Elena first experienced the efficacy of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine in 1988, when she suffered debilitating pain as a teenager, and pain medication was the only remedy offered. Regular acupuncture treatments and herbs decreased pain and started a lifelong journey into plant medicine. She sought out the efficacy of Chinese medicine once again when she returned very ill from an extended stay overseas with a tropical disease that even the top specialists could not diagnose or treat. Once again, with regular acupuncture treatments and following both dietary and herbal recommendations, Chinese medicine once again restored her health. 

 

After earning a B.A. from San Francisco State University, Elena earned her master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Emperor's College in Santa Monica, California, where she graduated at the top of her class. She also had the privilege of completing an externship in Taiwan under the master physician, Dr. Lee Chen-Yr.  Elena owned and operated a wellness clinic for over ten years and founded a not-for-profit, low-cost acupuncture clinic in Los Angeles, CA. She also served as the leading practitioner for an integrated mental health project in Venice, CA, for over five years.   Elena works with children, adolescents, adults, and older adults and treats a wide variety of health conditions with a particular affinity for women's health and long-standing chronic issues. The philosophy at the core of her practice is that Chinese medicine, which views the body as an interdependent and interconnected system, can profoundly restore integrity to the body, mind, and spirit. 

 

When she is not practicing Chinese Medicine, Elena is busy working to help counties and tribes build affordable housing programs for vulnerable community members. She can often be found in her garden, working on building the soil food web, growing food, and learning landscape design with native Oklahoma plants.