My serpentine path…

Hello there, I am Dr. Melissa Brock (she/her). I am an acupuncturist, herbalist, Acu-punk*, and shamanic practitioner living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From an early age I’ve been fascinated by and drawn to nature. I grew up gathering pine cones, catching snakes and tromping though the forests and fields of rural Oregon. As a teen I studied, grew and used medical herbs with dreams of living in a cottage filled with drying herbs by the sea.

Over the course of my adult life my path has been serpentine; taking me to the pristine foothills of the Rocky Mountains, back to the Pacific Northwest, on the spiritual pilgrimage that is motherhood and through the rigours of academia. Each step of the way Life has provided me with initiations into the healing arts. Being a healer is not something I chose but instead it is a calling I have learned to joyfully abide.

This calling has guided me toward many experiences that added to my knowledge base. As a young person I worked at a health food store where I learned about nutrition, herbs, and supplements while I attended classes at Oregon School of Massage. The natural birth of my daughter led me to study women’s health and childbirth. In 2007 I earned a degree in psychology from Marylhurst University where I became enthralled by the way our culture interfaces with death and dying and leisurely read the DSM. In 2010 I enrolled at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) where I was able to geek out on herbal medicine and advanced Shiatsu.

After graduating OCOM in 2014 I found one of my truest passions- community acupuncture. During the next five years I became an acupuncture ninja-giving over 20,000 treatments. At work I practised trauma informed care** and liberation acupuncture*** and at home I reengaged my spirit- I gardened, practiced yoga, collected and used crystals, reclaimed my spirituality and called my power back. I thought this is where and what I would do for the rest of my life. The universe, however, had other plans for me. My life completely changed as is natural when you call your power back. I landed in Santa Fe in early 2021 and immediately found my place.

I spend my time poking, tuning, and cupping clients in my one on one sessions, slinging herbs at Milagro herbs, contemplating the intersection of shamanism and acupuncture, walking my dog in the arroyo and listening to the helping spirits of the land and sky.

I’d love to meet you.

*Acu-punk- an acupuncturist who is dedicated to trauma informed care and liberation acupuncture.

**trauma informed care-a practice of care that acknowledges that we all have experienced trauma, that is committed to alleviating the symptoms of trauma and creating systems that do not further traumatise people.

***Liberation Acupuncture is a way of practicing acupuncture that liberates us from the ways that capitalist health care oppresses us and makes us sick. It elevates access, affordability and practicality and is a balm to the toxic individualism that is part of our colonial culture.