Danielle Weirich, proprietor of Downeast Massage Therapy, has practiced on Main Street since 2003.— STAFF PHOTO BY OKA HUTCHINS

ELLSWORTH — Over the past several years, Main Street has become a boulevard for alternative healing and wellness.

Reiki, massage, yoga, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, Jazzercise, reflexology and even astrology offer area residents a bevy of wellness opportunities in the heart of downtown Ellsworth.

As the market for holistic and alternative therapies grows, licensed area health practitioners have become increasingly interested in integrating alternative methods with more traditional ones.

If a therapy is properly integrated, it can be covered by health insurance, including Blue Cross Blue Shield and Maine Care.

Traditional therapists, including psychiatrists, psychologists, chiropractors, physical therapists and counselors, have long made their homes on and around Main Street as well.

“Main Street is appealing to those who work privately. It is convenient and accessible,” said longtime mental health practitioner Bob Keteyian. He is delighted by the street’s influx of wellness opportunities.

“The change is just phenomenal,” he said.

Keteyian has practiced at 122 Main St. since 1980. A licensed clinical professional counselor, Keteyian was one of the few in the area when he began. He now counts over 65 practicing mental health professionals in the city.

Licensed massage therapist Danielle Weirich attributes the recent surge in alternative healing practitioners to increased media coverage of alternative therapies.

“People see reflexology on ‘Oprah’ and they want to try it,” she said. Weirich explained that the more media exposure a therapy receives, the more normalized and accessible it becomes to the public.

“A lot of the stigma around counseling and a lot of the other therapies has disappeared,” Keteyian said.

Keteyian started to see a rise in area mental health practitioners in the ’90s. Alternative therapies have been cropping up steadily over the last five years, especially on the north side of Main Street.

When Weirich started Downeast Massage Therapy in 2003, there were two other massage therapists on Main Street. She now counts seven massage therapists on Main Street alone.

Weirich saw 98 Main St. as the perfect spot to start her business because it was centrally located and affordable.

“Bar Harbor was flooded with wellness businesses at that time, and Ellsworth really didn’t have many — the market was very open,” she said.

The location has offered her exposure to foot traffic and generated many walk-in customers.

Weirich does a small percentage of her business with third-party payers. Progressive Auto Insurance regularly sends her customers who have been injured in car accidents.

She used to do more business with insurance companies, but two years ago they started to honor only about 50 percent of her client’s claims.

Cheryl Rubin, a licensed clinical social worker, integrates holistic healing into her work as a psychotherapist.

Because she is licensed in a recognized mental health field, Rubin is able to accept all types of health insurance for her services.

She practices Reiki, an ancient Japanese relaxation technique, and hypnotherapy as components of her work as a psychotherapist.

According to Rubin, practicing hypnotherapy and Reiki in conjunction with traditional talk therapy has been far more successful than the talk therapy alone.

Rubin began her practice on Main Street seven years ago. She has since moved to 75 State St. to accommodate a nearly 100 percent increase in clientele.

“I just needed a bigger space,” she said.

Rubin has been contacted by licensed health practitioners in a variety of fields looking for advice on how to integrate holistic methods into their traditional practices.

“There has been a big increase in interest in holistic medicine in the last few years,” she said.

As the city continues to expand, only time will tell if the alternative wellness business will expand with it.

“I think it’s great that there are a variety of people doing a variety of things and I think we will see that continue,” Keteyian said.