By Dave Warner

LITTLE FALLS, N.Y. — A new wellness center specializing in bioenergetic medicine and natural healing modalities has opened this fall in Little Falls, bringing data-driven alternative health options to the Mohawk Valley community.

Array of Light, located at 566 East Main St, is the brainchild of Crystal McClung, a doctor of bioenergetic medicine with a master’s in business administration. The center aims to provide clients with personalized wellness plans that blend Eastern traditions like Reiki and acupuncture with modern biofeedback technology, targeting issues from chronic pain to emotional stress.

McClung, originally from South Carolina, relocated to Little Falls with her partner, Antonino Sciara, and their 16-month-old daughter to be closer to his family, who have lived in the area for about 20 years. “We decided to be close to the family,” McClung said in a recent interview. “His family has been here for about 20 years.”

The opening comes at a time when interest in integrative health practices is rising in rural Upstate New York, where access to specialized care can be limited. Local officials and community leaders have welcomed the addition, noting it complements existing resources like the Herkimer County Health Department and nearby yoga studios.

Array of Light operates primarily by appointment, with walk-in hours on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Clients can book sessions online through the center’s website, arrayoflight.org, or by email. McClung emphasized flexibility for busy schedules: “Running around with a 16-month-old keeps me pretty busy, so I’m also trying to find that balance in life… I encourage people to do that.”

A Professional Path Forged in Personal Crisis

McClung’s journey to opening the center is marked by academic achievements, career pivots, and a health scare that redirected her toward holistic practices.

Raised in South Carolina, McClung described herself as an academically driven child with a penchant for solitary research. “I was that kid who loved everybody, was very friendly, but was also off by herself a lot,” she said. “I spent my recesses inside the library doing reports on lung cancer.” The interest stemmed from her aunt’s diagnosis during McClung’s third-grade year, leading to multiple school projects on the topic.

A straight-A student, McClung graduated from high school early and earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and religion in two and a half years. Her studies focused on the disconnect between personal beliefs and actions. “From a young age, I always wondered, why do people say they believe in something, but then they don’t follow it, or they don’t act on that,” she explained. “And that is actually what’s been the root of my life and what I’ve studied.”

Early adulthood brought challenges. From a low-income family, McClung’s Ivy League aspirations gave way to a local college. She married at 19 — “in the South, it’s what you did” — and divorced a year later. Subsequent roles included paralegal work, personal injury cases in chiropractic offices (“I like helping people, but not like this,” she recalled), and five years in nonprofits.

Encouraged by a then-boyfriend in banking to pursue a “real job,” McClung pursued an MBA with a concentration in energy management, inspired by a meditative insight on “energy” during a shower. “I was spending a lot of time praying about that… and I swear I heard energy,” she said. The degree positioned her for corporate roles, including a strategist position at Wells Fargo.

But then, her trajectory shifted dramatically. While aggressively networking in Charlotte, N.C., toward a “top 30 under 30” recognition, McClung experienced severe symptoms that her doctors tentatively linked to multiple sclerosis (MS). “I was going to the doctor, and I was told that I probably have multiple sclerosis,” she said.

Faced with the prospect of a lifelong disability label — her primary care physician advised against a formal diagnosis to avoid bureaucratic hurdles — McClung rejected Western medicine’s path. “He said, ‘MS is one of those things where you know you could have an episode now, it could go away, and you never have it again… None of us really knows. So is that something you want to carry?’ And I said, ‘No,'” she recounted.

This led to a profound lifestyle overhaul. She halted her corporate climb, began meditating — a practice she wryly called “prayer with a pause” in her conservative Southern upbringing — and explored herbal remedies, Reiki, and yoga. A move to California amplified her immersion: “I went to California… that’s where I, you know, went off the deep end, and I just started learning everything. I mean, it saved my life. Yoga saved my life.”

Yet McClung’s analytical side sought empirical validation for these “woo woo” methods. After relocating to Tucson, Ariz., where she met Sierra, she applied to the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine but was rejected. Compounding the setback, she lost her Wells Fargo job amid organizational changes.

A serendipitous text from an acquaintance — the wife of someone from a group therapy program three years prior — urged perseverance: “Hey, I was meditating this morning… You crossed my mind, and I feel like I’m supposed to tell you that it didn’t work out because it wasn’t supposed to, but the right thing is there for you. Don’t give up.”

That message propelled her to the Institute of Bioenergetic Medicine in Colorado, where she earned her doctorate. The program integrated spirituality, Eastern modalities, and bioelectromagnetic measurements. “It’s how we are biochemical, electromagnetic beings, and how you can actually measure that energy,” McClung said. “All of the Reiki work and the acupuncture that I wanted to study was in this program, but then we added this component where I could take my data-driven energy management master’s degree and apply it.”

Services: From Scans to Light Therapy

At Array of Light, sessions emphasize comprehensive assessment over quick fixes. New clients undergo a two-hour intake covering medical history, emotions, and energy patterns. “I need to spend time and really understand a person. That means getting down deep,” McClung said. “You’re going to talk to me like you would your primary care physician… but then we’re going to talk more about emotions.”

Core tools include single-point bioenergetic testing — akin to “measuring electricity out of a socket” via hand sensors — and computer-linked scans. One device identifies nutritional deficiencies or excesses; another visualizes structural issues down to the DNA level, using color-coded icons for stress points, such as back pain hotspots.

These inform tailored wellness reports: nutritional guidance, mindfulness exercises, supplements, and home activities. “My goal is education. It’s about helping everybody understand… Everything has an energetic to it, and we need to live our lives energetically,” she explained.

Follow-up treatments address specific concerns. Electro-acupuncture, similar to a TENS unit, delivers electrical stimulation. Photonic medicine and chromotherapy use colored light filters for pain management, nervous system regulation, and hormonal balance. “My modalities can really address about 95% of Western medical disease,” McClung claimed, citing applications for anxiety, depression, digestive issues, and more.

She positions her practice as complementary, not competitive, to conventional care. “Western medicine has a purpose. It’s emergency medicine. If my daughter falls and breaks her arm, I’m going to take her to the ER,” she said. “There are things I might do, but no, let’s go there. You know, there’s a person for that, and I’m not that person.”

Privacy follows SOAP note standards, though not strictly HIPAA-bound, as services fall outside diagnostic medicine. “We’re talking about that history, and they’re all data points… for me, I’m talking about your energy and how things are stressed,” McClung noted.

Targeting Intentional Living in the Mohawk Valley

McClung seeks clients committed to proactive health — from seniors frustrated with prescriptions (“they’re tired of going to their doctor and being told, ‘Oh, here’s a prescription. Take a prescription, which you’re trading your future for today'”) to younger adults wary of a “broken” system.

“I want to appeal to the people who are looking to live life in an intentional way and better understand how to impact their health so that they’re not stuck in this rut of just poor quality of life,” she said. “Or who are worried about that in the future.”

The center’s family challenges add relatability: Her daughter’s celiac disease demands gluten-free home cooking, mirroring the intentionality she promotes.

Expansion plans include workshops and classes. A tinctures and extracts session is scheduled in two weeks. “I’m going to start trying to do more. Hopefully I can partner with someone for a bigger space… do some more educational things,” McClung said.

Community feedback has been positive. Visitors yesterday mentioned a Utica venue for collaboration, and McClung is exploring local networks. “Thank you for all these resources. I have been getting so many,” she said.

For inquiries, visit arrayoflight.org or call 315-520-9707. Ad-hoc services like 15-minute nutrition scans are available, but McClung recommends the full new-client session for lasting change.

As Little Falls navigates post-pandemic wellness trends, Array of Light represents a bridge between tradition and technology. McClung’s story, from library reports to light therapies, underscores a broader shift: Health as measurable energy, not just symptoms.

“We can still do that subtle body work. I can still help people heal and understand how emotions actually relate and thoughts relate to our physical body, but we do it in a way that makes sense,” she concluded.