Educational Background
Bess Dallal, LAc is a nationally recognized licensed acupuncturist in the state of Oregon where she is recognized as a primary care provider. Bess has been practicing and studying natural medicine for over 15 years.
She received her Masters in Science from The Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences. Her Bachelors Degree is from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with an individual concentration in “Healing through the scientific arts”. During her medical studies, she received training from a variety of healthcare providers including Acupuncturists, Naturopathic Doctors and yoga teachers in the U.S. and India. Through many different internships throughout the Bay Area, she has developed her own style as a practitioner through eclectic influence. In more recent years she trained as a spiritual caregiver with the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, working in the hospice at Laguna Honda Rehabilitation Center.
As an acupuncturist she has worked in the community clinic setting, with IVF patients at UCSF and other fertility clinics, and in private practice.
Her yoga training is in Emodyoga. She studied under Patricia Townsend in MA, in Northern India through the Himalayan Health Exchange, and in the Shadow yoga tradition with Andy Matinog.
Practice Areas and Therapeutic Approaches
Bess sees a variety of patients and concerns ranging from pain management, mental health, chronic autoimmune illness, dermatological disease and terminal illness. She also has direct experience in fertility as well as hospice care.
Bess utilizes a functional medicine approach to her patients’ health. Some of the medical therapies used include: acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, gua sha, tui na, abdominal massage, individualized herbal formulations (botanical medicine), detoxification, diet and lifestyle counseling, yoga therapeutics, and utilizing and ordering lab reports as necessary.
Philosophy and Core Practice Values
Bess has been studying and practicing natural medicine for over 12 years in both academic and clinical settings. She has studied with many veteran natural medicine practitioners giving her a broad perspective on holistic medicine before she decided to attend graduate school to specialize in Chinese Medicine. She chose Chinese Medicine most importantly for the growing awareness and accessibility it is gaining as she is committed to contributing to improved equity in healthcare. She loves and believes strongly in her specific modality, but also believes the type of medicine used in someone’s healing process is of less importance than the experience of the medicinal process itself. She believes that any medicine can be effective, whether it’s emergency medicine or any specialization, as long as the practitioner-patient relationship is strong and fulfilling the current needs of the patient. Working as an integrative team across specializations is of high priority for Bess to enhance each patient’s coordination of care.
Bess believes that medicine is an art that is always evolving in a broader historical, cultural, political, and environmental context. She aims to preserve the deep roots of Chinese and natural medicine while maintaining flexibility in order to find the most effective treatments for each unique person. She stresses the importance of defining clear roles in the practitioner-patient relationship, empowering the patient to take charge of their own health. As a health practitioner, Bess feels it is her responsibility to find creative health resources for her patients that are life-affirming, utilizing tools that restore the patient’s inherent self-regulating balance and setting goals that are easy to sustain and comply with.
Personal
Bess lives in Oregon City, Oregon with her partner-in-crime Amir and miracle-daughter Miele. They spend their free time making stuff, exploring the Pacific Northwest, listening to music, gardening, wandering around and relaxing. She has traveled through Asia, the Middle East, Central America and Europe which has greatly influenced her perspective on the many ways that people can find health and satisfaction.
