About Me
Y Thuan La is a Board Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist with a Master's Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Yo San University. She is Queer and trans masculine-identified, and a refugee who is fluent in Cantonese, mandarin and English. In addition, she has taught Yoga for 10 years, and is a breast cancer survivor.
At the age of one, she immigrated to the United States with her parents as Chinese-Vietnamese refugees. She carries a deep empathy for the hardships that immigrants face, as she remembers her own parents who worked several jobs to survive while navigating a new country with no initial English-language skills.
While growing up in Los Angeles Y Thuan also experienced discrimination which reinforces her desire to be of service for underserved and marginalized communities. In college, Y Thuan studied empowering academic subjects such as Asian American Studies and Women Studies, which helped to expand and contextualize her politics. After graduating, Y Thuan got involved with grassroots movements like KIWA (an LA based social justice organization that advocates for immigrant worker’s rights) and also became a Special Education Teacher for at-risk youth. These communities strengthened her commitment to justice and the need for holistic wellness.
As a breast cancer survivor, Y Thuan strongly believes that socio-political factors can have health effects on an individual’s mind-body and spirit. In her own practice of therapeutic medicine, she incorporates an intersectional understanding of race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic history and its comprehensive effects on patients’ whole-selves.
Y Thuan has completed additional professional training at the Orthopedic Specialty Clinic at Yo San, as well as intensive, advanced clinical training coupled with seminars at the most prestigious Acupuncture Academy in China: The China Beijing International Acupuncture Training Center, Institute of Acupuncture and Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. She also interned at the Wellness Center at LAC/USC Medical Center, treating patients for pain who otherwise would not have access to acupuncture and holistic health interventions. Her clinical experiences have included cases of: bells palsy, auto-immune skin conditions, anxiety/depression, orthopedic and musculo-skeletal conditions, and more.
Y Thuan is a certified Yoga Instructor as well as a Reiki Master practitioner giving her a unique perspective into how the the subtle body integrates with the mind and spirit. She is a strong advocate for immigrants and refugees, people of color, women, and queer and trans communities.
(Pronouns: he, she, they)