(Isstories Editorial):- Astoria, Oregon Aug 4, 2025 (Issuewire.com) – Luna Acupuncture & Wellness continues to redefine chronic pain care across Oregon with its compassion-first model, which centers on listening and authentic human connection. Founded in 2015 by Dr.JamesCarter, the practice marks its tenth anniversary this fall. During this time, Luna has become a trusted name in integrative wellness, earning praise for blending advanced acupuncture therapies with sincere engagement and a philosophy that healing begins with listening
In a healthcare climate that often feels rushed and impersonal, Luna consciously sets a different tone. Dr. Carter and his team create a patient-first environment where people feel seen, respected, and emotionally supported from their first interaction. Every new patient receives a free 15-minute consultation, allowing them to ask questions, and explore modalities that may help them freely–no obligation. This touch point sets the tone for the clinic’s signature approach, which emphasizes empathy as a clinical tool and connection as a catalyst for healing.
Place Listening at the Core
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Luna’s core principle–healing begins with listening–shapes the patient experience at every step. In the initial consultation, Dr. Carter encourages patients to share their stories, even if those stories span years of previous medical treatment or frustration with unexplained symptoms. He invites them to speak freely about pain, stress, life challenges, and emotional burdens. Over the years, Dr. Carter has witnessed how profoundly this act of being heard can positively impact someone’s well-being. It also opens pathways for deeper clinical insight.
“Our practice thrives because we understand how fundamental active listening is to both diagnosis and healing,” says Dr. Carter. “When a patient finally feels understood, it allows the mind and body to begin shifting at a deeper level.”
Beyond empathy alone, active listening improves diagnostic accuracy. Dr. Carter often says that many breakthrough treatment discoveries come not from medical scans, but from conversations. Paying attention to nuances like a patient’s tone, slight hesitations, or recurring themes helps him customize acupuncture, auricular therapy, nutritional/herbal protocols, and lifestyle plans to support recovery from chronic and acute pain, inflammation, autoimmune triggers, neurological symptoms, and more.
Advanced, Compassionate Modalities
Luna provides a comprehensive array of treatment options rooted in traditional Chinese medicine but enhanced by modern precision. Core therapies include:
- Acupuncture: Fine, sterile needles inserted strategically to stimulate healing through specific anatomical and energetic pathways.
- Auricular therapy: Focused placement of ear seeds, magnets, and golden pellets to balance nervous system tension and alleviate stress, insomnia, and emotional dysregulation.
- Cupping and moxibustion: Therapies designed to improve circulation, reduce muscular pain, and support immune health.
- Infrared therapy: Gentle heat application that enhances blood flow, releases joint tension, and promotes deep relaxation.
- Plant/Herbal medicinals and nutritional guidance: Tailored formulations, salves/balms, and compresses as well as nutritional direction designed to support systemic healing, hormonal balance, and mental clarity.
Dr. Carter’s advanced graduate degrees include both a Masters and Doctorate in Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine Modalities, which equipped him with tools to address and manage a wide range of health conditions more effectively. His advanced education strengthens his clinical voice and reinforces another key part of Luna’s compassionate model: humility. While his training deepens expertise, he embraces listening as his guide when medical answers are unclear.
Auricular Therapy in Practice
Auricular therapy remains one of Luna’s most remarkable healing tools. Dr. Carter has spent years studying and refining auricular protocols to support nervous system resilience, emotional stabilization, and physical pain relief. Its precision and simplicity resonate with patients who may feel overwhelmed by their health challenges and/or prefer non-needle treatments.
“By working with ear points, we often release deep tension and stress quickly and gently,” he explains. “Patients feel immediate calm and report better sleep, less anxiety, and reduced pain. It’s incredible how something so small can connect to your whole body.”
This respected specialty plays a vital role in Luna’s hybrid healing approach–especially for people managing long-standing conditions that haven’t responded to traditional healthcare.
Dual Clinics, Unified Experience
From its original treatment room in Beaverton, Luna has grown to include a full-service location in Astoria and Hillsboro serving the greater Portland area. Despite geographic expansion, the same care ethos defines both clinics. Dr. Carter stays personally involved in both locations, ensuring consistent quality and presence. Each site offers a consistently warm, calm, and listening-based environment.
“We want anyone who walks through our doors to feel they can truly show up as themselves,” Dr. Carter notes. “We strive for each patient to have a consistent experience of individualized and compassionate care .”
Luna’s two-pronged presence also reflects a broader impact as a community institution in Oregon–one that honors local culture and rural resilience, bridges city and coast, and rekindles human warmth in healthcare.
Healing Through Connection and Giving
Luna’s listening-first model extends beyond patient encounters to global storytelling. The clinic donates monthly to LovePeaceHarmony.org, a nonprofit dedicated to community well-being and humanitarian projects worldwide. The partnership signifies Luna’s belief that compassion and healing don’t stop at the clinic door–they ripple out to communities facing crisis and need.
“Every time we support a project that brings clean water, education, or trauma counseling, we’re reinforcing what we practice at home,” Dr. Carter says. “Healing happens inside each person, but also across families, villages, and world neighborhoods.”
Patients speak of deep pride in receiving care connected to purposeful giving. Luna’s model offers both personal healing and collective impact–allowing patients to heal themselves, and contribute to healing others.
Results That Matter
Over the past decade, Luna has helped thousands of patients reclaim their lives from chronic pain, neurological imbalance, hormonal shifts, post-viral fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, stress disorders, PTSD, insomnia, fibromyalgia, migraines, autoimmune flares, and more. Patient stories illustrate the clinic’s transformative power.
A long-trm Hillsboro patient named Sarah shared, “After years of unexplained abdominal pain, I felt dismissed by my previous doctors. At Luna, Dr. Carter asked questions no one else did. After just a few sessions, I began regaining energy and trusting my body again.”
Another story comes from a retired firefighter who struggled with sciatic nerve pain for years. He reports significant improvements, and he credits Luna with giving him back mobility and confidence. “I didn’t believe anyone could help me any longer,” he said, “but now I’m back on the water, walking, and sleeping without pain.”
These are among hundreds of success stories that reflect what happens when strong listening meets skilled therapy. Luna shows that healing isn’t only possible–it can also flourish.
A Vision for the Future
As Luna looks forward to celebrating its tenth anniversary in Fall 2025, Dr. Carter plans to expand without compromising quality. Future initiatives include:
- Extended operating hours and flexible scheduling
- Monthly wellness workshops on self-acupressure, nutrition, and stress management
- Digital health resources like guided meditation and acupressure videos
- Preceptor mentorship for new practitioners launching careers in holistic medicine
- Continued partnerships with physicians, mental health, chiropractic, and physical therapy professionals to offer more comprehensive care
“My hope for the next ten years is that we can serve more people without losing what makes us unique,” Dr. Carter shares. “Healing starts with listening. And in a world that often cares too much about quick solutions, we want to show Oregon–a listening, compassionate, integrative approach can transform chronic pain experience and restore hope.”
About Luna Acupuncture & Wellness
Luna Acupuncture & Wellness brings heartfelt and evidence-informed acupuncture and holistic medicine to Oregon. Dr.JamesCarter founded Luna in Beaverton in 2015 and later expanded to Hillsboro and Astoria. Their listening-first model integrates acupuncture, auricular therapy, plant medicine, and lifestyle guidance to treat chronic/acute pain and complex conditions. Luna welcomes new prospective patients to start with free 15-minute consultation by phone or in person.
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