“Claire is one of the most accomplished and well-known acupuncturists in the New England area...an unusually talented and skilled acupuncturist who is a credit to her profession and all of the healing arts.”
Ted J. Kaptchuk, Harvard Medical School
Author of The Web That Has No Weaver
About Claire
With over two decades of experience in the field of acupuncture research and clinical practice, Dr Claire Alice McManus DAc LAc has established herself as a leader in the international acupuncture community. An author and co-author alongside some of the world's most prominent researchers on acupuncture, Claire’s work has been published in leading journals including Brain, The British Medical Journal, Medical Acupuncture and covered by Time Magazine. Claire’s practice has been highlighted in Boston Magazine, The New York Times and she has been featured in The Boston Globe and on dozens of radio, TV, and AP syndicates worldwide.
Claire is Board Certified in Acupuncture (NCCAOM) and licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine (2001). She is an Honours graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada and a Masters graduate of The New England School of Acupuncture, now the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Claire holds a Doctorate in Acupuncture from the Pacific College of Health and Science, San Diego, California.
Research
Claire has worked as a Senior and Supervising Research Acupuncturist on several clinical trials concerning acupuncture for pain, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal disorders and the patient practitioner relationship. Over the course of these studies, many coordinated by the Osher Institute at Harvard Medical School, Claire has held affiliations with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her most recent work with researchers at MGH used fMRI brain imaging to study the effect of acupuncture on pain and brain neuroplasticity. In 2022 Claire completed advanced study in Oncology Acupuncture through the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. She is a frequent guest lecturer on the topics of acupuncture research and the patient practitioner relationship.
Mindfulness-Based Acupuncture
As a Doctor of Acupuncture, Claire brings a unique mindfulness- informed perspective to her work. A thirty-year student of Insight and Zen meditation traditions, Claire is known for offering grounded perspectives on illness through her Quaker and Buddhist lenses. Before earning her graduate degrees in acupuncture, Claire made a living as an organic farmer and science educator; two profound experiences which continue to inform her holistic prescriptions today. In 2021 Claire completed advanced study with the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and continues to pursue her interests in bringing compassionate presence to all aspects of illness, aging, difficult diagnoses, and end of life care.
Claire holds certifications in evidence-based mind body techniques to prepare patients for events such as surgery, fertility interventions and chemotherapy. She is qualified to offer patients personally tailored, clinically tested progressive relaxation and visualization programs during acupuncture sessions. In addition, she is a Certified Consulting Hypnotist and a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists.
Acupuncture and Animals
An animal lover and former farmer, Claire’s professional interests in anatomy and animals have given her a unique niche: Claire enjoys the distinction of being the acupuncturist on call for animals at Zoo New England and the New England Aquarium, translating the anatomical pathways of acupuncture to several mammalian and reptilian species. Claire receives referrals and requests for animal consultations from veterinarians from around the world. Her primary non-human patients are companion and service dogs. See some of the links below for news coverage of her work with endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles.
Claire lives on the coast of Massachusetts with her husband and dogs. She credits daily time in the garden, living on the ocean and an abundance of humor, laughter & contemplative silence with friends and patients alike for grounding her in her profession and in life.
In the News
Claire’s work has been published in several North American and European Journals and she has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and Boston Magazine.
Professional Memberships
- The Society for Acupuncture Research
- The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy
- The Acupuncture Society of Massachusetts
- Society for Integrative Oncology
- National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
- Committee on Acupuncture - Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine
- Winthrop Chamber of Commerce