Co-creating Your Healing Path with a De-Pathologizing Approach

Miquella YoungYour symptoms are your body trying to tell you something. At first it might be a whisper, then a gentle nudge, but eventually, the voice gets louder and louder if it goes unaddressed. My goal as a naturopathic physician is to dive into the deeper messages that lie beyond your pain, your trouble sleeping, your anxiety or depression. Many people may have the same diagnosis as you, but I know that the way you express that diagnosis is unique to you. I focus more on your unique expression, habit patterns, and cycles of illness and health than the disease labels you have been given.

My approach is a depathologizing one. It recognizes the great diversity of social, emotional, physical, and environmental factors that have brought you to my office. I hope to help you shed your weight stigma, to let go of preconceived gender norms, and remind you that even with your mental health diagnosis, you have an inherent sense of who you are and your potential that you can trust.

Here are some areas where I can support your healing journey:

Trauma-Informed Offerings

As a body-positive, consent-based practitioner and LGBTQIA+ ally, I hold a trauma-informed approach with my care. Every time you make it in for body work, acupuncture, or Craniosacral therapy with me, I call it a radical act of self-care. It can be challenging to show up and look at our wounds, to be vulnerable, and share things that you may not feel comfortable sharing with anyone else. I honor that in all of its invisible glory.

Through our time together, I hope to guide you into deeper intimacy with your self; to help you build awareness of you body’s needs and the determination to get them met, no matter the circumstances. I have a broad spectrum of tools available to me to support you in your journey – so that I can meet you exactly where you are. The idea is to take you to your growth edge and help you to expand beyond your previously held beliefs and boundaries, reminding you all the while that you are safe.

We all have something of value to add to this world. I hope to become your ally in rediscovering what that is and how to embody it.

“The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” – Peter Levine, PhD

Finding Greater Harmony with Nature’s Rhythms

My training in Classical Chinese Medicine has gifted me with a finer attunement to the internal and external cycles that support wellbeing. As human beings, we are influenced by our inner physiological cycles of breath, heart rate, sleep, digestion, menstruation, cellular death and regeneration. Outside of us, the weather, seasons, planetary arrangements, and societal expectations of us are also in constant flux. I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that all of these elements make for one, infinitely complex human experience.

Through somatic therapy, mindfulness techniques, and subtle but powerful lifestyle changes, I will guide you in harmonizing these rhythms. The feeling of ease and peace you might get after every acupuncture treatment is a reminder of what is possible for you. If you choose to work with me, we will work first with the foundations of health, supporting your body’s vital force, and nature cure. Like the many inhabitants of a forest, these methods create an ecosystem in your body where health can exist. Read more about these naturopathic philosophies here.

Mind-Body Services I Offer

The body and the mind are not separate. Many of my offerings will help you to cultivate a sense of wholeness, a synergy between these two parts of you. Over time, they will be able to communicate more clearly with each other and with you, allowing your spirit to shine brighter than it ever has.

Education & Credentials

Affiliations & Professional Memberships

Naturopathic Medicine:

Chinese Medicine:

Awards and Publications

  • The Benedict Lust Award presented by NUNM: For Embodying the Principles of Naturopathic Medicine in 2025.
  • Publication: Bautista, T. G., Cash, T., Dunis, J., Smith, P. G., Young, M., Meyerhoefer, T., & Pipe, T. B. (2019, Nov). Equitable Mindfulness for Social Changes: A Mixed Methods Analysis. Poster presented at the American Public Health Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Outside of Work

On my days off work, find me spending time outdoors or on the trail with my daughter and husband, pouring Gongfu style tea ceremony for my friends, or in the garden practicing permaculture principles. I love wildcrafting, foraging for local herbs, and crafting homemade gifts – all in the name of sustainability. I am a creative and love to feed my inner artist as the director of a dance film group, in hip-hop cyphers and writing poetry.

Miquella’s Blogs:

Contact and Scheduling

To schedule an appointment, please call (503) 956-9396 or email [email protected]. Online scheduling is available for return patients only and not all available appointments may be shown online.

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