• Meet Our Practitioners

    Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture | The Alternative Clinic

Experienced Practitioners

In China, old doctors are revered because it is only through a lifetime of practice that one gains wisdom and experience.

Today in the west, many practitioners of Chinese medicine begin to treat patients right out of school, without the benefit of residency under skilled and experienced clinicians. Our clinic aims to change that trend.

Andrew and JulieAnn Nugent-Head have spent a combined 36 years in China studying directly under the last old doctors of Beijing.  Through this teacher – disciple training, doctoral studies in the Chinese University system and residency in the hospitals of Beijing and Hangzhou, JulieAnn and Andrew have seen more patients, treatments and Chinese herbal prescriptions than most practitioners in the west will see in their lifetime. This unparalleled experience and fluency in written and spoken Chinese gives Andrew and JulieAnn the confidence to treat difficult disease and the tools to seek advice from the classic Chinese books directly.

Andrew Nugent-Head Alternative Clinic

Andrew Nugent-Head, Practitioner of Oriental Medicine, MSOM, LAc 

Andrew Nugent-Head arrived in Taiwan in 1986 to study Chinese Medicine, martial arts and internal cultivation. He formally began studying Chinese medicine in 1989, founding the Association for Traditional Studies (ATS) to preserve China’s traditional knowledge. Andrew is a renowned Chinese medical practitioner, educator and martial artist, currently completing his medical doctorate in Zhejiang China.  Andrew teaches internationally and treats patients in Asheville, NC.

Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture | The Alternative Clinic

JulieAnn Nugent-Head MD (China)

After completion of a master’s degree in Oriental medicine in the United States, and hospital internships in China during the summers of 2003 and 2004, JulieAnn moved to China full time to document two of Beijing’s most famous traditional practitioners Dr Li Hongxiang (1924-2018) and Dr Chen Tongyun (1922 -).  This exposure to classically based clinical medicine led JulieAnn to understand the naturalistic perspective and utter practicality of Chinese medicine in a new light.  Encouraged by Dr Li to complete doctoral level studies, JulieAnn’s thesis focused on the classical perspective of herbs investigating the flavor and nature of the herbal substances applied in the Shanghan Lun.
After eight and a half years living in China, JulieAnn and husband Andrew returned to the United States due to changing visa and regulations for foreigners practicing medicine. Now residing in Asheville, North Carolina, JulieAnn treats patients at the Alternative Clinic, oversees development of Appalasia tea and herb farm, and teaches post graduate herb programs in Zurich, London and Frankfurt.

Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture | The Alternative Clinic

David Trevino Practitioner of Oriental Medicine, LAc

David is a native Spanish speaker, born and raised in Mexico City. With 16 years of clinical practice and 9 years teaching students, David’s extensive experience also includes working with Houston’s Brain Injury Rehab Center, Harvard’s Mind Body Medical Institute’s Cardiac Rehab program, and Anderson’s Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine program.

After implementing the tangible treatment strategies learned from Andrew Nugent-Head over the last six years, David experienced a number of his patients showing dramatic improvements. He is delighted to be working at the Alternative Clinic providing authentic and tangible Chinese medicine alongside Andrew and JulieAnn

Daniel Gonzalez, Practitioner of Oriental Medicine, LAc

Daniel’s interest in the Chinese arts began at an early age, accompanying his father on treks through the streets of New York City to Chinatown. Amazing lunches, trips to martial arts schools, and double feature Kung Fu movies! Little did he know it would be the memories of Chinatown’s Chinese Medicine pharmacies that would lead him to study medicine.

Daniel graduated from the Atlantic School of Oriental Medicine in 2004 and began practicing at Comprehensive Addiction Rehabilitation & Education in West Palm Beach, Florida. As the Acupuncture Physician, Daniel provided treatments for patients suffering from drug and alcohol related afflictions.

Relocating to the mountains of western North Carolina, Daniel served as the Chairperson for the Ethics Committee, and participating member of the Acupuncture Association.

Although witnessing countless successes in private practice, Daniel felt that Chinese medicine had more to offer. Upon attending a seminar in 2014 presented by Andrew & JulieAnn Nugent-Head, he realized the path to the breath and scope of this medicine was finally accessible. Daniel completed all of the Association for Traditional Studies training programs and has been a valued asset at the Alternative Clinic for many years.

Kristina Allred, Practitioner of Oriental Medicine, LAc

Kristina received her Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2009. Through clinical internships at Santa Fe Women’s Health, Indian Health Services Hospital, St. Vincent Hospital and Parham Doctors Hospital Veteran’s Acupuncture program, she has benefitted from experiences with varied cultural backgrounds and medical organizations.

Kristina has enriched her practice with continuing education in herbal medicine and nutrition with Voyage Botanica, and the International Foundation for Nutrition and Health.  She has served as guest instructor in vibrational medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School in the Integrative Medicine rotation for residents, and educator at Lotus College of Integrated Medicine.

Kristina is excited to join the incredible practitioners at the Alternative Clinic where she can continue to develop her skills and be in service to her community.

Please call us at 828-424-7415 if you have questions