Dr. Monica Brown, DSOM, LAc

Hi, I’m Monica (they/them). I’m an acupuncturist, herbalist, and a practitioner of classical East Asian medicine and politicized somatics. My role is to support you and your body reconnect and remember your innate ability to heal.

I’m a Southern queer human born in the Piedmont of North Carolina and raised along the banks of the Mississippi in Memphis. I began my study of medicine in the mountains of Southern Appalachia and deepened it in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. I have a deep reverence for the land and the histories it holds that have shaped me. I now call Saint Louis home and live and practice on the Southside in the Dutchtown.

Much of my life's attention turns towards studying and experiencing the natural world, the body, relationships, ecosystems, social movements, and the impacts of structural oppression and our individual and collective traumas on our health. This experience and connection is always present as a backdrop to our work together. 

Classical East Asian medicine looks at the whole. Any symptom cannot be isolated on its own. We’re beautiful complex beings and all parts of our experience (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) are connected. Our body’s interconnection is a microcosm of the interconnectedness of all life.

I use acupuncture, herbal medicine, hands-on bodywork, acupressure, moxabustion, cupping, qigong, and somatic-based therapies as a part of your holistic treatments. 

Movement organizing is what first brought me to and constantly recommits me to my role as an acupuncturist. Classical East Asian medicine practitioners carry a mandate to “nurture life”. I am a commitment to lifelong movement organizing and politicized healing work for the sake of all of our liberation.

I work with a number of community groups at the intersection of social justice, mental health, trauma, and community care, including Queer Hearts and St. Louis Queer Support & Healing (SQSH). I also facilitate and organize somatics offerings for organizations, organizers, activists, and politicize healers at the intersection of movement strategy and embodiment.

Lineage & Training

In 2021, I received my doctorate at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon after the completion of a 5-year program and my capstone, Jailbreak of the Imagination: Abolitionist Praxis in Classical East Asian Medicine.

Classical East Asian medicine is an ancient thousands year old medicine. There are many lineages within the vastness of this medicine, and I practice and continue to study the lineages that I have chosen and have chosen me. I continue to study and practice:

  • Shen-Hammer pulse diagnosis and Psychology of Chinese Medicine with Brandt Stickley, Stephen Higgins, and Melinda Iglesias Wheeler

  • Advanced Classical Acupuncture with Ann Cecil-Sterman

  • Shang Han Lun, Daoist, and Kampo herbalism with Heiner Freuhauf and Joon Hee Lee

  • Qigong Tuina, Yin SoTai, and Junji Mizutani moxabustion with Bob Quinn

  • Myofascial release and Craniosacral therapy with Michael McMahon

  • Jin Jing Gong Qigong with Heiner Freuhauf and Laurie Reagan

I am also an embodiment practitioner. Since 2020, I have practiced politicized somatics attending many courses in the lineage of the Strozzi Institute and generative somatics. In 2024, I completed a year-long program Opening to Freedom: Embodied Facilitation for White Folks with Embodying Racial Justice. I continue to be supervised and developed by my somatics teachers and have participated as a senior student in multiple courses. My teachers include Dara Silvermann, Amanda Ream, Zoe Paulette, Eliana Rubin, M Stromm, Cari Caldwell, Susan Raffo, Sarah Abbott, B Stepp, and Prentis Hemphill.

I weave these learnings into the work we do in the treatment room in 1:1 sessions, with the small groups I facilitate, and in various political organizations across the region.

Acupuncture can help: 

  • Acute and chronic conditions

  • Headaches and migraines

  • Digestive symptoms

  • Gynecological, urogenital, and menstrual complaints

  • Quitting smoking

  • Cold, flu, and other acute illnesses

  • Heart palpitations

  • Respiratory problems

  • Body pain and discomfort

  • Auto-immune and chronic conditions

  • Mental-emotional experiences (depression, anxiety, grief, anger, trauma)

  • Reconnecting to oneself and finding your purpose

Schedule.