chi, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.
Merging various paradigms and regarding conventional biomedical understanding is a challenging task that demands remaining current in studies that are continually being conducted. Merging the modalities of understanding is a passion that allows myself to facilitate the ancient knowledge of the founders of medicinal traditions and the plants themselves for those I work with.
Naropa University: Boulder Colorado
Midwest College of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine: Skokie Illinois
Zen Shiatsu Chicago: Evanston Illinois
Betsy Merbitz
Visit violetcirclemidwifery.com for more information on services and booking with Betsy.
In 2006 I attended my first herbal medicine training with the late Michael Moore, and my first doula training with ToLabor (then called ALACE). I began my journey into holistic healing because I saw how the medical system wasn’t helping people, and I wanted to be able to offer something better.
Over the next several years I continued my herbal training, including completing community herbalist programs at the Maryland University of Integrative Medicine and the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine. I also studied with the late Frank Cook and assisted at the Green Farmacy garden of the late Jim Duke. I began my birth doula work at the DC Family Health and Birth Center and soon began offering postpartum doula services and childbirth education in addition to labor support. I also co-led reproductive health workshops with the DC-based Down There Collective, and taught herbalism classes through the Baltimore Free School.
In 2014 I began my studies to become a Certified Professional Midwife, after many years of offering doula services and community herbal support. I am a graduate of the National College of Midwifery and Midwest Maternal Child Institute, and completed a multi-year apprenticeship attending homebirths and birth center births. I have supported hundreds of families during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as a midwife, labor support and postpartum doula, and childbirth educator. I value holistic, family-centered healthcare.
In 2022, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist in order to incorporate bodywork into my holistic healing. I specialize in Manual Lymphatic Drainage and neurolymphatic massage, as well as massage techniques for chronic illness. Lymphatic and neurolymphatic massage can help with post-covid syndrome, brain fog, allergies, muscle fatigue and more. I love offering multimodal healing sessions that incorporate massage and herbal medicine.
Krisi Anthemum
Services offered:
Herbal Medicine Consult
Reiki
Private Yoga Classes
Contact Krisi for rates & availability via email.
krisi anthemum (she/her) is the founder of steamleaf, a late-night tea shop, apothecary, and healing arts center in (so-called) Logan Square, Chicago. She is a community herbalist who combines spiritual and ancestral plant guidance with scientific medicinal insights to provide clients with individualized healing plans.
In addition to clinical herbalism, krisi works as an herbal educator, providing one-on-one mentorships to blossoming herbalists. krisi completed 7Song’s Community Herbalism Intensive and is currently studying in Althea Northage-Orr’s Alchemical Herbalism program, with other various herbal mentorships under her belt.
beyond herbalism, krisi is also a yoga teacher, reiki practitioner, sauna ceremony bath master, and psilocybin facilitator.
Angelique Thompkins
Services offered:
Shamanic Healing
Sound Healing
Herbal Consult & More
Visit journeywithmetanoia.com for more information.
Over a decade ago, I bought a one-way ticket to Costa Rica with a heart full of questions,
disconnected from my body, my purpose, and the deeper truths of who I was. What started as an
escape became a threshold. Through grief, trauma, illness, and profound transformation, I came
to know the many faces of human suffering from the inside, and I found my way home through
the very practices I now share.
That journey led me through decades of study and ceremony: shamanic training in the Shipibo
lineage of the Peruvian Amazon, the Wixárika (Huichol) of Mexico, the Quechua of Cusco, and
Lakota wisdom keepers of the Four Directions. I am a ceremonialist and plant medicine carrier,
an herbalist trained in Chinese medicine, a student of hermeticism, a certified Reiki practitioner,
and a sound healer working with voice, tuning forks, bowls, and instruments to move frequency
through the body.
My work is a unique weaving of these lineages, not one tradition, but a living synthesis built
from years of apprenticeship, ceremony, and direct transmission.
I am a guide for the journey inward.
When Western medicine falls short of explanations, when the body is calling out for depth,
when life is asking for a deeper understanding of who you are, that is the threshold I meet you
at. My work uncovers what is happening at the essence level: the root beneath the symptom, the
pattern beneath the pain, the soul beneath the story. From there, we level up together, mind,
body, and spirit, into your pure potential.
This is not just my work. It is my life’s devotion.
With love and gratitude,
Angelique
Metanoia
