About Me

When I was in acupuncture school many years ago in Santa Monica, one of my teachers was a Chinese woman who'd specialized in Chinese Medical Dermatology because of suffering for many years in her teens with disfiguring psoriasis.  Her skin was clear and beautiful.  Dr. Li developed herbal creams and lotions to treat many different skin conditions, and taught us massage and acupuncture techniques that  support healthy skin.  She was my first instructor of Cosmetic Acupuncture and really sparked my interest in health and beauty. 

Here I am at age 50 and several years later...

After graduation I practiced in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles where I had many opportunities to use the skills she taught us.  Over the years I've been able to learn from other leaders in our field - Michelle Gellis, Mary Elizabeth Wakefield, Martha Lucas and Shellie Goldstein.  They've very generously shared their tricks of the trade and today Cosmetic Facial Acupuncture is a rapidly growing specialty.  After all, it's been used for thousands of years in Asia to maintain a more youthful appearance. 

But before all this, in San Francisco in the early 90s I had the opportunity to study with many outstanding Asian Massage practitioners.  Certified in Shiatsu, Thai Massage and Chi Nei Tsang, I worked at the Kabuki Spa in Japantown before heading south to study Chinese Medicine at Yo San University in Los Angeles.  I graduated in 2001 and focused on Women's Health (which of course includes skincare!), but was soon drawn into specialty training in Infertility.  This gave me an in-depth understanding of how hormonal imbalances and auto-immune responses affect our health and are the underpinnings of many health issues.  And, how greatly stress impacts our health.

I'm a great believer in finding ways to regain balance that are fun and fulfilling.  For me that usually comes through music, dance and laughter.  Nature's pretty good, too.  Since 2016 I've lived in NE Portland with my husband/best friend.