Meet the Practitioners
Owner: Emily Pendergast, L.Ac, MAOM, Dipl. OM
Emily is a licensed, NCCAOM certified acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the state of New Hampshire. Before opening Wild Roots in 2022, she owned and operated Portsmouth Community Acupuncture in Portsmouth, NH for 12 years. Emily attended The New England School of Acupuncture in Newton, MA, where she graduated with a Master's degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a focus in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College, where she developed her strong passion for mental health and human behavior. She also studied neuroscience abroad at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.
While attending NESA, Emily treated a wide variety of patients and conditions at Dimock Clinic and Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center (two non-profit organizations in Roxbury, MA) as well as at Malden Hospital. She also took a specialty clinic in orthopedic acupuncture, where she gained experience in treating a variety of pain-related musculoskeletal issues and injuries. Before opening Portsmouth Community Acupuncture, Emily worked within Healing Hands Chiropractic in Londonderry, NH, where she focused primarily on women's health, fertility, and pre/post-natal care. She took this experience and integrated fertility work as a strong focus at Portsmouth Community Acupuncture, and now Wild Roots, where she has found great success in helping women conceive naturally, or alongside assisted fertility treatments.
Running a community clinic has given Emily experience treating a wide variety of conditions. Some of those conditions include women's health (menopause, fertility, PMS, pre and post-birth acupuncture, menstrual irregularities, symptoms arising from STDs), insomnia, mental-emotional disorders (stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder), chronic pain disorders, various types of arthritis, digestive issues, and immune disorders, to name a few. She has also found a passion in helping those suffering from Lyme Disease, Epstein Barr Virus, mold and heavy metal exposure, and other conditions that are often difficult to diagnose and treat with western medicine. Her more recent venture into functional medicine has also been successful in helping patients recover from or manage such conditions.
Why Community Acupuncture?
After only a few months of practicing at her private practice, Emily became frustrated with the inability to provide patients with the care they needed due to the high costs of private treatments. Oftentimes, frequent treatments are recommended in order to most effectively address issues, which can become unaffordable to many. There are few insurance programs that cover acupuncture, or only cover a limited number of visits, leaving many without the option to include acupuncture into their health regime. After consulting with other practitioners who also started community acupuncture clinics, Emily decided to open the first Portsmouth community clinic with hopes to offer more affordable and frequent acupuncture treatments. Emily had hoped that PCA would encourage those who wanted or needed acupuncture, but could not afford the treatments, to experience healing and balance through this traditional method. She has now relocated and renamed the community clinic to Wild Roots Acupuncture & Wellness, where she hopes to continue to help the Seacoast area reach their health-related goals and needs through holistic medicine, as she'll be slowly incorporating other types of modalities to the practice such a functional medicine, muscle testing/nutrition response testing, reiki, massage, and a small vitamin/supplement shop.
Emily is a licensed, NCCAOM certified acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the state of New Hampshire. Before opening Wild Roots in 2022, she owned and operated Portsmouth Community Acupuncture in Portsmouth, NH for 12 years. Emily attended The New England School of Acupuncture in Newton, MA, where she graduated with a Master's degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a focus in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College, where she developed her strong passion for mental health and human behavior. She also studied neuroscience abroad at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.
While attending NESA, Emily treated a wide variety of patients and conditions at Dimock Clinic and Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center (two non-profit organizations in Roxbury, MA) as well as at Malden Hospital. She also took a specialty clinic in orthopedic acupuncture, where she gained experience in treating a variety of pain-related musculoskeletal issues and injuries. Before opening Portsmouth Community Acupuncture, Emily worked within Healing Hands Chiropractic in Londonderry, NH, where she focused primarily on women's health, fertility, and pre/post-natal care. She took this experience and integrated fertility work as a strong focus at Portsmouth Community Acupuncture, and now Wild Roots, where she has found great success in helping women conceive naturally, or alongside assisted fertility treatments.
Running a community clinic has given Emily experience treating a wide variety of conditions. Some of those conditions include women's health (menopause, fertility, PMS, pre and post-birth acupuncture, menstrual irregularities, symptoms arising from STDs), insomnia, mental-emotional disorders (stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder), chronic pain disorders, various types of arthritis, digestive issues, and immune disorders, to name a few. She has also found a passion in helping those suffering from Lyme Disease, Epstein Barr Virus, mold and heavy metal exposure, and other conditions that are often difficult to diagnose and treat with western medicine. Her more recent venture into functional medicine has also been successful in helping patients recover from or manage such conditions.
Why Community Acupuncture?
After only a few months of practicing at her private practice, Emily became frustrated with the inability to provide patients with the care they needed due to the high costs of private treatments. Oftentimes, frequent treatments are recommended in order to most effectively address issues, which can become unaffordable to many. There are few insurance programs that cover acupuncture, or only cover a limited number of visits, leaving many without the option to include acupuncture into their health regime. After consulting with other practitioners who also started community acupuncture clinics, Emily decided to open the first Portsmouth community clinic with hopes to offer more affordable and frequent acupuncture treatments. Emily had hoped that PCA would encourage those who wanted or needed acupuncture, but could not afford the treatments, to experience healing and balance through this traditional method. She has now relocated and renamed the community clinic to Wild Roots Acupuncture & Wellness, where she hopes to continue to help the Seacoast area reach their health-related goals and needs through holistic medicine, as she'll be slowly incorporating other types of modalities to the practice such a functional medicine, muscle testing/nutrition response testing, reiki, massage, and a small vitamin/supplement shop.
Amy Vlacich, L.Ac, MSOM, ADS, FABORM
Amy Vlacich is a Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist specializing in holistic pain management, digestive health, and hormonal support for all ages and stages of life. She believes in the body's innate ability to heal itself and strives to support this natural process with acupuncture and herbal medicine. Despite her passion for women's health, Amy also loves to treat HEENT conditions such as headaches, allergies, sinusitis, vertigo, and TMJ.
Amy earned her Master's of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, California. During her graduate studies, she interned at the San Francisco Homeless Prenatal Program, LifeLong Medical Care, and UCSF Mission Bay. She also studied at the First Teaching Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, China where she learned acupuncture protocols for stroke rehabilitation and other neurological disorders. Since then, Amy has given over 14,000 acupuncture treatments in private and community practice in New Hampshire and Florida.
Amy is a certified Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist (ADS) and Fellow of the Acupuncture Board of Reproductive Medicine (FABORM), one of four fertility specialists in the state of New Hampshire. She has spent the past five years working at an integrative family wellness center in Florida, but is happy to return home to New England where she grew up. In her free time, Amy enjoys hiking, paddling, dancing, yoga, poetry, and adventures with her velcro dog, Rosie.
Amy Vlacich is a Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist specializing in holistic pain management, digestive health, and hormonal support for all ages and stages of life. She believes in the body's innate ability to heal itself and strives to support this natural process with acupuncture and herbal medicine. Despite her passion for women's health, Amy also loves to treat HEENT conditions such as headaches, allergies, sinusitis, vertigo, and TMJ.
Amy earned her Master's of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, California. During her graduate studies, she interned at the San Francisco Homeless Prenatal Program, LifeLong Medical Care, and UCSF Mission Bay. She also studied at the First Teaching Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, China where she learned acupuncture protocols for stroke rehabilitation and other neurological disorders. Since then, Amy has given over 14,000 acupuncture treatments in private and community practice in New Hampshire and Florida.
Amy is a certified Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist (ADS) and Fellow of the Acupuncture Board of Reproductive Medicine (FABORM), one of four fertility specialists in the state of New Hampshire. She has spent the past five years working at an integrative family wellness center in Florida, but is happy to return home to New England where she grew up. In her free time, Amy enjoys hiking, paddling, dancing, yoga, poetry, and adventures with her velcro dog, Rosie.
