Get to know me
*Your practitioner — Monica is a graduate of Pacific College of Health & Science and Wesleyan University. Her acupuncture training continued with Dr. Henry McCann, DAOM, LAc, Dipl OM of the Master Tung lineage, as well as her herbal & dietary training with Dr. Shao Lian Zhao, MD, PHD, LAc. Prior to her formal education, she studied at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China where she first discovered her affinity towards plant medicine. She firmly believes that her patients are her greatest teachers.
Dear one,
It is such a joy to be part of this subtle journey with you.
I love being a facilitator of the conversation between my patients & their bodies, especially when their experience has historically felt like that of a foreigner in an unfamiliar country. Our work is an animating, life-affirming journey, not unlike waking up from a groggy, restless slumber. Helping to cultivate that relationship has been the most rewarding part of the work.
I am a licensed acupuncturist & board-certified herbalist.
I received my Masters of Oriental Medicine (MSTOM) at Pacific College of Health & Science, a four-year medical program consisting of a minimum of 4,050 hours of classroom instruction, supervised clinical experience, and out-of-classroom study assignments. The rigorous curriculum encompassed not only the study & retention of acupuncture channel theory, but also Chinese herbal therapy, anatomy & physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, orthopedics, diet & nutrition, Tai Ji/Qi Gong practices, and more. Following graduation, I went on to pass three national board exams, including Chinese Medicine Theory, Acupuncture, and Herbology.
Before completing my Master’s, I received my Bachelor’s in Dance at Wesleyan University. Studying both dance & poetics gave me a thorough appreciation of the imbrication of mind & body. Informed by this convergence, I’ve developed a special interest in psychosomatic conditions where Western medical solutions seem to fall short, such as stress-induced digestive disturbances, insomnia, anxiety & depression, tension headaches/migraines/TMJ, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, menstrual dysregulation (i.e. PMDD), as well as mental/physical burnout or stagnation.
Chinese Medicine is a deeply generous science.
As the daughter of two chemists, I had no idea the extent to which Chinese medicine can not only enhance but reorient the lived experience by addressing the root cause of disease, as well as preventing disease from occurring. I am so beyond thrilled to share this medicine with you.
I treat the person, not the illness.
The enduring system of Chinese medicine was designed to be tailored to each individual’s specific presentation & history. For this reason, there is no such thing as “one-size-fits-all,” and your treatment plan will be informed by every single system of the body (i.e. respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, etc.), not just the manifesting symptom, although of course your chief complain will still be the major focus. The medicine is going to ask of you to be an active participant & collaborator in your healing process. As we work together, you will have immense agency over your health & well-being, which will in turn help me discern the nature of not only the ailment but also your intrinsic constitution.
