Alison Loercher, LAc, MAOM is a co-founder of North Portland’s Chinese herbal pharmacy and clinic, The Vital Compass, and has been practicing Chinese medicine since graduating from OCOM in 2008. She’s had additional training in Nanjing, China and Seoul, South Korea, where acupuncture and herbal medicine are integrated into formal hospital settings.  She has volunteered in Nepal twice with the Acupuncture Relief Project, helping hundreds of local people receive care otherwise unavailable to them.  

She’s passionate about  herbal medicine, getting to the root of problems and social justice.   Her practice is open to everyone seeking health and healing.  She loves to work with individuals to relieve suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, depression, digestive dysfunction, and autoimmune disorders.  She is also well practiced at treating pain and dysfunction from traumatic injuries from car accidents and injuries.  ​

She seeks to serve with intention people in generally under-served, under-recognized populations, especially LGBTQIA individuals and families.  Everyone is welcome in her practice, with a respectful eye toward differences and challenges born of racial, gender, size, spiritual/religious and socioeconomic systemic inequality.  

She has had the honor to work as an acupuncturist in Portland in a variety of settings, including with Seven Star Acupuncture, the Knott Street Health Center, the Washington County Correctional Center, Lifeworks NW, Balanced Pets NW and has run the acupuncture program at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Portland since 2011.  She also serves as part time faculty in the clinic and classroom at OCOM. 

Her first taste of cooperative ideals came to her through her background with the ILWU Local 5 union at Powell’s Books. There, she discovered a passion for meeting the needs of a community through action and solidarity.  It is through working at the bookstore and the particular insight working with the union brought her- fighting for fair pay, a say in the workplace, healthcare coverage and an adequate number of sick days that she discovered a passion for healing individuals and communities.  It is through her own physical struggles that she discovered a passion for natural medicine.  

It is her goal to bring true health and wellness to the individuals she sees in her practice, whatever that means for them.

You can schedule with Alison online by clicking here: The Vital Compass-Southeast, specify the North or Southeast location, or speak with a person by calling her North Portland office at 971-373-8378.