About Scotlyn Sabean
Unlike the biographies you may have seen on other similar websites, I do not profess to be an expert, much less an authority, but I do undertake to apply the whole of my training and my intelligence to making a diligent study of every person who chooses to visit my clinic and to provide the highest standard of care, attention, safety and service.
As in any encounter with a professional, I would ask you to remember that a healthy scepticism is always a useful tool. You yourself are the ultimate judge. So while I invite you to ponder the health information I have posted elsewhere on this site, I certainly do not expect you to believe anything just because I said so. As much as possible, I will always try to point you in the direction of finding out more for yourself.
The following biographical information is offered, therefore, with a view to providing you with information which might help you to judge what kind of person I might be. I am the daughter of Evangelical missionaries and was raised in Costa Rica, in Central America. I was a great admirer of the way my parents each pursued their passionate calling - my father as a teacher and creator of camping and recreational experiences, and my mother as a teacher and councillor for prospective parents preparing for childbirth and breastfeeding. They will, of course, point to God's guiding hand in all such matters, but, for myself, I notice the way their eyes still light up when they can speak on the subjects they know so well.
Our family travelled quite a bit when I was young, which may explain my strong sense of being a perennial outsider. Eventually, I even found myself becoming an outsider to the faith in which I was raised, although, unfortunately for you, if you have gotten this far, you should know that I never could shake the habit of giving sermons.
I studied Anthropology at a well-known U.S. college, a course which never led me towards any useful job prospects, but did seem to leave me with an ability to see everyone else's point of view (not always an asset, I assure you).
I left college with two burning ambitions - to become a midwife, and to travel, not necessarily in that order. Embarking on my travels somehow kept me putting off the start of training for midwifery, and so, my travels eventually led me, with a sense of happy surprise, to settle on a farm in southwest Donegal, in Ireland, where I got to marry a midwife instead. At least, a midwife is as good a word as any to describe a sheep farmer in these parts, especially during the months of April and May. The farm is only three miles from the fishing village of Killybegs, where, in addition starting a family, I soon knuckled down to whatever jobs came my way - grading fish, house-keeping, book-keeping, and later, ship's agency.
However, I had never lost my interest in human biology and especially women's reproductive health, or my ambition to be able to provide care and comfort to those suffering pain and illness. During these years I myself received a course of acupuncture treatment over a period of about three months, and was greatly impressed with the way that it not only cleared up a fairly severe bout of bronchitis (which at that stage I was regularly suffering several times a year for periods of 2-5 weeks at a time), but that afterwards I continued to remain clear of any recurrence for a period of several years. (PS. please note that this kind of personal experience is an anecdote, which is not the same as a proof). Nevertheless, this interested me greatly, and I was delighted to find out not only that I would be able to take up a 3-year course in acupuncture in Dublin, to be followed by a month-long placement in a Chinese clinic, but that my husband and two sons would support my efforts and come with me to China.
I was able to set up my own acupuncture clinic in January of 2005, and I have to tell you that it is a constant learning experience. You graduate, having passed all your exams, which somehow lulls you into thinking you know a little bit of something, and when you get into the clinic, you are immediately humbled by how much, much more there is to know.
Now, I never worry about how little I know, because finding out new things is always so interesting, and since what I don't know is still so vast, the future promises to be endlessly full of things to be learned and understood. Nevertheless, the most important things I try to learn relate to ways in which I can, with what skill my mind, hand and eye possess, help to alleviate suffering and pain.
To this end, I write copious case notes, buy books, attend courses, and join internet discussions, not only within the field of acupuncture, but also in the wide and general field of human health and biology. If you want to discuss any issue raised anywhere on this website, please do not hesitate to email me.
Scotlyn Sabean, Lic. Ac., MAPFA
Stragar, Killybegs, Co Donegal, Ireland.
Tel: +353 74 9731608.
Mob: +353 87 202 5732.