Spokane acupuncturist and East Asian medical practitioner Rebekah Giangreco says she strives to help women find solutions to what ails both mind and body, naturally. 

The New Moon Family Wellness Center, which is owned by Giangreco and her husband, Anthony, and is located in a 2,600-square-foot building at 906 S. Cowley, offers a variety of health care-related services. In addition to New Moon Family Acupuncture, which is Giangreco’s practice, the center has a naturopathic doctor, mental health counselor, two massage therapists, and a childbirth educator who operate their own practices.

New Moon Family Acupuncture moved into the space on Cowley about three years ago, Giangreco says, which is when the Wellness Center opened. Prior to that, the practice was located at 34th Avenue and Grand Boulevard on the South Hill. New Moon Family Acupuncture has two full-time employees, Giangreco and a receptionist, and two part-time East Asian medical practitioners. 

Giangreco uses acupuncture and other Eastern medical therapies to help women find balance in their bodies and their lives, she says. 

Acupuncture focuses on what are called meridians. Meridians, Giangreco says, are likened to rivers of energy, or qi, which flow throughout the body. When a body system isn’t functioning properly, she says, it’s because the qi, known in some circles as chi, isn’t moving properly through the meridians. 

“The body wants to be balanced, so by stimulating pressure points with needles, sound, or massage, it tells the body how to balance,” she says. 

During acupuncture, hair-thin needles are placed strategically in certain points around the body that correspond to meridians. Depending on the condition and placement, the needles can be inserted shallowly or deeply. The needles unblock any obstruction in the meridian, allowing the qi to flow freely through the body and promote health and wellness.

East Asian medicine can have many benefits for women’s health, she asserts, from easing painful menstrual cycles or premenstrual syndrome symptoms to helping women with fertility issues, especially those who don’t have a physical reason for their infertility. 

“Acupuncture and herbs can help increase the odds of getting pregnant and help with the fatigue and morning sickness,” she claims. 

Acupuncture also can help expecting mothers when getting ready to deliver, Giangreco says. 

“Acupuncture for pregnant women can help get the baby in the right position, especially for breech babies,” she says. “As far as pregnancy support, it can help move qi and blood for efficient labor.”

Giangreco says she has had several patients who had to be induced into labor during earlier pregnancies prior to receiving acupuncture. After having acupuncture therapy, however, they were able to enter labor spontaneously, she says. 

Giangreco also says Eastern practices can help women with menopause issues and mood disorders.

“From a women’s health perspective, mainstream medicine offers women Motrin, hormones, or surgery; that’s it,” Giangreco contends, adding, “Women’s health issues are often mind and body issues that can be addressed from a more holistic place.”

As an example, Giangreco recalls a friend she helped while attending acupuncture school. The friend had severe endometriosis and suffered from severe pain and nausea with each menstrual cycle, she says. Giangreco looked up in a meridian-and-points book which acupuncture points might help and did a sound healing session with the friend. Afterward, Giangreco says, the woman was able to experience three pain-free cycles. 

New Moon also offers a variety of services beyond traditional acupuncture. Giangreco also incorporates what’s called acutonics sound healing into her therapies. Acutonics uses precisely calibrated turning forks that vibrate on specific pressure points on the body, helping to stimulate the meridians. She also uses gua sha, a blood-circulating practice that uses a round-shaped instrument stroked downward across the skin to stimulate qi, and cranio-sacral technique, which involves light massage on the cranium and spine. 

Multiple therapies are usually used on a patient, in a combination specific to their needs, Giangreco says. 

“In my treatments I always do acupuncture and sound healing, and cranio-sacral techniques or gua sha,” she says. “But not everyone needs everything done in one session.” 

Giangreco also incorporates nutrition and some lifestyle coaching into her treatments, she says. 

“If we don’t look at what’s fueling the system, the problems will persist,” she says. She also talks to each patient extensively about their medical history before recommending treatments.  

Herbal therapy is another aspect of East Asian medicine. Giangreco says  she doesn’t use herbs with everyone, but she contends that sometimes it can be an essential part of the therapy. However, Giangreco chose to focus on acupuncture while in school and therefore can only give patients already mixed herb formulas, she says. 

Giangreco initially pursued a degree in nursing, she says, which was inspired by her mother, a nurse practitioner. However, while in undergraduate school, she found herself questioning traditional medicine. 

“While I was doing the pre-requirements for nursing, I just had this realization that there’s a mind, body, and spirit, and it all needs to be in alignment for vitality,” she says. “I began to question how to do that with Western medicine.”

A family friend suggested Giangreco read a book about Eastern medicine and acupuncture. 

“Reading it was like reading my mind,” she says. It inspired her to pursue Eastern medicine, she says.  

Giangreco earned a master’s degree in Eastern medicine and acupuncture in 2002 from the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, in Seattle, after graduating from Eastern Washington University with a degree in developmental psychology in 1998. 

Before moving to Spokane about five years ago, she practiced in the Tacoma/Puyallup area. Giangreco also takes continuing-education courses and keeps up with the latest industry practices, which is where the most learning takes place, she says. 

“It’s in practice and continuing education that the real learning is,” she says. 

Giangreco furthers her education by doing both in-person and online seminars, she says, through organizations such as the Jade Institute in Seattle and Blue Poppy Enterprises. She has also attended seminars by East Asian medical practitioner Susan Johnson, who is based in Santa Cruz, Calif. but teaches around the county, Giangreco says. 

In the short term, Giangreco and her husband are looking into adding a birthing suite to the building. The building’s proximity to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital makes it ideal for birthing, she says. 

“Women could literally walk to the hospital,” she says. “We still have to look into what we’d need to do to make a birthing suite. We’ll probably piece it together if it’s meant to be.”

In the long term, Giangreco says, she would like to continue adding services and expanding her practice in the building.

“I would love to have a powerful, integrated health facility with a birthing center,” she says.