Community Highlights: Meet Sarah Moley of Go See Sarah

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Moley.

Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up seeing an acupuncturist as my first line of care. My mom became pregnant with her first child (me) at the age of 43 when she started getting acupuncture here in Boulder. I grew up seeing this same acupuncturist, David Scrimgeour, and now I work alongside him at Six Persimmons Apothecary. I started working at Six Persimmons in January of 2020, working in the front office when I moved back to Boulder from NYC after completing my first master’s in clinical psychology at Columbia University. Most of my research had centered around the intersection of mind-body-spirit. I was trying to develop methods of treatment that encompassed the whole person for more effective integration and recovery from mental illness and PTSD. Later I would realize that through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the mind and the body are considered one and the same, and treatment, therefore, benefits the whole person. Working for David was a kind of kismet. The idea occurred to me to ask him for a job before I left New York. On the day that I had planned to walk down and talk to him, we got a huge snowstorm here, so I applied to some front desk/office manager roles online. It turned out that one of those roles was at his clinic. They called me for an interview and the rest, as they say, is history. He said that if I’d waited one more day to apply, they would have hired someone else. I finished training right as the pandemic started. We were inundated with calls for herbs and phone consultations, since our in-person operations were suspended. I manned the front-desk, answering calls and filling orders. I learned that TCM already had the tools necessary to help people with COVID-19, at a time when there was no vaccine and Western Medicine was still in the early stages of learning about the virus. In TCM we treat the body as it presents; we treat the patient, not the disease. In this way I saw firsthand how important and helpful this medicine can be.
It occurred to me while I was working at the clinic during the pandemic that my ancestors on my mom’s side had been involved in work like this. My mom’s grandfather was a Creole herbalist in the New Orleans area, and she talked about how he was the community’s resource for herbal medicine during the epidemics that swept through the port city. I felt connected to that in a deep and powerful way. TCM uses different herbs than western herbalism, and different herbal theory, but I found myself feeling like I was in the right place at the right time. In August of 2020 I enrolled in acupuncture school at Southwest Acupuncture College. During my time in school, I began to see the body in a new way. All symptoms–mental, emotional, physical–fit together so beautifully in this system of diagnosis and treatment. I grew as a practitioner and as a human being. As a practitioner, every day that I practice in the clinic feels meaningful and rewarding, each patient teaching me something new.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t a straight or easy path to arrive at where I am now. But everything that I have experienced thus far has contributed to how I am able to show up for my patients in the present, and for who I have become. My challenges have strengthened me as a practitioner, as have the other modalities that I learned before becoming an acupuncturist. Right out of college I wanted to be a writer, so I would write on the side of some other jobs. My writing led me to learn about my ancestors and who they were in their communities; to learn that they were herbalists, farmers, and so I started to walk in their shoes. I started working at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project as the gardens coordinator for the community garden and the herb garden. I also did some similar work when I lived in NYC, teaching kids about plants and growing things in that dense urban concrete setting. All the while I was getting my master’s in clinical psychology.
I came to understand the mind, motives, and reasons behind major mental illnesses, and became very passionate about finding alternative solutions to traditional talk-therapy or drug therapy, where the body and the spirit of the individual were also considered and cared for. Too much focus in traditional psychology, in my opinion, is on what is wrong, versus on what can be done, or what the person is good at. One of my teachers at Columbia, Dr Dan Tomasulo, who taught Positive Psychology, was instrumental in opening my mind to the possibilities of positive encouragement; of focusing on the good in people and by working to their strengths, allowing this to become bigger than what is wrong. I still use these principles to this day in my practice.
I searched everywhere for the answers to my biggest questions. I studied flower essence therapy and became a flower essence practitioner; flower essences work on the energetic or emotional body of the person. I studied shamanic soul retrieval, where the practitioner discovers a moment of rupture for the soul, and seeks the answers around how to repair it. All these practices gave me something–but how to use it? How to bring all of this into one cohesive modality to really help the modern person? Mental illness does not exist independent of the body and illnesses of the body do not exist in a void without the mind, and, above all this, the spirit is instrumental in whether the individual is willing to do the work it will take to recover, or not. I had always loved acupuncture treatment, and it took me a while before I saw that it landed right at this intersection, perfectly at the conjunction of the past and present, the practical and the therapeutic, a true medicine. It is a modality that would allow for all of these skills and theories to come into play. I did not need to remake the wheel. There is already a vast ocean of knowledge that speaks to treating the individual in the context of all that they are (mind, body spirit), and also in the context of their environment and their community. A medicine that really sees people.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My acupuncture practice, Go See Sarah, is based in North Boulder at Six Persimmons Apothecary, and in Thornton at Intrepid Bodyworks. At Intrepid Bodyworks I treat patients through Veteran’s Affairs (VA) referrals as well as private-pay patients; in North Boulder we have a private-pay practice. If you have an HSA/FSA account, often this can be used for private-pay treatment. I specialize in fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, menstrual health, mental health, acute and chronic pain, constitutional facial acupuncture, digestion and gut health, immunity, chronic illness, and more.
I bring a wealth of experience to each acupuncture session, prioritizing excellent results through patient education and empowerment, utilizing positive psychology to encourage positive change. Combined with careful assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, each treatment is uniquely tailored to the individual. I work to create lasting change in the treatment room and beyond. I believe that once the patient and practitioner both agree on the nature of the illness then real healing can occur. The end goal is that each patient goes on to lead a healthier and happier life.

Six Persimmons Apothecary: https://sixpersimmons.com/acupuncture-boulder/
Intrepid Bodyworks: https://www.vagaro.com/intrepidbodyworks1
Go See Sarah: https://sarahmoley.com/

What matters most to you?
I want people to live good lives. I know that sounds very simple, but in fact it’s huge–it’s everything. It’s the ripples that spread out to shift the world. When I was in school for my psychology master’s, one main phrase continued to follow me through: the only life you can change is your own. At first it haunted me: what was the point? Why try to help others? If, in fact, the only life I could make a difference in was my own? How was that supposed to change the world? But then I realized that that was the only way I could change the world. By changing me. Changing my impact on those around me, on my community, on everyone who crosses my path. The ripples. That’s how anyone makes a difference. One person at a time, each affecting their own sphere of influence in a positive way. Being a force for good, or at least being the kind of person you would want to encounter when you were suffering, going through it, or feeling lost in the world. I wanted to be that person for myself, and on the journey to become that person, I became capable of helping others become that person for themselves. The treatment is a push in the right direction; everything else is up to them. I like to encourage my patients, to acknowledge the steps they take toward their own health and well-being. I ask myself one question at the end of each day: did I help anyone today? I know it’s been a good day when I can say: yes. Almost every day since becoming an acupuncturist I am able to say, “Yes, I helped someone today.” And that is what matters most to me. I think that’s huge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sarahmoley.com/
• Instagram: @go_see_sarah
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goseesarahmoley/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-moley-5bb4a012a/

Image Credits
Sarah Moley Albin Pepe