Often, the non-traditional practitioners are hard to find, and they in turn have a hard time finding affordable office space and a group of like-minded professionals.

Enter the Be Well Natural Health Clinic on Goodlette Rd. The office, housing a dozen natural healers in a wide variety of disciplines, brings together massage therapists, reiki practitioners, a hypnotist, and others offering foundation training, qi gong, and access consciousness, among others.

Jo Vaccarino, who founded the Be Well center, said the idea was to offer “a community for the community. This allows natural practitioners to share the cost of resources, marketing, and space, and brings them together under one roof,” she said.

Vaccarino’s specialties are qi gong, an ancient Oriental therapy in which she is pursuing a doctorate, and digital infrared thermal imaging.

“I love qi gong – that’s the reason I can walk,” she said, after having her back broken in three places and her carotid artery damaged. “That’s what made me want to go into alternative medicine. The people who helped me weren’t medical doctors. They wanted to give me pain pills, and fuse my vertebrae. I am the epitome of someone who needed alternative health.”

What she does, said Vaccarino, in concert with many of the other therapists at Be Well, is help people “learn to be happy, and change your lifestyle. I teach people how to heal themselves. Often, we have damage we can’t undo. What we can do is adapt to our environment, adapt to our trauma.”

Harry Grimm, a former martial arts instructor, offers foundation training, a new discipline in which patients perform a series of exercises using gravity and their own bodies, without other equipment, to strengthen their cores and help get out of pain. Saturday morning, a group of first-time users tried the movements, and some immediately reported feeling better in areas that had been problems for them. “Why gamble with back surgery or addictive pain meds?” ask the promotional materials. Foundation training claims to “in just a few minutes a day, help retrain your body to resist gravity so that you can resolve pain and discover strength you didn’t know you had.”

Danielle Elverd of Trinity Wellness, LLC, is a licensed massage therapist specializing in therapeutic and medical massage. Like a number of the practitioners in the center, she has more than one string to her bow, and also offers fitness instruction and health coaching to individuals and groups.

Lori Bouchard is another licensed massage therapist at the center, and also offers access consciousness. “Access consciousness is energy healing, and can help eliminate blockages in your life, whether it’s money, career, or relationships,” said Bouchard.

Hypnotist Carolyn Beauchamp, right, works with massage therapist Lori Bouchard. The Be Well Natural Health Clinic on Goodlette-Frank Road brings together multiple practitioners of holistic and alternative medicine under one roof. (Photo: Lance Shearer/Current)

Kelly Ochiuzzo and Julie LeBriton have Stars Healing, LLC, specializing in jikiden reiki as well as healing crystals and life activation therapy. “This modality is an ancient tool that has the capacity to bring about healing and empowerment…lights up your aura, heightens your intuition and transforms your entire being,” according to their flyer.

“Life activation helps me a lot with anxiety,” said client Ariel Feinstein. “I come here weekly for different healing.”

Carolyn Beauchamp is a hypnotist, whose treatments, she said, help with pain control, weight loss, smoking cessation, addictions, phobias, anxiety and childhood traumas. While her actual sessions are “non-interruptible,” she simulated a treatment while a reporter was visiting, beginning by telling the client, “the sound of my voice and the music will take you into deep relaxation.”

Barbara “B.J.” Paganelli is a registered nurse and board certified clinical nurse specialist who specializes in gerontology, health coaching and use of Avacen technology, applying non-invasive heat and negative pressure to increase microvascular circulation and reverse hand pain.

Naturopathic consultant Ken Friedenberg also uses technology to improve circulation, with the Bemer electro-magnetic pulse therapy working throughout the body while the patient lies on a bed.

“This is used by NASA in spacesuits,” he said, demonstrating the technique.

Another therapist, Kristina Aston, specializes in access consciousness, described as “a set of tools, techniques and processes that…when applied can create dynamic changes in your life.” Carmen Trujillo is a physical therapist and certified lymphedema therapist, and Teri Ringham offers “essential oils for wellness and gut health.”

“We still have space for a couple more providers,” said Vaccarino. “We are bringing a lot of disciplines together, but each practitioner has their own business and sets their own hours.” The Be Well Natural Health Clinic offers a regular schedule of classes and activities including yoga. They opened at the end of March, and plans to hold an official grand opening celebration in October or November at their offices in Colonial Square.

For more information, call the Be Well Thermal Imaging and Natural Health Clinic at 239-307-5616, or go online to bewellnaples.com. The clinic is located at 1032 Goodlette Rd. in Naples.