Dr. Mariposa is truly an East-West woman, having lived for equal parts of her life on both coasts of the country. Mariposa spent her youth in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Her early exploration of body-mind politicking revealed itself in her undergraduate studies. She received an Associate of Arts Degree in Theater Arts from Roger Williams College in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1978. She then went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology , minoring in Women’s Studies, from the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 1981. In the 1980’s Mariposa moved to the West Coast to follow her heart on the path of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at what was then newly opened, and now famed, Five Branches Institute. She was licensed nationally and in the state of California to practice acupuncture in 1988. She received her DAOM in 2009 from Five Branches University. She has served as an Associate Professor and Clinical Faculty at Five Branches University since September 2000 and is also a clinical supervisor for interns and students of the craft of healing.