By Dr. Seneca & Kay Anderson, Longevity Founders
We write to you today to officially announce our retirement at the end of May. This year we will turn 77 and 80 years old respectively (guess which one is oldest), and we feel that the time has come to live full-time at our home in the mountains of North Carolina. We have plenty of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, projects, a garden, and animals to keep us busy in the days ahead!
It’s hard to believe that 2023 marks 45 years since our health practice began! When we first started out, we had no idea that our vision for a natural health care center would flourish to the extent that it has. At that time, there was only one Naturopath in practice in the entire Atlanta area. A statutory definition of Naturopathy existed in the Georgia code, left over from a naturopathic board that had been eliminated due to a coordinated campaign by the Georgia Medical Association.
I, my wife Kay (pregnant with #6), along with our 5 children moved to the Atlanta area from Boston, where I had completed my acupuncture training, only to discover that there was no licensing available for acupuncturists in the state of Georgia. In fact, acupuncture was generally unheard of, as opposed to chiropractic, which was already well established due to the presence of Life Chiropractic College in Marietta.
In 1978 I completed my Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine, and later went on to earn a Doctorate in Oriental Medicine. Kay and I opened our first practice in September, 1978, the East West Center. We offered acupuncture, nutritional consultation, massage therapy, and various classes on natural healing and cooking. I, along with several like-minded patients made repeated attempts to introduce acupuncture into the Georgia legislature, but it was always firmly resisted by the medical association and its big pharma backers. In fact, it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that an article in a prestigious journal criticizing the way Georgia left acupuncture unregulated embarrassed the legislature to pass the identical legislation which they had previously failed to pass.
While working for acupuncture legislation, we attempted to conform our practice to the statutory definition of naturopathy, which reads something like: the diagnosis and treatment of human illness with the use of air, light, heat and cold, utilizing such substances, nutritional, as naturally required by the human body, excluding drugs, surgery and radiation.
Our practice thrived, but eventually I was charged with practicing medicine without a license. I argued that I wasn’t practicing medicine. I do not utilize drugs or surgery, but practice naturopathy
according to the statutory definition. By the grace of God, Judge Curtis Tillman ruled that I could continue my practice under supervision, and that the supervision could be provided by an MD, DO, or DC. This has effectively established a precedent which has allowed for other naturopaths to practice in Georgia. So much headway has been made in the state of Georgia and across the country over the last few decades, and as I write this, the future of natural healing looks bright indeed!
As we look back on the last 45 years, we are grateful and humbled by the many thousands of people who trusted us to guide them and their families on a path to better health. And, of course, we are especially thankful for all of the caring professionals who have come alongside us to help achieve positive results for so many patients. To God be all the glory! He has sustained us and upheld us all these years! We know that we are just vessels, and He is the Great Physician!
As we prepare to retire, we are so proud to pass the torch into the capable hands of our daughter, Dr. Alice Honican, who has been a Lead Practitioner at Longevity for nearly two decades, as well as our daughter, Melina Smith, who has faithfully served as Director of Operations for more than 35 years. Alice is a skillful Acupuncturist, Herbalist, and gifted student (She recently completed her Doctorate in Oriental Medicine!), and it makes us so proud to watch her serve her patients with so much knowledge, care, and compassion.
We are also so confident in the knowledgeable, skilled, and caring practitioners, therapists, and staff members who make up the Longevity team. Christina McMullen. ND, joined us some 15 years ago, and is like another daughter to us. As a young mother of four, she is particularly skillful at working with children. Anna Powers, ND, joined Longevity some 6 years ago. Anna was already an accomplished tester and neurofeedback practitioner, and we have all benefited from her warm disposition, humor, and compassion. While working at my side for the past ten years, my personal Patient Coordinator, Maria Jones, ND, also earned Certifications as a Master Herbalist, Holistic Health Practitioner, and Traditional Naturopath and she is now stepping into the practitioner role herself. Maria often knows what I’m thinking during a patient evaluation before I can even say it!
To all our loyal and faithful patients over the years, we say a huge thank you. You’ll never know how much it means to our family and staff that you have trusted us with your health, and hopefully will continue to do so. We know that the Longevity mission to Love God and Serve People will be carried out for generations to come. We wish you abundant health in mind, body, and spirit!
Sincerely,
Doc & Kay
