I’m Lauren (she/her) — a licensed acupuncturist, board certified Chinese herbalist, and body worker.
I have always been drawn to health, but this has looked many different ways over the course of my life. In my youth, I was an avid athlete and learned all I could about food and nutrition. Later, I began farming and my connection to agricultural transformed how I viewed my relationship with food. Still years after that, I began to understand the nourishing role that human community had on my health.
When I found Chinese Medicine, it felt so familiar. I had grown up wandering the forests of Southern New Hampshire, observing trees and rocks. I loved the rhythms of nature. Chinese medicine had the same cadence of those woods, followed the same cyclical rules of natural systems. It valued and elevated the connections between objects and organisms in a way that Western medicine simply did not.
There is no hierarchy of physical and emotional symptoms in Chinese medicine — they are seen are equally important and relevant to your experience. As a patient, this knowledge led to an enormous shift in my life. Chinese medicine allowed me to become more embodied and authentically myself than I had ever been before.
I began my graduate studies at the National University of Natural Medicine and completed them at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. I have a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM) and Masters of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM) degree. My formal education also includes a BA in Biology (pre-med) and Sociology from Lewis & Clark College.
When not at the clinic, you’ll find me hiking in the forest, rock hounding in the desert, gardening in my backyard, and spending time with my family.
Lauren Morse LAc, DACM
My Approach
I approach the body gently and with respect for all it holds. My clinical tools include acupuncture needles, gua sha, cupping, shiatsu, and heat therapies such as moxabustion. Chinese herbs are often an important piece of my treatment plans.
One of the most important clinical skills I have is that of compassionate presence. I hold the patient-practitioner relationship in the highest regard and believe it is often part of the medicine itself. My role is to hold safe space for your concerns while understanding the full system in which they operate. From this place, we can craft a treatment plan together. Returning agency to my patients is an important piece of my approach. My role is to provide structure for this healing to happen, but it’s an active process that includes both patient and practitioner. The body has a remarkable ability to healing itself when given the right conditions.
I am a trauma informed practitioner, and am always working to increase my understanding of experiences other than my own. I especially would like to provide care for those who have been marginalized by Western medicine and our healthcare system.