Featured NESH Alumna: Melinda Nickels ND, LAc
Melinda Nickels ND, LAc
Astoria, Oregon
NESH Alumni Practitioner Directory Listing
I graduated from what is now NUNM in 2008 from the dual degree ND/Chinese medicine program, and since then I’ve been in private practice. I started out in Vancouver, WA but moved to the North Coast of Oregon in Astoria in 2020 to be with my partner Alyssa. It’s great but challenging working out here. I’m practicing both naturopathic and Chinese medicine and treating wonderful folks with a lot of intense health issues. I fell in love with homeopathy during my first homeopathy lecture and since then I’ve been totally fascinated by it. I love how it really does treat the whole person, and how it has the potential to create major shifts towards health. I also geek out on the puzzle of trying to find a good remedy match. I’ve been studying with NESH off and on since 2006 and I love the logic of cycles and segments.
At the Beach!
Outside of work I spend a lot of time exploring the woods and coast. Astoria is this amazing place where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean and there are stunning views everywhere you look (including right outside my treatment room). I’m also a long time choir singer. Right now I’m an alto in the North Coast Chorale, a community chorus in my area. It’s so fun to sing with others! And I’m working on learning French, because my brother lives in France and my partner is fluent, so…why not?
From NESH: Melinda is one of our dedicated students who took NESH’s full course in Portland as an ND student in 2006, continued with NESH Clinical Classes, and then came back well into her career in 2022-23 with our online Two-Year course to take her practice to the next level.
Paul reflects that interestingly, Melinda touches on a compelling point. There are several modalities that treat the whole patient. And many practitioners of one, are also drawn to homeopathy. It seems to me that Chinese Medical practitioners like Melinda are often drawn to homeopathy. I think the reason has to do with the nature of the patient. Sometimes people speak with the symptoms that fit homeopathic remedies while others speak as if they just read a Chinese Medical text. These two systems seem to also reach different reactive forces within the body. Just like the Pacific is different from the Columbia river, the interweaving of both knowledge within the same practitioner leads to a beauty all its own. I admire folks that learn the material of both these vast oceans of information to help their patients better. Melinda certainly fits there.
Professional Highlights:
• 2020: Joined the amazing integrative healthcare team at Watershed Wellness Astoria in Astoria, OR
• 2008-2020: Started my own private practice, Nickels Natural Health in Vancouver, WA and another clinic, Rain and Shine Holistic Healthcare in Portland, OR
• 2008: graduated from NCNM (NUNM) in the ND/MSOM dual degree program with an additional certificate in Homeopathy
• 1997: BA in Physics from Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
Melinda is our January 2025 Featured Alumna. Return to NESH Alumni Spotlight page to learn about other distinguished NESH alumni.