Alameda Community Acupuncture's mission to make acupuncture and natural medicine affordable and accessible to regular people with ordinary income. 

Our commited, experienced and gentle acupuncturists all work as a team, so feel free to come in any time that is convenient for you. Many of our patients get treatments from all of us.

Donna Chang, L.Ac. (MSOM)

Founder of ACA
Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist
Somatic Nervous System Healing Guide
Holistic Transformational coach

I founded Alameda Community Acupuncture because I am passionate about making trauma-informed holistic health care widely accessible and I love being in community. Besides being an acupuncturist and herbalist, I am also a healing guide. I love guiding people towards deeper connection with their bodies' innate healing wisdom and inner resources.

Having grown up in Hong Kong, I had an interest in Chinese Medicine and Taoism from a young age. I moved from Hong Kong back to the Bay Area, where I was born, when I was 17 years old. In my twenties, I struggled with chronic health issues and wasn't able to get the help I needed from mainstream medicine. My desire to take back my health led me to study natural medicine, yoga, self-care principles, nutrition, and eventually received my masters degree at Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley in 2011. There, I also participated in externships at San Francisco Prenatal Homeless Clinic and the West Berkeley Lifelong Medical Center. My own healing journey and deep curiosity about the mind-body-soul continuum led me to extensive personal cultivation and extensive studies in bioenergetics/ somatic nervous system healing (Tao of Trauma, Biology of Trauma), transformational coaching (Aletheia Coaching Level 1-3, Dreamwork and Deeply Expanded States Integration), functional nutrition etc.

Besides working in the community setting, I am available for deeper 1:1 healing guidance either in-person or virtually. My approach is gentle and respectful.

My specialties include women’s health (especially menstrual cycles & peri-menopause), nutrition, chronic pain, somatic trauma healing, emotional health, nervous/endocrine/immune system balance and regulation.

When I am not working, I enjoy drawing/ painting, intuitive singing, practicing qi gong, and hiking/biking around the East Bay hills. 

(Languages: English, Cantonese, and some Mandarin)

Sheila Shahmirza, L.Ac. (MSOM)

Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist

Born and raised in California, I studied and completed my Masters of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine from AIMC Berkeley. While there, I honed my studies in women's health, auto-immune and endocrine disorders, sports medicine and pain management. 

I have a passion for helping people access their innate healing ability and addressing the root cause of an imbalance to help people feel their best and maintain optimal health. When not treating patients, I enjoy being outdoors, venturing on hikes with my dog and watching NBA basketball (Go Warriors!).

Born and raised in California, I studied and completed my Masters of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine from AIMC Berkeley. While there, I honed my studies in women's health, auto-immune and endocrine disorders, sports medicine and pain management. I have a passion for helping people access their innate healing ability and addressing the root cause of an imbalance to help people feel their best and maintain optimal health. When not treating patients, I enjoy being outdoors, venturing on hikes with my dog and watching NBA basketball (Go Warriors!).

Eliza Dean, L.Ac. (MSTCM, CMT)

Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist

From a young age I was delighted to discover an ability to listen to energies moving under my fingers giving massages to her grandparents and pets. Eventually I learned how to follow along and hold a conversation with the entire body. 
After an 8 year career as a massage therapist, I decided to build upon her skills by studying Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. As an acupuncturist I am intuitive, compassionate, gentle and patient centered. I believe that each person possesses their own innate healing abilities and that health care should be accessible to all. I am very excited to be joining a community clinic where both of these ideals are upheld. 
When you encounter me in the clinic or out on the streets in the East Bay you will be greeted with a warm smile, a sense of humor, and an attentive ear. And, possibly a friendly greeting from my border collie, Salix, as well! I am passionate about providing care for folks in the LGBTQ community, unhoused and low income folks, and anyone wishing to deepen their connection to their own bodies. 

Orly Politi, L.Ac. (MSTCM)

Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist

Journeying through the complexities of healing as a human has inspired a fondness within me for the spaces between. The subtlety of dancing the line between pain and discomfort, choosing to exist in a space that occupies both light and dark, and finding a rhythmic flow within the surrounding chaos- all have inspired my decision to practice Chinese medicine. I am drawn to the way a needle simultaneously converses with both our physical and energetic bodies, a welcome reminder of how one is inherently affected by the other. Imbued with the intention of re-introducing harmony and balance to both mind and body, I find joy in assisting others traverse their spaces between, while promoting healing from within.

Additionally, my experience as a yoga instructor for over ten years continues to inform my work as an acupuncturist, especially when supporting various musculoskeletal ailments. I am always happy to offer recommendations. Please ask!

The redwood forest, jazz, and the rain are some of my happy places outside of clinic.

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