About Shiroko

Shiroko Sokitch graduated from University of Washington School of Medicine in 1984 and the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Seattle, WA in 1990. She did two years of a general surgery residency at Swedish Hospital in Seattle before deciding that the surgeon's way of life was not for her. While attending acupuncture school and starting her alternative medical career, she practiced as an emergency medical physician for ten years. Since 1993, she has owned and operated Heart to Heart to Heart Medical Center, a complementary medical center in Santa Rosa, CA with her business partner Jason Liles. Since January of 2000, she has also written an alternative medical advice column in the Healdsburg, Windsor, and Sebastopol newspapers.


Shiroko Sokitch, MD, is an unusual physician in that she is able to provide a comprehensive blend of treatments including Chinese and western medicine. Since opening Heart to Heart Medical Center in Santa Rosa, she has become an expert at using many modalities to bring the body to balance and wholeness.

In her office, she specializes in listening closely so that she understands your health concerns and is able to guide you to finding the best treatments. In addition to acupuncture, she works with craniosacral therapy, herbs, nutritional supplements, specific diagnostic tests, exercise and diet to help you find the best balance for your body. Her extensive understanding of the spiritual/emotional connection to your physical problems will help you to heal at a greater depth with more lasting results.

There is no one size fits all medicine here. Each person is an individual with unique responses to treatment and each needs a personalized approach. With Shiroko's 100 Percent Healing approach, you will learn about each element of your healing path.

If you have questions about any health concerns, Shiroko will spend time with you to help you understand it and find your way to wholeness.

An initial visit is 1 and a half hours long and includes a thorough evaluation of your health from the Chinese and western philosophies. She will provide you with a plan for addressing each issue and give you instructions for helping yourself with diet and exercise, herbs and supplements as well as ideas for treatments. If acupuncture is suggested, her techniques are painless and relaxing. Further testing might be recommended to understand hormone levels, digestive function or neurotransmitter levels among other possibilities. Once you have decided to work with Shiroko, she is your partner in healing. You can access her via email, or her cell phone to get answers to your questions.

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Testimonials

Shiroko is a master healer. She diagnosed and treated me effectively within a few minutes, after I had consulted with a multitude of western and eastern doctors over a three year period for abdominal pain.

---Max J. Van Praag, Inspirational Speaker

 

I first saw Dr. Shiroko  because I had an illness where there wasn't Western Medicine to help me. After just several weeks of treatment from Dr. Shiroko it completely went away. And that was seven years ago. She's an awesome women with a huge heart, healing hands and incredible medical knowledge .  She is my connection to my physical, emotional & spiritual healing and gently inspires me to reach and believe in my life.

R. Hong

Santa Rosa, CA

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It is my pleasure to write a testimonial about my experiences with Shiroko.

I arrived in her office over a year ago pretty much a basket case.  I had experienced severe vertigo for over a year and another year later was still plagued with exhaustion and vertigo at times.  When I overdid, and it didn't take much, I would get light headed and panic that all my vertigo was coming back again.  I had seen seven specialists by the time I arrived in her office.  From the first moment we talked and I laid out my story, I felt like I had finally found someone I could trust and relax with.  She  really listened to me and had positive ideas on my treatment.  Before this, doctors would listen, but admit they had no idea, or that it would soon pass.  They wanted to give me pills and mask the problem, where I really wanted to get to the root of it.  When you are feeling as poorly as I did, it is very difficult to disagree with a doctor.  You feel very lost and helpless and don't know where to turn next.  

Shiroko talked to me about possible connections with my past that were keeping me from healing, and I'll be darned if with her help, I didn't figure some of it out.  Then she wanted to do a urine test to check my adrenals, which can play a huge roll in emotional stability and energy.  Well, again she was correct, and she found some glaring deficiencies.  I am now on supplements to correct this.  I attended a workshop that she and Sivan Garr put on and got a lot of positive feedback and support.  It was a great experience to listen and talk to other people who are struggling with challanges too.  You tend to think that you are the only one.  I am still struggling with a lack of energy and lightheadedness, but not nearly as severly as before.  Shiroko suggested that I have another urine test for the chemicals in my brain.  I just got the results back from that, and yet again, it showed two major deficiencies which we are now dealing with.

Throughout all of this, Shiroko has been there for me.  I always know that she is only a call or e mail away, and just the sound of her voice and positive reinforcement always helps.  She really goes that step beyond what regular medicine covers, and for me it was the step that I needed to take!

Ravelle Burgess

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Dear Dr. Sokitch:
 
I would like to thank you for the excellent care you have provided me for the past three years, addressing both critical physical challenges as well as a very stressful emotional period in my life.
 
In my search for a physician who was willing to consider alternative approaches in treatment, I found much more than that in your approach.  I find you to be a highly accomplished professional who has succeeded in capturing the complex interworkings of the mind-body connection.
 
You have taken your practice beyond the confines of typical Western medicine, putting an emphasis on prevention along with your incorporation of ageless traditional healing, as evidenced in your mastering of Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
 
You have chosen to integrate the amazing progress of Western diagnostic and research technology with selected traditional but effective non-invasive practices such as herbal medicine and acupuncture, sensitively avoiding pharmaceuticals and chemical-laden compounds that disrupt natural health in with contrary interactions.
 
As a patient, I felt that I was allowed to lead the healing awakening process with gentle but definite guidance and, when needed, insistence, on critical health-related practices.  Your integrity and honesty are always at the forefront.  While quick with a definite answer, an “I don’t know” comes just as easily.  This alone produces a surge in patient confidence.
 
Lastly, the architectural and decorative components were obviously carefully chosen at your office complex to create a contemplative and relaxing atmosphere that again reflect the complexity of balances and an incorporation of East/West culture, adding to the total treatment experience.
 
It has been my good fortune to have had you serve as my physician.
 
Sincerely,
 
Gary L. Getchell