Lakewood Ranch Acupuncture and Wellness

We Want to Help You Experience Optimum Health.
Are you seeking relief from chronic pain or a longstanding emotional health issue?
Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?
Are you ready to restore your health to what it once was naturally, effectively, and without side effects?

Our Mission
Our mission at Lakewood Ranch Acupuncture and Wellness is to empower others to achieve greater health with integrity, compassion, support, education and inspiration to help them to maintain their health in a harmonious and balanced way.

Dr. Amanda Carter
Owner and Founder of Lakewood Ranch Acupuncture and Wellness

Dr. Amanda Carter is a Nationally Board Certified Acupuncture Physician and Doctor of Oriental Medicine. She is the founder of Lakewood Ranch Acupuncture and Wellness and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the 5-year Traditional Oriental Medicine graduate program at East West College of Natural Medicine. The journey that led Amanda to study Chinese medicine began at the age of 25 when she found herself suffering from chronic pain which manifested in a continuous headache that lasted for seven months. In addition to that, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, and a sleep disorder. After years of going to allopathic doctors to treat these ailments, she suddenly found herself on 6 different pharmaceutical drugs at this young age. The medications began to lose their effectiveness over time until they were no longer effective and she felt as if her health was declining more every year. Frustrated and completely desperate, she weaned off of the drugs with help from her doctor and started to read every book she could get her hands on about holistic nutrition and its role in the body’s health. After completely changing her diet and going off of the drugs she realized a spark of passion for learning had been ignited and she desired to learn as much as she could about natural health.

Dr. Carter first received a certification in Holistic Nutrition from Trinity College of Natural Health, then went on to receive her Bachelor’s in Natural Health from Clayton College of Natural Medicine. Learning about natural health led her to be more curious about Chinese Medicine so she sought out a Doctor of Oriental Medicine to see if this would help with her health problems and possibly be even more powerful than the nutrition therapy she had been experimenting with on her own. The results were amazing and over time her health was restored completely. She decided to learn about this medicine that had been so instrumental in healing her body so she enrolled in East West College of Natural Medicine, in Sarasota, Florida, where she received her degree in Oriental Medicine. She also received her certification in acupuncturist point injection therapy, which treats a wide variety of ailments and is an excellent adjunct to receiving traditional acupuncture. Dr. Carter completed residency programs at East West College of Natural Medicine’s general health clinic as well as Health South Rehabilitation hospital in Sarasota where she worked with pain management, digestive disorders, post-accident, post-stroke and post-surgery patients.

Dr. Carter’s own history of health problems has given her compassion and understanding for her patients and she is caring and completely focused on each individual. She truly desires to see each patient healthy and in physical and emotional balance and is motivated to help them achieve their own optimal health.

Dr. Courtney Spafford
Acupuncture Physician, Doctor of Oriental Medicine

Dr. Courtney Spafford, DOM, AP, is a nationally board-certified (NCCAOM) and Florida licensed acupuncturist. She earned her degree from East West College of Natural Medicine, a rigorous five-year program consisting of over 4,050 hours, both in the classroom and under clinical supervision as an intern. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and won the prestigious Founders Award. Courtney also received additional training in acupuncture injection therapy, which is an advanced form of acupuncture that utilizes therapeutic and natural injectable fluids in place of traditional needles, thus blending the best of Traditional Chinese Medicine with conventional and homeopathic medicine.

Her specialties include pain management, sports medicine, internal medicine, OBGYN/fertility disharmonies, as well as gastrointestinal imbalances.

Courtney compassionately provides her patients with individualized and comprehensive care, treating a variety of conditions. More than just treating diseases and their symptoms, she promotes preventative health, wellness and patient empowerment. She is passionate and extremely committed to helping people feel their best each and every day. She feels incredibly fortunate to have found this career path and thoroughly enjoys waking up each morning to help others.

Prior to becoming a practitioner of Oriental Medicine, while on a full scholarship for tennis, Dr. Spafford earned a degree from Hillsborough College in Tampa, Florida. It was her prowess as a tennis player that, ironically, led her to her new career. She was sidelined by an ankle injury on the court that delayed her transition to the professional circuit. It was that injury, however, that exposed her to acupuncture for the first time. It was truly a blessing in disguise.

A continually evolving practitioner, Dr. Spafford remains inspired by this endlessly fascinating system of healing. She aims to empower her patients physically, mentally and spiritually through patient-centered care.

Dr. Adrianne Smith
Acupuncture Physician, Doctor of Oriental Medicine

Dr. Adrianne Smith is a Nationally Board Certified Acupuncture Physician and Doctor of Oriental Medicine. She graduated from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. During her various veterinary experiences, she was exposed to the use of acupuncture on horses, dogs, and cats. The positive results from using acupuncture and other holistic health treatments steered her career in a different direction.

Finding East West College of Natural Medicine located in beautiful Sarasota, Florida gave her a break from the snow and a chance to learn about Traditional Chinese Medicine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from this 5-year graduate program. During her program, she had multiple internships covering a wide variety of treatments and patient demographics. Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital gave her experience working with severely debilitated patients from stroke, trauma, and/or surgery. Other experiences focused on alleviating the side effects of medications, dealing with depression and other emotional issues, correcting digestive discomfort, and most of all, pain management. In Tampa, she interned with a sports medicine acupuncturist who exposed her to trigger point therapy and expanded her knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy in relation to pain associated with osteoarthritis, bulging discs, pinched nerves, post-surgery complications and more.

She interned at the Traditions School of Herbal Therapies in St. Petersburg where she was able to formulate individually-based prescriptions using Eastern and Western herbal theories. In Sarasota, she interned with a fast-paced private practice and, for over a year, she was a paid acupuncture assistant at a different private practice increasing her understanding of laboratory tests, nutritional counseling, high-quality supplements, and various energetic therapies. She received her certification in acupuncture point injection therapy allowing her to inject botanical, homeopathic and vitamin-based remedies that can expedite the healing process and boost immunity.

As a member of the Florida State Oriental Medicine Association, she advocated at the state capitol for using acupuncture for pain management over the use of opioids or the use of acupuncture synergistically with opioids. She has a passion to treat acute and chronic pain. Her treatment specialties also include digestive disorders, and pediatric care. Her passion for healing has lead her to Lakewood Ranch Acupuncture and Wellness.