Master Alchemy Apprenticeship Program (MAAP)
Alchemical Chinese Medicine
Discover our multi-year Apprenticeship in Internal Alchemy and Alchemical Healing for acupuncturists, acupressurists, energy healers, self-cultivators, and life-long leaners using a new system of Chinese Medicine based on Daoist Alchemy and Heart-Centered Healing.
What Makes This Program Unique
Your Learning Follows Your Transformation
The most distinctive element of MAAP is that you receive the medicine while you study it.
Throughout the year, you’ll receive 10 monthly virtual Alchemy sessions – either Nine Stages of Alchemy or Alchemical Life Strategy sessions. These aren’t demonstrations or case studies. These are YOUR sessions, for YOUR transformation, scheduled regularly throughout your training.
This is what allows the teaching to land. You’re not just learning theory about releasing the baggage of this lifetime or freeing your heart from its tentacles – you’re actively doing that work with skilled guidance. The lectures illuminate what’s happening in your sessions. Your sessions deepen what you’re learning in the lectures.
Because Alchemy is... everything.
“Do you sense there’s something deeper calling you? Do you feel drawn to help others in ways that go beyond the surface?”
For us, Alchemy is everything. It forms the core of our own personal journeys, and we are eager to share this path with you—when the time is right for you in your life. We are all different and can only make decisions for ourselves on our own timelines of our journey in this lifetime. We created the Alchemy Learning Center for those who seek more: more understanding, deeper insights, and an expanded knowledge of time and space to go beyond what you thought was possible for yourself. Here, you get to write your own story, and we will guide you as best we can. Alchemy is a solo journey that can be shared with many.
Personal Mentorship with Your Teachers
This isn’t a recorded course. You’ll have direct relationship with Leta, Jaye, and Leora throughout your journey, with monthly Q&A sessions for both personal and clinical questions.
Dynamic, Interactive Learning
Our Zoom classes foster deep discussions with diverse perspectives and experiences of different Elemental types. This is live teaching with real-time exchange.
Accelerated Learning Path
Our students accomplish in a few years what took us 20 years to achieve. We take the theories of Alchemy and apply them to practical work so you can step out on this path boldly and confidently.
Deepen Your Knowledge in Alchemical Chinese Medicine
This program teaches a comprehensive system of Alchemical Chinese Medicine that Leta and Jaye have developed over decades of practice and study.
We draw primarily from Jeffrey Yuen’s teachings – Leta and Jaye have been his students for over 20 years – but this synthesis includes other lineages, Leta’s own Alchemical studies that predates meeting Jeffrey, and years of direct transmission and refinement.
This is a living tradition we’re actively creating and evolving.
What makes it Alchemical Chinese Medicine rather than just Chinese Medicine? We work directly with consciousness transformation. We engage the Five Spirits not just as theoretical constructs but as lived, embodied presences. We treat the Shen, work with death and dying, cultivate Wu Wei and Yuan Qi, and understand points and channels as gateways to internal alchemy.
In ancient times, wise practitioners observed that most people lived like little boats on a stormy sea, tossed this way and that. Instead of being at the mercy of life’s turbulent seas, unable to navigate without a rudder, sail, or oars, ancient Alchemists pursued a higher path. They craved wisdom rather than material possessions. They discovered a way to navigate through life’s storms, charting a course to destinations of their choosing.
Their aim was to become what the Chinese call a “realized human being” or a “Zhen Ren” – wizards and magicians who energetically embraced all Five Elements within themselves and learned to unlock the secrets of transcending the ordinary human experience through Daoist Alchemy.
We believe this is a road truly worth taking.
Who This Is For
This program is for people who are:
- Ready for real change, not just more information
- Called to work with consciousness, spirit, and transformation (whether in themselves or in service to others)
- Willing to do their own internal work as the foundation
- Looking for mentorship, not just coursework
- Drawn to lineage-based teaching rooted in Daoist tradition
You might be: a licensed acupuncturist or TCM practitioner wanting to go deeper, a bodyworker/herbalist/energy healer ready to integrate Alchemical principles, a dedicated cultivator with no clinical practice here for personal transformation, or someone brand new to Chinese Medicine but genuinely called to this path.
What matters isn’t your credentials. It’s your readiness.
Who This Isn’t For
This program is not for those looking for quick techniques or weekend certifications, want information without personal transformation, need their learning to stay comfortable and intellectual, or aren’t willing to be held accountable to their own process.
We hold a deep container. That means we ask real things of our students. If that doesn’t call to you, there are many excellent programs that might serve you better.
Benefits of Our Master Alchemy Program
Our Master Alchemy Apprenticeship Program is designed to effectively, professionally, and safely speed up your learning process. We take the theories of Alchemy and apply them to practical clinical work so you can step out on this path boldly and confidently. Our students accomplish in a few years what took us 20 years to achieve.
Benefits of the Self-Cultivator Path
Live Lectures with Replay Access
Weekly Zoom classes that are dynamic and highly interactive, fostering deep discussions with diverse perspectives and experiences of different Elemental types. Can't make it live? Every session is recorded with permanent access.
Monthly Interactive Q&A Sessions
These monthly sessions provide space for your deeper questions about this work - both for your own cultivation and, if you're a practitioner, for your clinical work. This is where the teaching gets personal.
Included Prerequisite Courses
Before the live program begins, you'll have full access to our foundational online courses: Five Element Theory, Nine Palaces, Chaotic Energy, and Introduction to Alchemy. By the time we gather for our first live session, everyone enters with shared vocabulary and core concepts mastered. The live program goes deep from day one.
Weekly Exercises & Challenges
Engaging practices designed to enhance your self-cultivation and move you into deeper understanding of your own life. This is where the lectures become lived experience.
10 Monthly Alchemy Sessions
This program includes 10 monthly Alchemy sessions (in-person or virtual) for both Self-Cultivator and Practitioner Certification paths. This is what makes this program truly unique! Your learning follows your transformation. (You will also have special pricing if you wish to add additional treatments!)
Community of Alchemist-in-Training
Access to our private community forum where you can connect with fellow students, ask questions between sessions, and be supported by others walking this path alongside you.
Additional Benefits for Practitioner Certification Path
Observation of Alchemy Treatments
You'll observe 2 or more Ling-Shu treatments (such as the Ghost Points) in person. Watching these treatments is a profound experience that becomes healing for all observers - and essential for learning how to hold space for this work.
Supervised Treatments Plus Post-Clinical Review
A supervisor will guide you through 2 or more Ghost Point treatments (4-6 hours each) when you feel ready. After your supervised sessions, you'll complete 5 treatments on your own while still receiving clinical supervision. This gives you real-world practice with ongoing support.
Personal Alchemical Life Strategy Session
At your graduation meeting, we'll go over all of your clinical work and make recommendations for your next steps forward as a certified practitioner.
Pre-Graduation Review & Recommendations Meeting
At your graduation meeting, we will go over all of your clinical work and make recommendations for your next steps forward!
Receive 90+ NCCAOM
or 50+ California CEUs
For Practitioner Certification students, you'll be eligible to receive approved continuing education credits from NCCAOM or California after completing all prerequisites.
Access to Practitioner Classes
Deepen your clinical skills with specialized classes focused on advanced treatment protocols, clinical applications, point energetics, and professional practice development.
Level 1 Program: Embarking on Your Journey
This year-long program includes 26 comprehensive lectures covering the foundations of Alchemical Chinese Medicine, the first two stages of the Nine Stages of Alchemy, and the complete Thirteen Ghost Points treatment protocol.
Building Your Foundation
Included Prerequisite Courses
Before we begin the live program, you’ll have full access to our foundational online courses: Five Element Theory, Nine Palaces, Chaotic Energy, and Introduction to Alchemy.
This is a significant gift to the program. By the time we gather for our first live session, everyone enters with shared vocabulary, common reference points, and a solid grasp of core concepts. This allows us to dive immediately into the deep work without spending months on basics.
These courses alone represent hundreds of hours of teaching – and they’re included in your enrollment at no additional cost. You’ll move through them at your own pace before the program begins, building the foundation that makes everything else possible.
When we start the live lectures, we start advanced.
Level 1 Modules Overview
Your Alchemy Path
Lecture 1: Your Alchemical Self-Cultivation Path
Focus: Introduction to Alchemy and Personal Discovery
Lecture 2: Rapport and Professional Intimacy
Focus: Building Connection and Understanding Energy
Understanding the Alchemical Process
Lecture 3: Overview of the Nine Stages
Focus: Introduction to the Complete Alchemical Framework
Lecture 4: Stage One of Alchemy
Focus: Deep Dive into the First Stage
Focus: Opening the Door to Inner Work
Lecture 5: The First Trinity and the Door to You
Focus: Introduction to the first Trinity of Ghost Points and Your Interface with the World
Lecture 6: Trust and Perception
Focus: Building Trust and Changing Perspective
Heart Work and Unconscious Patterns
Lecture 7: Your Heart and Your Road
Focus: Heart Connection and Life Path
Lecture 8: Unconscious Beliefs and Sleep Disturbances
Focus: Third Trinity and Mental Patterns
How You Show Up in the Outer World and for Yourself
Lecture 9: Self-Expression in the World
Focus: How You Speak About Yourself
Lecture 10: Healing Heart Wounds
Focus: Addressing Emotional Pain
Intimacy, Guilt, Shame, and Identity
Lecture 11: Intimacy and Connection
Focus: Fourth Trinity and Deep Connection
Lecture 12: Guilt and Shame
Focus: Working with Heavy Emotions
Lecture 13: Oppression and Personal Rules
Focus: Breaking Free from External Control
Lecture 14: Identity and Completion
Focus: Your True Identity
Ethics and Implementation
Lecture 15: Ghost Points in Practice
Focus: Practical Application and Ethics
Lecture 16: Ethics and Next Steps
Focus: Professional Ethics and Advancement
Lecture 17: Daoist Numerology
Focus: Sacred Numbers and Spiritual Framework
Advanced Alchemical Work
Lecture 18: Building Your Alchemical Cauldron
Focus: Stage Two Overview and Personal Practice
Lecture 19: Releasing Lifetime Baggage
Focus: Deep Clearing Work
Freeing Your Heart and Triggers
Lecture 20: Heart Freedom
Focus: Understanding the Tentacles of the Heart
Activities:
- Discussion: The Tentacles of the Heart
- Exploration: How Heart Tentacles Limit Freedom
- Meditation: Free Your Heart
Materials:
- Handout: Tentacles of the Heart
Assignments:
- Weekly Challenge: Tentacles of the Heart
Lecture 21: Working with Triggers
Focus: Emotional Reactivity and Freedom
Activities:
- Discussion: Understanding Triggers
- Exercise: Triggers and Tentacles Connection
Assignments:
- Weekly Challenge: Don’t Pull My Trigger
Cultivating Authentic Virtue
Lecture 22: The Five Confucian Virtues
Focus: Confucian Virtues vs. Authenticity
Lecture 23: Earth and Metal Virtues
Focus: Grounding and Refinement
Lecture 24: Water Virtue and the Nine Palaces
Focus: Flow and Sacred Space
Lecture 25: Removing Obstacles
Focus: Alchemical Life Strategy
Lecture 26: Integration and Next Steps
Focus: Marketing and Continuation
Daily Practice Requirements
- Movement: Qi Gong & Dao Yin Exercises (daily throughout program)
- Meditation: Various guided meditations as assigned
- Weekly Challenges: Practical application exercises
Program Materials
- Five Element Handouts and Exercises
- Stage One Treatment Guides
- Ghost Point Treatment Guides
- Daoist Numerology Reference
- Virtue Cultivation Handouts
Two Paths: One Foundation
Everyone begins with the same core, Self-Cultivator program that includes your membership in the ALC and all of your classes, Q&A sessions, monthly treatments, and clinical supervision.
Self-Cultivator (Core Program)
Our core program is great fo those here to provide a foundational education for personal transformation & growth.-
10-Month Payment Plan
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26 Weekly Live Classes with Replay Access
-
26 Weekly Exercises and Challenges
-
10 Monthly Interactive Q&A Sessions
-
10 Monthly Virtual Alchemy Sessions
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10-Month Access to Seeker level Membership
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Access to Community Forum & Peer Support
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No CEU's or Certification Included
-
Accelerated Session Track ($750 - $1,500)
-
Ling-Shu Treatments ($900 - $1,800)
Practitioner Certification
This track is focused on guiding practitioners to building their skillset in addition to gaining CEU's and Certification. You pay the same core program tuition, then add clinical training components as you progress - many students complete the clinical work in their second year.-
Everything in the Core Program PLUS
-
2 Ghost Point Treatment Observations ($250)
-
2 Supervised Ghost Point Treatments with Post-Clinical Review ($1,800)
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5 Independent Treatments with Ongoing Supervision
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Personal Alchemical Life Strategy Session ($900 - $1,800)
-
Pre-Graduation Review with 1-year Practitioner Listing on ALC website ($500)
-
Ling-Shu Treatments ($900 - $1,800)
-
Accelerated Session Track ($750 - $1,500)
-
90+ NCCAOM or 50+ California CEUs
Self-Cultivator (Core Program)
Our core program is great fo those here to provide a foundational education for personal transformation & growth.-
26 Weekly Live Classes with Replay Access
-
26 Weekly Exercises and Challenges
-
10 Monthly Interactive Q&A Sessions
-
10 Monthly Virtual Alchemy Sessions
-
10-Month Access to Seeker level Membership
-
Access to Community Forum & Peer Support
-
No CEU's or Certification Included
-
Accelerated Session Track ($750 - $1,500)
-
Ling-Shu Treatments ($900 - $1,800)
Practitioner Certification
This track is focused on guiding practitioners to building their skillset in addition to gaining CEU's and Certification. You pay the same core program tuition, then add clinical training components as you progress - many students complete the clinical work in their second year.-
Everything in the Core Program PLUS
-
2 Ghost Point Treatment Observations ($250)
-
2 Supervised Ghost Point Treatments with Post-Clinical Review ($1,800)
-
5 Independent Treatments with Ongoing Supervision
-
Personal Alchemical Life Strategy Session ($900 - $1,800)
-
Pre-Graduation Review with 1-year Practitioner Listing on ALC website ($500)
-
Ling-Shu Treatments ($900 - $1,800)
-
Accelerated Session Track ($750 - $1,500)
-
90+ NCCAOM or 50+ California CEUs
Additional Information
Many students find twice-monthly sessions create stronger momentum:
- Add 5 sessions (15 total over the year) for $750
- Add 10 sessions (20 total over the year) for $1,500
The regular rate for these sessions is $225 each. This discounted rate is only available during enrollment.
Ling-Shu means “Spiritual Pivot” – and that’s exactly what this intensive in-person session provides.
This is the work that changes lives.
Students describe these treatments as magical, life-changing, even life-saving. This is where stuck patterns that have been running your life for decades finally release. Where grief that’s been lodged in your body begins to move. Where you access levels of authenticity you didn’t know were possible.
This is a full-day treatment (4-6 hours on day one, with a follow-up session on day two) where one of our certified practitioners assesses what you need most and provides the appropriate Alchemical treatment protocol.
You might receive:
- The Thirteen Ghost Points – releasing the deep patterns, heart wounds, unconscious beliefs, guilt, shame, and identity issues that keep you small
- Internal Dragons – for the deepest blocks that make you inaccessible to yourself
- External Dragons – for blocks in your Will that prevent you from walking your destiny path
- Alchemical Grieving – moving stuck grief that’s been held in the body, grief that won’t budge
We don’t prescribe the protocol before we meet you. Your practitioner will assess what’s clinically appropriate – what will serve your transformation most powerfully at this moment in your journey. This is better medicine than applying a formula.
These treatments promote the deeper levels of authenticity required for real Alchemical work. They release whatever has been preventing you from progressing in your life – and especially in your Alchemy. Students consistently report that receiving this treatment in conjunction with the program unlocks everything else. The teachings land differently. The practices go deeper. The transformation accelerates.
For Self-Cultivator students:
This Ling-Shu Treatment is strongly recommended. It’s a profound entry point into your own transformation and will deepen everything you learn in the program.
Investment:
- $1,800 with a certified practitioner
- $900 with a supervised student practitioner
(Paid separately from program tuition)
For Practitioner Certification students:
What’s required: You must receive a Ling-Shu Treatment that includes the Thirteen Ghost Points protocol specifically, since this is the primary treatment we teach in Level 1. You must experience it from the inside before you can offer it to others.
Most students only need one treatment because when your practitioner assesses you, they determine the Ghost Points protocol is what you need – and you’re done. One session fulfills the requirement.
Occasionally: Your practitioner may assess that a different protocol (Internal Dragons, External Dragons, or Alchemical Grieving) will serve your transformation better first. In that case, you’ll receive that protocol in your first Ling-Shu Treatment, then schedule a second session for the Ghost Points once you’re ready.
Total investment for certification students:
- Most students: $1,800 (one Ling-Shu Treatment with certified practitioner) or $900 (with supervised student)
- Occasionally: $3,600 (two Ling-Shu Treatments with certified practitioners) or $1,800 (with supervised students)
This isn’t just a requirement – it’s essential. You cannot guide others through this work until you’ve walked through it yourself.
Where to receive these treatments:
- With certified practitioners in Northampton, MA or other locations in the USA
- With supervised student practitioners (when available)
- At one of our Alchemy retreats
You can add your first Ling-Shu Treatment during enrollment or schedule it during the first few months of our program.
These sessions are based on specific acupoint protocols from the Nine Stages of Alchemy system. Even though we’re working virtually, the medicine is precise and powerful.
During your session, your practitioner works with specific acupoint sequences designed for your current stage of transformation. Using our Alchemical approach, we vibrate these points energetically to “shake up” the stuck patterns that have been protecting you – patterns that may no longer serve you but that your system has been holding onto.
This isn’t forceful. It’s invitation. The vibration motivates change, supports release, and creates space for growth, depending on which stage you’re working with.
You might be:
- Releasing rebellious qi to create ease in your life (Stage One)
- Building your internal cauldron for transformation (Stage Two)
- Releasing ancestral baggage or prebirth influences – past-life memories that haunt you, inherited patterns, anything from before this lifetime (Stage Three)
- Becoming a sage child and flying in your life – where the real fun begins (Stages Four-Six)
- Working with even deeper consciousness transformation in the later stages
Sessions are typically 60 minutes. You’ll be on video with your practitioner, fully clothed, in a quiet space where you can relax and receive. Many students report feeling shifts during the session itself – warmth, tingling, emotional release, deep relaxation, or clarity. Others notice the changes unfold over the days following.
The key is consistency. Monthly sessions create momentum. Twice-monthly sessions accelerate the work significantly.
Many students choose to add additional sessions during enrollment to receive sessions twice monthly throughout the year. This option is available at the same deeply discounted rate as your included sessions – only during enrollment.
Testimonials
Be a part of the Alchemical Chinese Medicine movement of healing… bringing transformational magic that heals not just our bodies and minds, but our spirits.
About Your Teachers
The curriculum for the Master Alchemy Program is based on heart-centered transformation (of yourself and your clients). This program is not just teaching you how to treat others (though many who jaoin the program want to incorporate this into their practice). This program is about YOU! It’s about YOUR HEART… and a journey we will take through your transformation path. Heart-centered teaching is a philosophy that is not prioritizing intellectualism, but rather merges our brilliant minds with our emotional heart center and recognizes the heart pains that may be interfering with our own authenticity.
Leta Herman
Co-Founder
Leta Herman is an Alchemical Healer, Chinese Medicine teacher, Podcast host of the Inspired Action Podcast, as well as author of Through the Mystery Gate, The Energy of Love, Connecting Your Circle, and The BIG “Little” Gua Sha Book. She is the co-founder of the Alchemy Healing Center, a very active Chinese Medicine clinic in Northampton, MA dedicated to helping clients find their true potential through Alchemical transformation. She is the driving force behind the new Alchemy Learning Center, offering online classes and live events related to The Five Elements, The Nine Palaces, and Alchemy.
Jaye McElroy
Co-Founder
Jaye McElroy is an Alchemical Life Strategist, Podcast host of the Inspired Action Podcast, as well as author of Through the Mystery Gate, The Energy of Love, Connecting Your Circle, and The BIG “Little” Gua Sha Book. She is the co-founder of the Alchemy Healing Center, a very active Chinese Medicine clinic in Northampton, MA dedicated to helping clients find their true potential through Alchemical transformation. She is a co-founder of the new Alchemy Learning Center, offering online classes and live events related to The Five Elements, The Nine Palaces, and Alchemy.
Leora Esterra
Instructor
Leora Esterra, MD, MAc, DABMA, DiplAc is a certified Alchemical Practitioner and Teacher in the ALC. She brings a strong clinical background to the ALC teaching program along with a deep understanding of Alchemical Chinese Medicine. She began her healing journey in Western medicine, starting with a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Columbia University in New York City and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2007. She holds a Master’s Degree in Acupuncture from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Gainesville, Florida and also completed the Medical Acupuncture Course for Physicians through the Helms Medical Institute.