Her story
Dr. Helen H. Liu
One physician has treated patients at this address since 1997. Before that there was Edmonton, and before Edmonton there was Hunan, where she trained in medicine and then went on to teach it. The desk she sits behind now is the one place all of that training finally stayed.
The wordmark on the door still reads exactly as it has for years: Acuherb Clinic, Acupuncture & Chinese Herb Clinic. Open in Ellicott City, Maryland Since 1997.
Hunan, 1984
Dr. Liu took her degree in medicine at Hunan Province University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1984, then stayed on for a three year postgraduate program in Chinese herbal medicine. When the program ended she did not leave. She worked as a physician at her own university and taught there too, on the same faculty that had trained her.
Edmonton, when the doors opened
China opened to the rest of the world after the Cultural Revolution, and Dr. Liu and her husband left for Edmonton, Canada, to study and to live. It was the first of two moves that would eventually put an ocean and half a continent between her and the university where she had trained and taught.
Maryland, 1993
The family relocated again in 1993, this time to Maryland, and settled there. Before she opened a practice of her own, Dr. Liu worked in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine clinics in both Canada and the United States, learning how the medicine she already knew fit each country's own patients and its own rules. She was nationally certified and Maryland licensed in acupuncture in 1995.
Ellicott City, 1997
In 1997 Dr. Liu opened her own practice in Ellicott City. That is the same desk pictured here: the acupuncture point model, the books, the framed credentials behind them. Close to thirty years later she has not moved it, and she still asks a new patient what has already been tried before she decides anything.
“The best doctor treats not yet emerged diseases.”
The line comes from the old Chinese medical and philosophical texts, and Dr. Liu quotes it because it describes how she actually works. She puts real weight on preventative treatment: catching a pattern early, while it is still small, tends to get a better result than waiting for it to announce itself in full.
What she is credentialed to do
Dr. Liu is Maryland state licensed in acupuncture, a license she has held since 1995, and NCCAOM certified in both acupuncture and Chinese herbology. Those are the credentials stated on this page, and no others.
- Graduated from Hunan Province University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with a Bachelor degree in Medicine in 1984
- Advanced her study in a three year postgraduate program of Chinese Herbal Medicine
- Maryland State Licensed in Acupuncture
- NCCAOM Certified in Acupuncture & Chinese Herbology
- Nationally certified and Maryland licensed in Acupuncture in 1995
- Started her own practice in 1997 in Ellicott City
What patients have said
Two of the six Google reviews the clinic has received, in the reviewer's own words.
“Helen is an awesome lady. Her treatments heal the body and now I'm a huge proponent of Eastern medicine which targets the problem instead of western medicine that masks the problem with pills.”
Corey · Google
“Best acupuncturist in Howard County.”
Paulette Lutz · Google
Where it goes from here
If acupuncture is what brought you here, the acupuncture page explains what the needles feel like and when she adds electro acupuncture. If it is an herbal formula you are after, the Chinese herbal medicine page covers how a formula gets written and what a course usually looks like. Either way, the fastest way to find out if this suits you is still the phone, or the contact page for hours and directions.