Medicine in Service of Aliveness
Classical Chinese Medicine in Portland, Oregon
Healing begins by recognizing what is already alive.
The body is not failing; it is responding.
Symptoms are expressions of a living system doing what living systems do: responding to what they encounter. They reflect the body’s continual, sometimes clunky attempts to adapt and protect as it moves through the world. These responses are not isolated events, but part of a larger story shaped over a lifetime.
Through the pulse, presence, and an openness to what is unfolding, we begin to understand what these responses are communicating within the context of the life they belong to. This practice asks us to honor those responses — to recognize what they reveal, understand the conditions that shaped them, and support the body in its ongoing capacity to respond resiliently.
To practice this medicine is to be invited into the stories people carry in their bodies. It asks for reverence and a deep trust in the intelligence inherently alive within every person who comes into care.
Hi, I’m Brooke
I came to this medicine carrying an orientation toward myself and toward healing that I have since come to recognize in so many of us: the belief that something was wrong with me. That my body was a problem in need of an urgent solution. That healing meant becoming someone else entirely—the kind of person I believed life came more easily to.
Instead, I found a medicine that invited me into relationship with my body rather than opposition to it. It taught me to look beyond isolated symptoms and trust that they belonged to something larger. In those patterns, I came to recognize a body that had never stopped adapting—doing the very best it could with the resources available to it.
I meet each person with the conviction that their body is worthy of trust—that even the patterns behind our distress often began as remarkable gestures toward survival. My work is not to overcome those patterns, but to understand them, tend to them, and help create the conditions where your body no longer has to devote so much of itself to survival, making more space for your life to expand.
I continue to be moved by the resilience of the people who come into my care and by the extraordinary ways their bodies continue to move toward life.
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I provide care to those seeking support with a wide range of complex, chronic conditions—as well as symptoms that don't fit neatly into a diagnosis.
I regularly offer care to those seeking support with: complex, chronic and recalcitrant conditions, chronic digestive issues, autoimmunity, acute and chronic pain, mental health, preconception, pregnancy and postpartum for all bodies, men’s health, grief, loss, addiction, traumatic brain injury, insomnia, integrative cancer treatment and severe skin conditions.
I regularly work with the following demographics: neurodivergent folks, LGBTQ+ folks, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) identified folks, people with medical trauma and have felt unheard and unhelped by Western medicine, people with history of complex trauma and C-PTSD, people with histories of self-harm and disordered eating.
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Doctor of Acupuncture with a Chinese Herbal Medicine Specialization (DAcCHM) from National University of Natural Medicine
2 year post-doctoral residency in Classical Five-Element Acupuncture (TM) with David Berkshire LAc and Kim Klingele LAc
Diplomate in Canonical Chinese Medicine with Institute of Classics in East Asian Medicineâ„¢ (ICEAM)
Certification in Craniosacral Therapy with Moving Mountain Institute
Ongoing study in Classical Chinese Medicine with Ann Cecil-Sterman
My Approach
My practice is rooted in Classical Chinese Medicine and shaped by a deep understanding of trauma physiology, relational healing, and the body’s innate intelligence.
Relational
Healing unfolds through the relationship you have with your own body, the relationship we build together, and the wider world you move through. Your treatment is a shared practice of attention. It is a space to slow down and witness together what is present with curiosity and care.
Non-Pathological
Symptoms are approached as meaningful expressions of a body responding to the conditions of a life. Our work is to understand the pattern they belong to, and to support what is asking to change.
Accessible
Good care should not require fluency in medicine to participate in it. What is observed and understood should be made accessible, inviting you into a clearer relationship with your own body and into meaningful collaboration in the decisions that shape your care.
My Offerings
Treatment is collaborative and deeply attuned to the individual. A single session may incorporate more than one modality.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture uses fine needles to engage the body's channel system, supporting movement, communication, and regulation where they are needed most. Each treatment is guided by what your body is expressing in this moment, rather than by a protocol alone.
Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine continues the conversation between treatments, accompanying the body through the slower rhythms of repair and adaptation. Drawing from classical formulas refined over centuries, each prescription is thoughtfully adapted to reflect your unique pattern and evolves as your system does.
Bodywork
Bodywork offers another way of listening. Through visceral manipulation and gentle manual therapies, we work with the organs, connective tissues, and nervous system, inviting long-held patterns to soften and new possibilities for organization to emerge.
Appointments
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There isn’t much you need to do to prepare. Drink some water and have a little something to eat before you arrive. Wear comfortable clothing and come just as you are.
Your first visit is a chance for us to begin getting to know one another. We’ll spend time talking about your health, your history and what has brought you here. I’ll also spend time feeling your pulse, one of the ways Chinese medicine comes to understand the patterns present in the body. You’ll receive your first acupuncture treatment during this visit, informed by everything we’ve discussed and observed.
Before we end our visit, there will be plenty of time for questions. We will discuss any recommendations I have for you and discuss the frequency of care that will be most supportive to your system. You will leave with a clear understanding of the care we are creating together.
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I am in-network with the following insurance companies:
BCBS/Regence
United/UHC
Heraya (formerly Kaiser)
Pacific Source
Aetna
Moda
MVA Insurance
Please contact your insurance provider directly to ensure that I am in-network with your specific plan.
My out-of-pocket rates are as follows:
$200 for initial visit
$125 for follow-up visits
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My goal is to be a part of a larger wave of making healthcare accessible and reducing barriers to healthcare. I reserve a select number of sliding scale appointments in my practice with priority given to BIPOC identifying folks or folks who have otherwise been historically and intentionally disenfranchised from receiving medical care.
Contact me directly to participate in the sliding scale. No income verification will be asked of you.
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Life is full, and sometimes plans need to change. Please provide at least 48 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment. Late cancellations and missed appointments may be charged the full session fee.
One thing I'd love to normalize: you don't have to be feeling well to come in for care. Acupuncture has always been a medicine people receive when they're sick—not only after they've recovered. If you're coming down with a cold, fighting off a virus, or moving through an acute illness, treatment can often be an important way to support your body's healing process.
If you're unsure about whether or not you should come in, just reach out. We'll decide together what makes sense.
Let’s Work Together.
Please submit the form below and I'll be in touch soon to schedule a free consultation.