Spotlight Series
Guest Name: Brighton Roper
Credentials: L. Ac., Dipl. O.M. – Utah Family Acupuncture
Brighton Roper: Okay, thanks Betty.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Okay. Um, Brighton Roper is a licensed acupuncturist. Brings over 15 years of clinical experience um and expertise to Utah Family Acupuncture and Herbs. She treats a wide range of medical conditions including tension, headaches, migraines, sciatica, digestive issues, chronic and autoimmune illnesses, and a variet and a various and various types of pain. Brighton specializes in female infertility offering compassionate and personalized care to support her patients health and well-being. From 2015 to 2020, Brighton was an active member of the Junior League of Salt Lake. She is a proud mother of two, a daughter and a son, and has a golden retriever puppy named Topaz who occasionally joins her at the office. in her free time as she enjoys golfing, hiking, gardening, and exploring the out outdoors. She also has a passion for eating seasonally, and supporting local and organic food sources. Amazing. Thank you so much, Brighton, for being on our spotlight series. I’m excited to jump in to all the questions that I have for you. Um, we we’ve known each other for a long time, so this is exciting to like put you on on the spotlight here. So, tell me, what made you to decide to be an acupuncturist in the beginning?
Brighton Roper: I got, I guess, a start with acupuncture at a fairly early age, I feel like, um, when I was in my late teens. And what prompted me going to acupuncture was that I had gone on a trip with my high school and we went to Costa Rica. And it was kind of an intense trip. While we were there, I did get sick, but while we were there, the group also got attacked by killer bees. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this story, but I’m like, this is news to me. Um, anyway, when I came back from that trip, which was an amazing life experience, I had all sorts of gastrointestinal problems. Um, which I guess isn’t uncommon for traveling out of the country. And I think like most people, uh, because I was young, my mom, I guess, exhausted western medicine. So, I went to get, you know, a test to see if I had parasites or a fungus or, you know, what what was going on with me. And, um, so, long story short, at some point we decided to try something different, which was acupuncture. And I thought it was super effective. I don’t think it was the only thing that was effective. I think I had to learn about changing my diet and um, decreasing inflammation in my body. But I also felt like acupuncture really helped with my anxiety and that’s something I had struggled with. I mean, ever since I was born, I don’t know. So, it kind of it put the idea into my mind. And I grew up in Utah. So, I attended Westminster. I did my undergrad there. And after I had finished that, I decided I really do want to apply to acupuncture school. So, that’s that’s where I went on from there.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Very cool. You start started young. Was that nice? I love that. Talk to us about what makes you different in your approach to um being a provider to delivering acupuncture. Like what’s what’s different about you than just another acupuncturist?
Brighton Roper: I would say there are a couple things that are different at this point. One is I’ve been doing this for over 15 years now clinically, so I do feel like I have a lot of experience. Um, and I feel like I kind of have a barometer on what works and maybe what doesn’t work so well. Um, the other thing I will say is that I went to school in California. My school used to be called Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and it was renamed. It’s called Pacific College of Health Science now, but they had a very extensive herbal program. So, Chinese herbs was a huge part of the program. And to that point, um, getting an acupuncture license in the state of Utah doesn’t require that you pass the herbal exam. So, I feel like there are acupuncturists in the state who are practicing acupuncture, but haven’t had the herbal Yeah. which is I mean it’s neither here nor there but I would say that that’s what sets me apart is um I have a lot of herbal knowledge and um in addition to acupuncture I’ll offer herbal consultations for people who might not be interested in acupuncture at all but they want to try taking an herbal formula.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Very cool. Very cool. Awesome. Anything else you want to add into that? Are you good with that?
Brighton Roper: Okay, let me look. I did make some notes because you know um let’s see. I guess well we’ll kind of probably jump into this with the next question but um so I guess I would say a large portion of my clientele at this point is female infertility patients and so I would say that is also what sets me apart. Not that there aren’t other fertility acupuncturists in Utah because there are. But um I would say that my I guess my own personal I guess um issues that I went through with fertility kind of set me up for that trajectory. Um but I also wouldn’t say I limit my treatments to fertility patients. I kind of work with all sorts of conditions.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, that’s a good point. Kate, talk to us about who an ideal fit is and who’s your favorite patient treat. Obviously, the fertility ones probably. Um, but walk us through like who’s that ideal fit? Who are the people that are swimming towards you who you love and swim right back at them?
Brighton Roper: No, that makes sense. I I feel like the fertility patients are rewarding because um they’re looking for an outcome which is to get pregnant and if they get that outcome like of course that’s rewarding even though there’s part of me that’s as a practitioner trying to have no attachment to results, right? Um but I would say I I really enjoy working with fertility patients. Um, I would say what’s a little bit different about me is that for the new patient visit, I schedule off a pretty large block of time. I schedule 75 to 90 minutes. Um, because I want to take a thorough look at the patient’s medical history and kind of decide what what they’re trying to get from this, what in what areas would they like their life to change. Um, so I feel like we look at case management because of course it’s subjective but um I want to identify places where maybe they would notice um a decrease in like frequency or severity of their symptoms like if it’s pain right or um sometimes before getting pregnant there’s just markers like the menstrual cycle is regulated right or you know just different things that would be I don’t again indications of health or that we’re going in the right direction. Um so yeah, to that point I sometimes have people who um don’t want to put that much into an initial consultation and that’s fine. There are a lot of different styles of acupuncture. There’s community acupuncture um which is kind of a more quick in-n-out thing, but that’s not what I have here. I have two, I guess, standalone treatment rooms. So I just I see one client face to face.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Very cool. Yeah. Okay. What does the process look like to work with you? Like do we just show up on your doorstep? Do we call and make an appointment? Do you do a discovery call? Do we just initial visit?
Brighton Roper: Please don’t show up on my doorstep. No. Um I do work by appointment. Uh I’ve been in the office uh Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other Saturday. That’s been my current schedule. And that might change a little this fall when both of my kids are in school because my son’s starting kindergarten. Um but right now it’s Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other Saturday. And I actually um well, I’ll say my website is utahfamilyacupuncture.com. And acupuncture just has one C. Um I actually last September I upgraded to what I feel like is a really nice um EHR system and it does scheduling. And so honestly, patients can do everything now, which I love. So if people are interested in scheduling, they really can do everything online and fill out the paperwork online. And I guess I guess at this point, I’m just preferring to go to that because 15 years of old tiny charting, I’m just ready for a change.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah, that’s congratulations. That’s a big step. That’s a big deal, too. Awesome. Okay. Um, what’s something that most people don’t know that you think that they should know about your services?
Brighton Roper: Okay. I did make notes on this because I feel like there are a couple important points. Um but uh I would say since we’ve kind of been talking about fertility um I’ll use that an example. So in Chinese medicine with any condition not just fertility but um it’s kind of broken down into different pathome mechanisms. So like what could cause like migraine like what dysfunction is happening in your body what could cause infertility what could cause insomnia right so not every patient who comes for fertility will get the same treatment um it’s not just like oh these are the fertility points here you go so I guess an example would be that like um a woman comes to me and she she has a known issue let’s say a fibroid in her uterus so in Chinese medicine, we would kind of walk back and say, well, what’s that pathome mechanism? And we would say, well, it’s blood stasis in the uterus. It’s also phlegm in the uterus. So, my approach would be different with that patient with acupuncture and with herbs than let’s say someone who came to me and their uterus is perfect. There’s nothing, you know, there’s no obstruction, there’s no fibroid. But let’s say maybe their endometrium isn’t as thick as the doctors would like or so I guess we would again go back in the pathome mechanism for that patient might be blood deficiency not blood stasis so it would be a different herbal formula and different acupuncture points even though the end result is right they both pregnant right so um but the the approach is going to be different for both cases that makes sense
Dr. Betty DeLass: yeah that’s great similar test too right it’s like well you could be peing your pants for five different reasons. We got to find out why, right?
Brighton Roper: No. And I I think because of um what you do, people kind of have this thing like, oh, it’s weak pelvic floor muscles and it could be tight pelvic floor muscles, right? It could be be an imbalance. It could be actually a structural thing. It’s not your like yes, it might be one thing, but there could be a lot going on.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah, there’s a lot of skill into like what you do, why you do it, and going to the root cause. And I think that’s really important just to find practitioners that are willing and able to just dive in and really go really go for the that piece of it. So, thank you for sharing that. Kate, do you have anything special that you want to promote to the audience at all? Do you have any like fun things coming up, events, newsletter you want people to join or anything fun?
Brighton Roper: Well, I do have an email newsletter. So, um I don’t know. People could get in contact with me and I could sign them up. Um, my email address is [familyacupuncturist@gmail.com](mailto:familyacupuncturist@gmail.com). I I felt like what I wanted to promote is facial rejuvenation because that’s also something I do. Um, and I I don’t think every acupuncturist does that.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah. That a little bit. I think that’s a that’d be a great topic for here.
Brighton Roper: I Yeah, I was putting a lot of thought into that because I feel like it I don’t know in in this time people have a lot of options. People would be like, well, why don’t I just go to micro needling? And it’s like, well, micro needling is a fine option. I’m not saying don’t go to micro needling, but um the mechanism with facial acupuncture is similar. So, the needles are inserted very superficially in the face versus the body, the needles can be inserted to different depths, but um the same idea in the face is that it kind of creates a micro trauma and so your body wants to stimulate collagen production and elastin to help with anti-aging. I would say the the reason why people might want to do this versus like micro needling or Botox or whatever else is out there is because the same time they’re here, I will be doing body acupuncture points. So, I can I can look at other things going on or that like might be contributing to their aging and work on it um on their body as well. So, yeah,
Dr. Betty DeLass: I love that.
Brighton Roper: And I would say it it we can kind of target different parts of the face too because some people have fine lines and wrinkles, some people have dark circles under their eyes, some people you want to work on their neck, maybe not so much their face. So I would say um that’s another area that I like to work on. And that’s usually a little bit different from other acupuncture. It’s usually a course of treatments, like 10 treatments. Mhm. Um, and I feel like I did want to mention usually when I see a new patient, I’ll recommend that they come in for four to six treatments and then reassess, but also it’s different for everyone because like you know, some people have acute conditions, you know what I mean? They might have a muscle strain or a sprain and that’s going to get better quicker than someone who’s had back pain for 20 years or something.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Yep. I know that all too well to my core. One sec. Okay, never mind. Sorry, someone’s at my door, but they can. Hey, um, my favorite question to ask everyone is, what’s the main thing that you want to be known for?
Brighton Roper: Um, I would say the main thing I want to be known for is helping women get pregnant. But I would also say what I would like to be known for is that as a person, I feel like I really do have compassion for everyone who comes in and what they’re struggling with and what they want to get, you know, what they’re trying to work on and fix in their life. And um I yeah, I feel like I have like a some sort of meaningful connection and I wish the best for everyone.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah, I can vouch for that. Thank you. Yes, you are you have just this the a wonderful soul of life. Yes. Okay. All right. Where can we find you? I know you dropped a couple nuggets along the way, but website, email, location, social media, all the things like
Brighton Roper: So, I’m my office is in Salt Lake. Um it’s in the I guess you could say Central 9th District. The address is 177 West 700 South 84101. And yes, I’ll give you my phone number which is 801-359-4780. Um, but yeah, my website, which is Utah Family Acupuncture, has a booking link. You can find more information there about pricing. Oh, and I feel like I should also say that I’m in network with Cigna, so I do accept Cigna insurance. And um even for patients who don’t have that, they can usually pay with an HSA or an FSA. So yeah, those are those are other options.
Dr. Betty DeLass: Well, thank you so much, Brighton, for being on our spotlight series. It’s been a pleasure to hang out with you again and um thank you for all you do in the Utah community here.
Brighton Roper: Thank you so much, Betty. Thanks for having me.