Books
Memoir, fiction, and a clear account of trauma and the brain.
View Richard’s booksRichard Grossman
L.Ac., O.M.D., Ph.D.
Books, medicine, consciousness, and a commitment to helping people improve their lives.
Richard Grossman is a Licensed Acupuncturist, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, writer, musician, and longtime practitioner whose work explores trauma, consciousness, healing, psychedelics, spirituality, and the ways people change.
For people trying to understand suffering, identity, healing, and what change actually requires.
Why Heart Feather?
The name comes from the ancient Egyptian image of the heart weighed against a feather. For Richard, it is a way of thinking about healing: what we carry has weight, and some of that weight can be set down.
Explore Richard’s work
Writings
Essays on medicine, consciousness, culture, and the questions behind Richard’s books.
Read the latest writingVideos
Interviews and conversations about healing, trauma, plant medicine, and consciousness.
Watch the videosAbout
From his father’s pharmacy to Beijing, private practice, writing, and work in Peru.
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Richard GrossmanL.Ac., O.M.D., Ph.D.
Richard’s fascination with healing began when he was young. It has carried him from his father’s pharmacy to India, Beijing, private practice, music, writing, and ceremonial work.
A sudden death in his family awakened questions about suffering, death, and healing that would stay with him for the rest of his life.
A pharmacist’s son with questions
Richard grew up surrounded by doctors and spent summers and weekends in his father’s pharmacy. He was especially interested in the rare occasions when prescriptions were compounded from plants.
When a school assignment asked what he wanted to become, his answer came without hesitation: he wanted to study the effects of plants and medicines on the mind. He did not yet know that such a field existed.
His search was also personal. When he was still young, an uncle died suddenly. The shock of that loss left him with questions about suffering, death, God, and what healing could actually mean. He read widely in Asian and South Asian philosophy and shamanism, looking for God and meaning and asking questions the adults around him couldn’t or wouldn’t answer.
“Without a spiritual component, you might practice medicine, but you couldn’t practice healing.”
— Richard Grossman
India, Beijing, and the clinic
At eighteen, Richard traveled to India. On the banks of the Ganges, he studied meditation and the deep connection between body, mind, and spirit. He began to understand that, without a spiritual component, you might practice medicine, but you couldn’t practice healing. The healing path had become his calling.
During the following decade, he studied Asian philosophy, Tai Chi, massage, macrobiotics, juice fasting, yoga, aikido, and herbal medicine.
In 1979, he entered the Oriental Medicine program at the California Acupuncture College in Los Angeles. Three years later, he was one of three students from the school selected for postgraduate acupuncture training in Beijing through a program sponsored by the World Health Organization.
He returned to California, opened a private practice, and continued his education, earning a master’s degree in acupuncture, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine degree, and a Ph.D. in Oriental Medicine, along with advanced credentials in pain management and acupuncture orthopedics.
“The mind says, ‘I’m fine.’ Something underneath disagrees.”
From the clinic to Peru
Not long after beginning his acupuncture practice, several strands of Richard’s life began to converge: medicine, spiritual practice, entheogens, sound, and music.
In 2005, he was invited to speak about sound healing at an international conference on Indigenous Healing in Iquitos, Peru. His travels in Ecuador and Peru allowed him to pursue a longstanding dream of studying with Indigenous teachers in their own lands and led to years of study and ceremonial work in the United States and abroad.
Over the years, music and sound became integral to his ceremonial work, drawing on instruments and traditions from several cultures. Ritual, altered states, and their relationship to healing became an increasingly important part of his work.
“Our training keeps attention fixed on what stands in front of us. The deeper layer often passes unseen.”
Writing
Over time, many of the questions Richard had pursued through medicine, spiritual practice, and ceremonial work found another form in writing.
His books include Trust and Forgive, Feather on the Heart, and The Self After Trauma. His fiction and nonfiction approach the same territory from different directions: trauma, forgiveness, identity, consciousness, healing, and the search for meaning within difficult experience.
He also writes Notes from Behind the Mesa, an ongoing series of essays on medicine, spirituality, consciousness, plant medicine, culture, and the less easily categorized places where those subjects meet.
“Different maps of the same territory.”
Today
Today, Richard’s work includes writing, teaching, music, individual consultations, and retreat preparation and support. His books and essays carry many of the questions that have accompanied him since childhood: how suffering is held, what helps it change, and what forgiveness asks of us.
Professional background
Curriculum Vitae
Richard David Grossman, L.Ac., O.M.D., Ph.D.
Educational Background
Diplomate
American Academy of Pain Management
Diplomate
National Board of Acupuncture Orthopedics
Diplomate
National Academy for Certification of Acupuncture
Doctor of Philosophy in Oriental Medicine
SAMRA University of Oriental Medicine · Los Angeles, California
Doctor of Oriental Medicine
California Acupuncture College · Los Angeles, California
Master of Science in Oriental Medicine
SAMRA University of Oriental Medicine · Los Angeles, California
Graduate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
California Acupuncture College · Los Angeles, California
Graduate of the 30th International Training Course in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine · Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Certification in Sacral Occipital Technique
Los Angeles, California
Certification in Massage Therapy
Santa Monica School of Massage · Santa Monica, California
Professional Experience
Ceremony Facilitator
Private Practice
Los Angeles, California
Founding President
Turnabout: Alternative Substance-Abuse Project · Santa Monica, California
Founding Member, Board of Directors
Chair of the Fundraising Committee · Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee · State Treasurer, 1987–1989
California Acupuncture Association · Los Angeles, California
Instructor and Clinic Supervisor
Emperor’s College of Oriental Medicine · Santa Monica, California
Instructor of Oriental Medicine
California Acupuncture College · Los Angeles, California
Private Practice of Massage Therapy
Malibu, California
Additional Areas of Expertise
- Sound healing
- Creation of health-based foods and beverages
- Orthomolecular medicine
- Systemic and hepatic detoxification procedures
- Lifestyle counseling
- Spinal mobilization
- Koryo hand therapy
Books by Richard Grossman
Writing about trauma, healing, and the stories we carry.
Richard’s books include memoir, fiction, and an accessible look at the neuroscience of trauma.
A Time Threads novel
Feather on the Heart
A six-year-old girl begins withdrawing after a jaguar enters her dreams. When medicine offers no answer, her father travels to the Amazon and meets healers who suggest her illness may be tied to wounds carried across generations.
A novel about family, memory, medicine, and a father’s determination to bring his daughter home.
View on Amazon
Memoir and healing
Trust and Forgive
Richard’s memoir follows his life from childhood trauma through acupuncture, Chinese medicine, music, spiritual practice, and years of clinical work.
It asks what “trust and forgive” can mean when pain is held in the body as well as the mind.
View on Amazon
Neuroscience and trauma
The Self After Trauma
Trauma can change memory, identity, relationships, and the body’s response to danger long after an event is over.
Richard explains the brain’s Default Mode Network, why old protective patterns persist, and what research and clinical practice suggest about the possibility of change.
View on AmazonVideos and conversations
Richard in conversation about healing, trauma, ceremony, acupuncture, forgiveness, and the stories behind his books.
What Your Body Remembers: Trauma, Ancestral Healing & Forgiveness
Ayahuasca and Trauma Healing: What’s Real, What’s Illusion
Shamanism, Mysticism & Ayahuasca Wisdom with Dr. Richard Grossman
Richard Grossman on His Work with Acupuncture and Ayahuasca
Healing That Ends in Beauty: Plant Medicine & Conscious Integration
Bridging East and Amazon: Poetry, Acupuncture and Shamanism
Transforming Trauma: The Power of Plant Medicine
What Your Body Remembers: Healing Ancestral Wounds, Trauma & Forgiveness
Before you book
Common questions
Clear expectations before a client shares information or pays.
Where do sessions take place?
All currently listed sessions take place online using Zoom. Your confirmation will contain the meeting information.
When is payment collected?
Stripe collects payment in full when a paid appointment is booked. A time is not confirmed until payment succeeds. Complimentary sessions skip payment.
What is the refund policy?
Cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment for a refund. Cancellations inside 24 hours and completed services are nonrefundable except in an extreme case approved by Richard.
How far ahead can I book?
Appointments are available up to three calendar months ahead. Richard may change availability during travel.
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The booking page shows times in your device’s time zone and identifies that time zone beside the calendar.
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Only after the appointment is confirmed. The form will match the type of session and will be kept separate from payment information.
Contact Richard
If you have questions about a personal consultation, or would like to contact Richard about an interview, speaking invitation, or another matter, send a message below.
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Privacy Policy
How Heart Feather handles information shared through this website.
Last updated October 13, 2026
Heart Feather is operated by Richard Grossman. This policy explains what information may be collected through the website, why it is used, and the choices available to you.
Information you choose to provide
Depending on how you use the website, you may provide:
- Your name, email address, and the contents of a contact message.
- Appointment details, including the service, date, time, and time zone you select.
- Information you enter on a consultation or intake form, which may include health information and other sensitive personal details.
- Messages and other information you send before or after a consultation.
Please share only the information needed for your question or consultation.
Payments
When online payments are enabled, Stripe will process card information. Heart Feather will not store full payment-card numbers. Heart Feather may receive payment status, the amount paid, and transaction details needed for receipts, refunds, and recordkeeping.
How information is used
Information may be used to respond to messages, schedule and prepare for consultations, provide requested services, process payments and refunds, maintain necessary records, protect the website, and comply with legal obligations.
When information may be shared
Information may be shared with service providers only when needed to operate the website or provide a requested service. These providers may include website hosting and secure storage services, Stripe for payments, Zoom for online appointments, and email services used for correspondence.
Information may also be disclosed when required by law or when necessary to protect a person from serious harm. Heart Feather does not sell or rent personal or health information and does not provide it to third parties for advertising.
Consultation and intake information
Access to consultation and intake information is limited to Richard Grossman and the service providers needed to operate the secure system. It is kept separate from payment-card information.
Contact messages are encrypted before they are stored and are available to Richard through the protected administration area.
Website data and cookies
The website host may process basic technical information, such as an IP address, browser type, device information, and security logs. The site may use essential browser storage to remember choices or support website functions. Heart Feather does not currently use advertising cookies or cross-site behavioral advertising.
Substack or Supascribe may process information when writings are displayed or when you choose to subscribe. Their own privacy terms apply to information you provide directly to them.
Security and retention
Heart Feather uses administrative and technical safeguards intended to protect personal information. No website or storage system can guarantee absolute security.
Information is retained only as long as reasonably needed to provide services, maintain necessary business or legal records, resolve disputes, and meet legal obligations. Retention may differ by type of information.
Your choices
You may ask to review, correct, or delete personal information associated with you. Some information may need to be retained for legal, financial, or recordkeeping reasons.
Use the contact form and enter “Privacy request” as the subject.
Changes to this policy
This policy may change when the website’s services or privacy practices change. The date at the top of this page will be updated when a revision is made.