Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Casasayas.
Hi Laura, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m Laura Casasayas, L.Ac., founder of Holistic Acupuncture Santa Cruz, a Chinese medicine practice in Aptos with a focus on prenatal and postnatal care. I’ve been helping individuals and families achieve better health for more than 15 years.
I’m originally from Catalonia, Spain, where I grew up in a multigenerational family of pharmacists and medicine makers. Conversations about health, healing, and the human body were simply part of everyday life, and they sparked my interest in medicine from an early age.
I first studied Human Nutrition and Dietetics; I was searching for answers to my own health challenges. While nutrition gave me an important foundation, it didn’t fully answer the questions I was trying to resolve. That search eventually led me to Chinese medicine, which opened up an entirely new way of understanding health outcomes and who we are are related to our mind, spirit and body interconnectivity.
Like many practitioners in the healing arts, my own experiences shaped the path I chose. Living with asthma, allergies, anxiety, and an eating disorder taught me that healing is rarely linear and that health is truly multidimensional. Those experiences continue to influence my philosophy of care: rather than treating isolated symptoms, I focus on understanding and supporting the whole person.
Adventure eventually brought me to California. Although becoming licensed here required starting over and completing the recertification process, I never lost sight of my goal. I always knew I wanted to work with people in a healing setting, helping them reconnect with their health, resilience, and well-being.
Before landing in California where I trained with experienced practitioners as part of my recertificacion. After my Chinese Medicine graduate program in Barcelona I traveled to the province of Kunming, China to study in different Chinese medicine hospitals and clinics.
As Holistic Acupuncture Santa Cruz has grown, I’ve realized that my vision was never just to build an acupuncture practice. I wanted to create a place where people feel genuinely cared for and where healing doesn’t happen in isolation. That desire led to The WOOM, a shared space where practitioners who share similar values can care for families under one roof. Today, it brings together acupuncture, mental health therapy, birth and postpartum support, and educational workshops, making it easier for people to access different kinds of care in one welcoming environment. We’re still growing, but every collaboration reminds me that healthcare is better when practitioners know each other, communicate, and support the same families.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the first challenges in my journey was starting over in a new country. Moving from Barcelona to the United States meant learning a new language, adapting to a new culture and healthcare system, recertifying my education, and rebuilding myself as a practitioner. This experience taught me the importance of listening, cultural humility, and meeting people where they are.
Becoming a mother transformed both my personal and professional life. It gave me a deeper understanding of the challenges many women face while caring for themselves and their families. Experiencing pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum firsthand strengthened my belief in the value of Chinese medicine as a gentle and supportive approach during these important stages of life, especially when women are looking for options beyond conventional treatments.
When I opened Holistic Acupuncture Santa Cruz, I joined a community with many talented and established acupuncturists. This challenged me to find my own path and focus on what I was most passionate about: women’s health, prenatal and postpartum care, nutrition, and community. Building a practice has been about creating genuine relationships and offering a different kind of healthcare experience. Over time, this vision grew beyond my own practice and inspired The WOOM a collaborative space where practitioners can come together to support families and create a more connected approach to care.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Holistic Acupuncture Santa Cruz is an integrative healthcare clinic dedicated to helping women, growing families, and the broader community achieve lasting health through personalized, evidence-informed care. We combine the wisdom of Chinese medicine with modern healthcare approaches, offering acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping therapy, clinical nutrition, and other complementary therapies to support the body’s natural healing process. Our focus is not simply on relieving symptoms, but on understanding the root causes of imbalance and creating individualized care plans that honor each person’s unique health journey.
At the heart of our practice is a deep commitment to reproductive, prenatal, and postpartum care. We support women through every stage of their journey from preparing for conception and optimizing fertility, to navigating pregnancy, preparing for birth, recovering after delivery, and adapting to the physical and emotional changes of early parenthood.
As the practice has grown, our vision has expanded beyond a traditional acupuncture clinic. This inspired the creation of The WOOM, a collaborative space where holistic practitioners come together to support maternal, family, and community wellbeing. The WOOM is designed as an ecosystem of integrated care, where providers from different disciplines work collaboratively to offer continuous, relationship-centered support before, during, and after birth, while also promoting lifelong health for individuals and families.
Although women’s health is our primary focus, we also care for patients experiencing chronic pain, stress, nervous system dysregulation, digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and other complex health concerns. Every treatment plan is personalized and developed with a whole-person perspective that considers each individual’s history, lifestyle, goals, and overall wellbeing.
At Holistic Acupuncture Santa Cruz, we believe healthcare should be deeply personal and rooted in relationships. Every person has a unique story, and our role is to listen, educate, collaborate, and provide the tools and support needed to help them thrive. Whether someone is preparing to welcome a new baby, recovering after birth, or seeking better health at any stage of life, we want them to know they don’t have to navigate their journey alone.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
it’s important to find what makes you unique and lean into it. Having a clear focus helps you stand out and attracts the right opportunities and relationships.
Networking has worked best for me by building genuine connections with providers whose work complements mine. Instead of thinking about referrals, I think about creating partnerships that benefit our shared patients.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to clinics, nonprofits, or community organizations that align with your interests. Introduce yourself, stay curious, and look for ways to contribute. You never know where one conversation might lead.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.holisticacupuncturesc.com
- Instagram: @holisticacupuncturesc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holisticacupuncturesantacruz/
- Other: hello@holisticacupuncturesc.com
