Hello, I'm Erin. I truly believe that cultivating a vibrant life and balanced health are possible through natural approaches like herbs, acupuncture, nutrition and coaching.

While I'm very proud of my academic and professional accomplishments, I believe it's the journey that really makes us who we are, and I want to share with you mine.

Prefer to head straight to my Professional Bio and Credentials? Click Here.

The Journey So Far

I've lived a life built on experiential learning, something I hadn't heard of until I enrolled in a Quaker College in Long Island, NY. What this taught me, is that there is opportunity to learn, grow and change in any moment of our lives - that by simply experiencing where we are, we are learning.

Sure, there is a time and place for professional services or education, but when we connect to our own source of homeostasis, then we become the true champions of our health (and life). It is from this place of curiosity that I try to live my life - in the boring moments, the scary moments and the happy ones, too. And it is from this place that I help my clients develop confidence in their own intuitive knowledge so they can become the best advocate for themselves - stepping into vibrant health and lasting joy in their sovereignty.

After High School, I dove into one year of college at the University of Minnesota, and immediately swam back out. It was not for me. I had a burning desire to connect with the world around me, learn to speak other languages and understand healing traditions different from the very conventional one I was raised with. In the year 2000, I enrolled myself into the Medical Anthropology program at the Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima. I was born to immensely supportive parents and a sister, who may not have always understood my journey but continuously encouraged it.

Peru

In Peru, I finally quenched my thirst for a truly experiential education - one that would fuel me with more humility and passion than I thought possible. I studied under a (thankfully) American professor who allowed me to write all my papers in English, despite my growing proficiency in Spanish. I did field work in Eco-Tourism and Shamanic Healing traditions in both the Andes Mountains and the Amazon. I learned the yin and yang of healthcare - that no one tradition (including "science") has all the answers. We must continually explore and interweave.

China

One year later, I hopped a plane to Hangzhou, China, where I had the good fortune to intern at the Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital on the Geriatric floor. The multi-story building sat adjacent to the Western Medicine Hospital, and the two often cooperated on patient care. I looked at thousands of tongues and felt an equal number of pulses (two important TCM diagnostic techniques). I watched countless acupuncture treatments take place in packed wards of patients and hung out in the pharmacy that prescribed over 500 individualized herbal formulas each day, including IV and injection herbal concoctions.

With eyes wide open, I saw the power of TCM in action, and knew I would one day pursue a more formal education in it.

While in China, I passed through the wonderful city of Chengdu into Lhasa, Tibet. I was on a month long Photography expedition and circumstantially was exposed to the unique healing tradition of Tibetan Medicine. In particular, I became fascinated with the beautiful murals called Thangkas - which document the entire system of Tibetan Medicine, including: anatomy, physiology, embryology, treatment strategy and the rest. Proof, yet again, that there was tangible evidence of healing wisdom before science ever came into the picture.

Central America

Thirteen months later I was placed in an internship with a Canadian midwife, Marie, who was attending home births in San Jose, Costa Rica. Under her guidance, I learned - for the first time - about the female body. About my own body. It was during this apprenticeship that I finally began to experience the emotional and physical healing that I had been yearning for.

The midwifery model of care integrates emotional, psychological, social and physical aspects into women's healthcare - something I had never experienced. I devoured her library of Dr. Christiane Northrup, Robbie Davis Floyd and Ina May Gaskin (a hero I would later visit and help transplant swiss chard in her garden, sip tea and enjoy homemade scones over the proof of her next book while staying on the legendary Farm in Tennessee).

Marie connected me with a group of midwives living in a remote town outside of Leon, Nicaragua. These were local women who were trained in attending childbirth by the women before them. There were no hospitals or birthing centers nearby, so they created birthing rooms and clinics in their own homes - off of the kitchen or in an extra bedroom. Their work in the community was born out of passion and necessity. Many of the midwives couldn't read, and kept all their charting in pictographs. Between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I witnessed not only my first home deliveries, hospital deliveries and cesarean sections, but the power of whole-woman-care. I was hooked.

Southern Cali

After a brief indecision of whether to pursue Midwifery or Chinese Medicine school, I settled on the latter and moved to San Diego, California to enroll in Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM). I worked my way through the four-year Master of Science program as a labor doula and a surgical services assistant in reproductive surgery - marrying my passion for anatomical understanding and the innate feminine power of childbirth.

While studying Chinese Medicine, I dramatically changed my diet according to TCM principles and consistently used herbal formulas. My skin acne, depression and anxiety began to resolve. My thoughts became clearer and I stepped into a self with more energy than I thought possible - even while completing a rigorous Masters degree and preparing for board exams. I knew the power of Chinese Medicine, but this is where I truly experienced it for myself.

NYC

Half way through my education I decided to take a semester at the campus in New York City. I fell in love - with the city, with the people, with the school and with my future husband. I immediately transferred, struck up a doula practice that allowed me to work in all the renowned New York hospitals (as well as home-births in Brooklyn and Manhattan). I finished my degree while interning as an acupuncturist at the VA Medical Center in Flat Iron,  NYU Center for Joint Diseases, Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn (on their Labor & Delivery ward) and The Berkley Center for Reproductive Medicine in midtown.

After graduation, I hung a shingle and built my first practice, Grow Wellness Acupuncture. Without any formal business training and six-figures in student loans to start me off, I am forever grateful to all the mentors I had along the way that helped me find my dedication and thrive (I paid those loans off after just two years, by the way, a feat I'm incredibly proud of).

Clinician

Grow Wellness Acupuncture was my first baby. I loved everything about raising it - from designing the site to furnishing my office to hiring my amazing team of office managers, billers and acupuncturists. My favorite aspect was my clients. I am forever humbled and grateful to all the individuals who entrusted me with their health the seven years my doors were open. I had intended to build a clinic that would house generations of clients over decades of practice, and while I did see my fare share of multiple pregnancies and children to my adult-clients, there was a different path in store for me.

Focusing my practice on supporting women during the reproductive years was an enormous opportunity to witness the awesome capacity we have to effect lasting change on our own health as women, as well as future generations.

Mom

In 2013, all of my academic and experiential education in the female reproductive space culminated into the ultimate learning experience: the birth of my first child. Coraline was born at home, assisted by my awesome midwife and doula (and husband, of course). Eighteen months later, along came Vega, also born at home with the same team yet a completely different birth experience (ask me about that sometime! I love swapping birth stories). My children continue to be my greatest teachers.

During my second maternity leave, I came to the realization that I wasn't going to continue running Grow Wellness for the long term. It was time to take a step outside New York, re-align with my purpose and hand the care of my clients off to the skilled team-members I had cultivated. It was scary, but right - and one thing I've learned is that you can't ignore "right" - especially when its scary.

Surprisingly, my husband felt the same! So after tying up loose ends and saying goodbyes, off we went on a year sabbatical with our young children. We broke up the year in equal parts: one-third Exuma, Bahamas; one-third Minnetonka, MN (near family); and one-third Jackson Hole, Wyoming (a passionate-dream).

The Grand Teton’s

It was unanimous, the mountains were calling, and we settled in a small town nestled in the Teton Mountains in the spring of 2016. I moved my practice exclusively online, offering distance healing and coaching for women across the globe.

In March of 2017, we welcomed our third child, Esser, born at our new home in the Teton’s with an all-star midwifery team. After snuggling him, chasing two toddlers and working remotely for almost a full year, I re-opened my clinical practice in February of 2018 Victor, ID - renting a perfect office space from our family’s pediatrician.

Sharing space with a physician has helped me maintain the interconnection between holistic and Western medicine, and allowed me to make great connections in the community across many modalities in support of multifaceted client care. I am forever grateful for this opportunity. Being the only acupuncturist in a small-town, my practice has since expanded beyond the expertise of women’s health to family medicine.

Alongside my clinical practice, I offer distance energy healing and transformation life coaching to clients all over the word. As an avid student of performance and wellness coaching techniques, I completed a Sacred Depths Coaching Certification with Joanna Lindenbaum at the Applied Depths Institute. These masterful tools can help anyone achieve the life of their dreams - by their own design. Read more about the energy work below.

Needle-Less Acupuncture

After co-leading two wellness retreats in Nosara, Costa Rica, I started to have a sneaky suspicion that the effects experienced in an acupuncture treatment could be replicated without needles - both in person and from a distance. And wouldn’t you know it, but a Shamanic Healer crossed my path and told me just that: “You know, Erin, you don’t need the needles to effect a healing response.”

Well, yes, I knew that but the question was how. She agreed to teach me. Over the course of two years, countless meditation practices, work with my spirit guides and counsel from her - I began to formulate a system that yields similar energetic shifts of an acupuncture session without needles. Better yet, this can be done both in-person and from a distance.

As someone rooted in “seeing is believing”, this unseen modality was a hard concept for me to breakthrough. But the results speak for themselves - reversing full body rashes and animal allergies, easing emotional symptoms, sleep disturbances and aches and pains. There really is no limit to what the body can do when given the right nudge.

I still perform and love my in-person, acupuncture needle sessions. I use this new technique on children or needle-sensitive individuals, as well as with my distance healing clients to deepen our work + results.

What I Know Now

I've witnessed the healing power of acupuncture on my table countless times, but it's the innate healing power of the body that brings me to my knees. Just clear a path, and your body will do the rest. I now devote my practice (in person and online) to help my clients clear that path for vibrant health within their own physiology, offering individualized and natural solutions alongside (or in place of) other medical interventions.

Travel, movement and nature have always been my divining rods. Whenever I need clarity, usually one of those will help me get it. And if not, then I’ve got an excellent team that I call on for support.

Balancing these self-care needs while mothering three kids, being a wife, and tending to three lines of client work is not easy - in fact, it takes constant juggling and re-framing. But I wouldn't change a thing. It is through my own personal (and ever-evolving) commitment to a new paradigm of empowered healing that I pass on to my clients and family.

That's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

I can't wait to learn about your journey, and thank you for reading mine. Namaste!

Professional Bio

Erin holds her Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine, is a Licensed Acupuncturist, Board Certified in Chinese Herbal Medicine, a DONA Trained Labor Doula, Certified Nosara Yoga Instructor and eternal student of the healing arts. In addition to her seven years running a busy acupuncture clinic in New York City (Grow Wellness Acupuncture, NYC), she has additional clinical experience working in renowned hospitals such as NYU Medical Center (NYC, NY), the VA Hospital (NYC, NY), The Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness (NYC), Zhejiang Hospital (Hangzhou, China), Planned Parenthood (San Diego, CA) and Lutheran Medical Center (Brooklyn, NY). She is a Certified Life Coach by Sacred Depths Certification Training Program.

She uses her fifteen+ years of clinical experience to provide her clients with a comprehensive holistic health strategy specific to individual needs and goals, and always in alignment with other care providers. It is her belief that true and lasting healing must integrate emotional and spiritual aspects, which she addresses via consistent communication (by phone, in person and email).

Erin helps her clients unlock their vibrant health potential using acupuncture, custom botanicals, constitutional nutrition, stress management tools and intuitive life coaching. She has particular expertise and additional training in the fields of Infertility, Hormonal Imbalance, Emotional Distress and Chronic Childhood concerns. Erin currently lives in a small town in the Teton Mountains outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming with her husband and three children. Please sign up for her newsletter to stay connected!

 

Credentials and Experience

2022 - Erin Completed Sacred Depths Certification for Life Coaching

2016 - Present: Founded Erin Borbet MS: Acupuncture and Remote Wellness Coaching

2019-2022: Vice Chair of Teton Valley Foundation

2015-2017: Certified Women's Herbal Educator, with Aviva Romm MD

2009-2015: Founded and Ran Grow Wellness Acupuncture in NYC, NY

2005-2012: Private Labor Doula

2008-2009: Post Graduate Acupuncture/Herbal Mentorship in the fields of Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility with Mike Berkley, L.Ac

2009: Masters of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine from PCOM University; Board Certified by NCCAOM in Chinese Herbal Medicine

2007-2009: Manager of PCOM Chinese Herbal Pharmacy in New York City

2006-2008: Clinical Internships at NYU Center for Women with Joint Disabilities and the VA Hospital in New York City

2006-Present: Served as Board Member for the Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Initiative (CAMI) - a non-profit bringing alternative care options to West Africa. 

2004-2006: Surgical Services Assistant and Family Planning Counselor at Women’s Clinic in San Diego County

2003-2004: Chinese Herbal Pharmacy Manager and Acupuncture Assistant at The China Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine in Minneapolis, MN with Dr. Zhuoling Ren

2003: Interdisciplinary Yoga Teachers Trainingat The Nosara Institute in Costa Rica (200-hour Certification)

2003: BA from Friends World College; Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations on Traditional Chinese Medicine, Midwifery, Shamanism and Tibetan Studies

2002-2003: Internship with Home Birth Midwives in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

2001-2002: Internship at Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hangzhou, China

2000-2001: On-site Medical Anthropology study of Andean and Amazonian Shamanism at the Universidad Catolica del Peru