About Dr. Gordana Smith

Hello and welcome to Phoenix Rises Acupuncture in St. Augustine!

Where It All Began

I come from a long lineage of barefoot doctors: herbalists, village doctors and energy healers. Growing up in former Yugoslavia (and for all of my young readers, that country no longer exists – it is now six pea-size countries called Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro), I watched and learned from my grandparents when and how to collect herbs and dry them in the attic (one of my favorite hideouts 🙂).

We barely EVER went to see the doctors – there was (and still is) an herb for everything. In my teens, I witnessed my father’s great gift of helping the less fortunate and the sick with his energy healing. I was amazed and amused watching him bend people like pretzels without even touching them. He healed people far away just by looking at their pictures. He would find water and springs in odd places just by moving his hand over a drawing of people’s land. When I was in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism here in the States, he worked on me from Bosnia and busted my clot, leaving the local hospital doctors in disbelief. Big shoes to fill, right? 🙂

For the longest time I was denying the healer in me, and it took several life-threatening experiences to make me start climbing the mountain instead of stubbornly walking around it over and over and over again!

Who I Am

I am Dr. Gordana Smith, your Acupuncture Physician and Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in St. Augustine, FL.

I am a woman who does not hide her age – I just turned 55, and I am so grateful for it. I thank God for every new day I get to wake up, see, hear and touch, for the rock in my life (my goofball husband and our awesome son), for my family, for the friends I have, for the friends I don’t have, for the food I get to eat, for the roof over my head and so many other things. Most of my friends did not get a chance to age. So, next time you’re shying away from telling your age, think twice…

I love helping the less fortunate. I love helping people who suffer. I love laughing, and some of my jokes are funny, too 🙂

I’m 5’11” – I used to play volleyball, and my team was the national champion two years in a row!

My Education and Training

During those 55 years, I managed to get some education, too 🙂 I was a medical student for two years before I decided I didn’t have the guts (pun intended) for the blood. I studied political science in Sarajevo, taught English as a second language in middle school, and worked as a linguist for the U.S. Army in Bosnia and was deployed to Kosovo before I earned (I love that word) my master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and then my Doctorate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, specializing in treating autoimmune diseases.

I have extensive training in acupuncture, Eastern and Western herbs, cupping, moxibustion, Tui Na, AcuPoint Injection Therapy, nutritional counseling, essential oils, massage, meditation and relaxation techniques, aromatherapy, quick pain relief and other modalities.

Why Acupuncture Found Me

I always knew I loved medicine – I just did not know it would be acupuncture until I ended up having to take 20 pills a day myself. What was supposed to be a routine arthroscopic surgery to repair my knee from volleyball injuries turned into a life-threatening pulmonary embolism and two weeks of a luxurious stay in the hospital on life support. And my first out-of-body “travel.” And my first priest visit to my hospital room.

My only son (the greatest blessing of my life, conceived shortly after my chemo treatments ended) was only two and a half years old at that time.

I suffered. I had horrible side effects from those 20 pills a day. My body was poisoned with all the toxicity from the medications, and then they diagnosed me with fibromyalgia (which I knew was a result of that poisoning). Then I got some more medication for the fibro. Just what I needed, right? WRONG!

One day I just decided enough was enough. I got off the medication, signed all the paperwork they wanted me to sign, and shortly after my hospital stay, I enrolled in massage school (yes, I’m a licensed massage therapist, too 🙂), received weekly massages and acupuncture for 10 weeks, changed my diet and went through several detox treatments. I’m certified in NET, Level II (emotional clearing is the popular name among patients), which was a huge, I mean HUGE, help in my emotional healing and growth. I know what it’s done for me – let me help you, too.

For a few more years I suffered sporadic fibromyalgia flare-ups, but now – now I want to tell the world that it doesn’t have to be that way!!!

Let Me Help You

I will not bore you with more of my “grind.” I wanted to share enough to let you know that I DO understand what it’s like to be heavily medicated, not heard and made to feel like you’re just an object on an assembly line. You’re so much more than that, and you know it!

I love this famous quote on insanity, often credited to Albert Einstein, so much that I decided to share it with you (you have probably heard it in some shape or form):

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Been there and still not feeling better? Leave it there!

Take the first step and allow me to help you!

My Book

I’m also the author of Book of the Silenced, my award-winning, Amazon bestselling memoir. Learn more about the book.