About Jennifer
Jennifer Cariño has been helping people navigate life’s transitions through acupuncture and Chinese medicine since 2001.
Whether someone is recovering from an injury, navigating fertility, moving through perimenopause or menopause, healing after illness, managing stress, or simply wanting to age with vitality, Jennifer believes every season of life deserves thoughtful, personalized care.
Her approach combines gentle Japanese acupuncture, herbal medicine, facial rejuvenation, and body therapies to help people adapt, recover, and feel more like themselves again.
How it Began
Jennifer’s path into Chinese medicine began when her late husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As his caregiver, she witnessed firsthand the profound impact that acupuncture, nutrition, herbal medicine, and compassionate care had on his quality of life. That experience not only inspired her to become an acupuncturist—it taught her that some of the most meaningful healing begins with being fully present, offering compassionate care, and understanding that healing begins with feeling genuinely seen and supported.
Seeking to deepen that understanding, Jennifer later studied contemplative caregiving at the San Francisco Zen Center, where she cultivated mindfulness, deep listening, and compassionate presence while caring for people navigating illness, aging, grief, and life’s many transitions.
Caring for her late husband taught her that healing isn’t simply about treating illness. It’s about helping people navigate life’s biggest transitions with compassion, presence, and thoughtful care.
The Cariño Method™
Her experiences as a caregiver, training in gentle Japanese acupuncture, and years of clinical practice all led her to one realization:
Life changes. Care should change with it.
Rather than following a standard protocol, she uses gentle palpation, Hara diagnosis, and your body’s real-time feedback to create treatments that adapt as your needs change.
Because every transition deserves personalized care.
Experience
Jennifer has also contributed to clinical research at Stanford University as part of an NIH-sponsored study examining the use of acupuncture for depression during pregnancy. Her participation reflects a longstanding commitment to honoring the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine while embracing thoughtful, evidence-informed care.
In addition to her private practice, Jennifer volunteered at the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic in Oakland, providing acupuncture treatments for low-income women living with cancer.
Why She Love This Work
Life is constantly changing. Sometimes those changes are exciting. Sometimes they’re unexpected. Sometimes they’re overwhelming.
She sees her role isn’t simply to relieve symptoms.
It’s to help support your body through those seasons of change so you can move forward feeling healthier, more balanced, and more like yourself again.
