Daniela Freda, LAc

Daniela has been a lifesaver for me in coping with severe morning sickness. Not only has the acupuncture helped manage my symptoms, but her approach is truly integrative — she has given me great advice about when to seek conventional treatment as well, and how to manage the treatments in concert. She also has a wealth of knowledge about other practitioners in the city and has referred me to other great people where appropriate.
Daniela has a calming and supportive presence and really makes sure you are comfortable during the treatments.
I also really appreciate how easy it is to work with Daniela — receipts, appointment reminders, etc are all online, she accepts credit cards and is super quick to respond to questions by email. She’s also great at giving me techniques to try at home and sending supplementary materials so they are easy to understand.

In just a few visits Daniela has already vastly helped me – body, mind and spirit! I knew instantly when I first read her website that I was going to like her, but I wasn’t prepared to absolutely LOVE her this quickly. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable of Chinese medicine and herbal supplements, she is also unbelievable with the 1 – 1 personal attention that she provides. Her knowledge is so extremely specific that it’s easy to tell she is not just lumping you into a standard practice of care, but really customizing her work to you. This is also evidenced in the tailored recommendation she provides to you during and after your sessions. My only regret in being a patient of Daniela’s is that I did not find her sooner. What a gem. I am grateful, grateful, grateful to have found her practice!

Daniela is a very compassionate person, she followed all my pregnancy with acupuncture and gave me very good recommendations regarding food and things to do to have a healthy pregnancy and treat all the ailments that came along the 9 months. she even helped me go through the post partum days.
I would definately recommend her.

Daniela is nothing short of amazing. Her treatments eliminated chronic pain and limited range of motion in my elbow. She has also normalized my menstrual cycle. She is incredibly knowledgeable and compassionate. I’ve been seeing her regularly for the last couple of years and plan to continue working with her to maintain my health!

After 12 months of trying to get pregnant, I believe the cycle of weekly sessions with Daniella were a key factor in our success. In addition to her expertise as an acupuncturist, Daniela also offers perspective and compassion. She continues to be a source of information and assurance as I go through my pregnancy. I highly recommend Daniella’s services.

If the kid Daniela helped me have had turned out to be a girl, I might have named her after her. I can’t say enough good things about this amazing acupuncturist/​TCM practitioner. After years of trying to get pregnant with no. 2, and two unsuccessful rounds of IVF, I began to look into alternative treatments. My first practitioner was good (and fairly well known in the Bay area), but insanely expensive, and when I told them about my financial concerns, I was pretty much fired. Not really what you need in that situation… but then I found Daniela on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. From the first session, I felt that I could trust her completely, and her wonderful optimism proved to be contagious. After each treatment, I left her cozy practice feeling both relaxed and energized, and little by little my fertility anxiety disappeared. Daniela has this way about her — how to describe it — a wise Chinese elderly in the body of a young Western woman. I’ve never met anyone like her. Her knowledge of TCM is impressive, and her recommendations for lifestyle changes are actually feasible (as in: she knows that her patients are human beings. Stuff happens. Still drinking coffee or wine? Not ideal, but better to have some than obsess over being deprived from it.) Through her treatments and under her guidance, my overall health improved significantly, and within a few months, bam, I was pregnant. Fast forward to the present: I’m the proud mom of a super healthy baby boy, and my only regret at this point is that I moved back to the East coast and couldn’t take Daniela with me.

Daniela is amazing! I often say I «blame» her for getting pregnant without even trying. :) Our 1^st appt, I told her my hubby and I were just *thinking* about having a baby, and voila, I was pregnant less than a month later. And then I find out it was twins! wow. Daniela then supported me with acupuncture throughout my twin pregnancy. At 18 weeks, I found out there were complications and was not given a good prognosis from my western docs. The twins were identical, sharing the placenta, and one was not getting enough of her share. I was put on bed rest among other things. Daniela supported me above and beyond what she needed to do– she would make house calls, she researched the best possible treatment for me, and consulted with her colleagues. I really feel like the care she provided me helped me carry the twins as far as I did– to a point where they were viable and healthy (although very premature). My girls are now almost 3 and perfectly healthy and happy. Thank you Daniela!

I found Daniela when looking for fertility specialists. I worked with her from conception through postpartum with my first pregnancy and cannot recommend her highly enough.
She is incredibly knowledgeable, knows the right questions to ask and has a calm, soothing demeanor. I had as comfortable a pregnancy as could be expected and attribute a lot of this to Daniela and the acupuncture practice. I am a true believer in acupuncture to aid in healing and thriving and feel Daniela brings out the best in what an acupuncturist can do for us!

I am acquainted with Daniela and knew her specialty was fertility so I did not think about seeing until I could not get into see my regular acupuncturist when a neck injury flared up. I am so glad I did! She told me she loved to do cupping (the treatment I sought) and knew some great techniques to help me. The pain at the base of my skull is gone and I can sleep again after 1 treatment. A wonderful healer in a fabulous space!

My partner and I are in the process of starting a family. We went to a information session that Daniela presented her services at, she spoke about how acupuncture can help a great deal with fertility. After doing research we wanted to integrate acupuncture into our fertility plan. When we spoke with Daniela at the session we really liked her warm personality, her vast knowledge on the subject of acupuncture, she also seems to really care about helping her patients start a family. I called to set up an appointment, we also had some questions. Daniela was ABSOLUTELY lovely, she had VAST amounts of information that she was happy to share and she answered all of our questions before the appointment. I have an appointment with her on Saturday 8/​11, I’ve spoken to her several times, we’ve emailed back and forth and she is ALWAYS willing and happy to speak with me and answer all of my questions. I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH HER KIND NATURE AND HER HELPFUL DEMEANOR THAT I HAD TO WRITE A Unilocal REVIEW BEFORE MY APPOINTMENT!!! I have NEVER worked with someone in the medical field that cares about helping their patient!!! I CANNOT wait to work with her as we start to build our family!!!

Two (plus) years since that nagging pain in my neck is now no longer a pain in my ass. For years I live with chronic pain that made life very uncomfortable. But after a few visits with Daniela those days are thankfully over.
No more am I fearful of sitting on chairs without backs or dread long flights on airplanes. It has gotten to the point where I don’t even think about it and have completely forgotten what it was like to live with pain.
I have Daniela (via Ravena) to thank for this. I spent countless hours searching for a cures and it wasn’t until I sat down with Daniela who was able to correctly diagnose my problem and then treat and heal me back to 100 percent. Daniela doesn’t talk «at you», she actually listens and carefully evaluates your issue and with care takes what she believes is the best course of action to treat you.
Daniela is also a genuinely nice person and I totally enjoy my sessions. She is caring and compassionate and will remember the most minor of details of your life.
The only downside of this now my visits to her office are fewer than they used to be. But on the bright side I still do head over for minor maintenance on my body.
5 Healthy Stars

I haven’t written a review in a while but my time with Daniela is definitely a reason to come out of retirement. I went to see Daniela when my husband and I were talking about getting on the baby band wagon. I had found her on Unilocal and the reviews were all so good, I had to see what she was about.
Now, 10 months later I’m 33 weeks pregnant and enjoying bi weekly appointments with Daniela. Not only is she super pleasant to be with, sort of like a great girlfriend you get to see on the regular, but she has a wonderful touch and is very knowlegeable about all things Chinese herbal and acupuncture. My baby loves the treatments, and always gives kicks of excitement when I’m on the table.
Pre pregnancy she helped us kick start things with a Fertility Cleanse that was awesome, and got us really healthy and clean before we brought a new life into this world. I have another girlfriend who began seeing her and she is also pregnant now too.
I highly recommend Daniela’s services, for whatever ails you. I plan on seeing her after the birth of the baby to get back on track with weight and nutrition.

Daniela’s an amazing practioner and resource! She brings a solid foundation in nutriiton, a seasoned understanding of chinese herbs and sensitve intuition to her placement of acupunture needles – all adding up to a stellar chinese medicine experience! She also knows a ton about women’s health. I left feeling much lighter and clearer; highly recommend her work!

I know she mostly works with pregnant women but my friends just said how amazing she is so I snuck in. I’ve been working with her for a year now and she has helped me stay healthy, full of energy and feeling great! I’ve referred her to a lot of my friends and they always come back raving as well!

I started seeing Daniela a few months back and I am very happy with her. I wanted to see her to get my reproductive health in order as I am planning for my next child and I wanted to increase my chances conceiving a child as easily as possible.
Daniela is very smart and a good listener. She has a ton of knowledge on nutrition with regard to fertility but also just general health. I’m a data person and she has sent me Harvard studies and various articles to back up all the advice she has given me, which I love. She is available via email or phone via questions. I try and be respectful of her time but I like that I don’t feel like I have to save all my questions for the next time I see her when an answer today could help me, today!
She recently recommended that I get tested for a Vitamin D deficiency and when I called my doctor to schedule they told me that yes indeed, the majority of people in SF are vitamin D deficient. Humm, that’s a little concerning since it can cause complications in pregnancy. I’m so glad she told me that. I was also having some troubles with feeling a bit out of balance hormonally and Daniela recommended some herb sublimates which have helped me tremendously. I felt the effects of them in a few days! If you are looking to get pregnant, want some help balancing your moods, or just want some help with keeping your general health in tip top shape, you should book an appointment with Daniela today. I highly recommend her and I am very thankful that I found such a smart, talented and dedicated practitioner who really cares about her clients and who I really trust.

I am in absolute bliss after every treatment and my migraines and allergies have improved beyond anything I could have imagined: they’re basically non-​existent since seeing Daniela!
I have suffered from severe allergies (eyes swelling shut and staying in doors for days on end) and severe migraines (as many as 4+/week) since childhood. After years of medications that never fully worked and worried about the long-​term effect on my health I had enough and a friend recommended Daniela.
In my nearly 6 months of treatments, Daniela has helped me uncover multiple migraine triggers I can now avoid, natural herbs that have removed the remaining allergy symptoms that regular medication hasn’t, and even helped speed my recovery from a recent surgery (so much so that my doctor was rather surprised by my progress in healing twice as fast as usual!).
I simply can’t imagine a week without Daniela, not just because her treatments have improved my quality of life, but because her care, attention, and guidance makes each visit amazing!

SEVEN weeks and counting.
Seven glorious, eye-​opening, life-​changing WEEKS free of migraines! (This is after months of having 2 – 3 migraines per week.)
It was all about the migraine elimination diet taught to me by lovely Daniela. The recipe for success: diet eliminating common migraine triggers, acupuncture & craniosacral therapy. Now that I’m reducing the number of acupuncture/​craniosacral treatments I get, Daniela has made herself 100% available via email/​phone. Any questions I have about the diet, how to interpret results as I add foods back in etc, she is right there with timely responses and massive encouragement. She is a masterful healer and I credit her entirely for empowering me to resolve my migraine issues.
Seven weeks, going on eight. *knocks on wood* (but not knocking on my noggin, cause, well, you know don’t wanna be too fool-​hardy)
Wooooty-​wooot-​wooot!!!

Daniela is a very knowledgable practioner of TCM and acupuncture, I highly recommend her. She is kind and has a very gentle and accommodating vibe as a practitioner. The office space is welcoming and always has tea available. If your insurance or Flexible Benefits (for those of us lucky enough to have insurance) covers acupuncture she can easily make receipts and also does billing. The space has a very warm vibe and its super close to 18^th and castro. What consistenly impresses me most about Daniela is that whenever I see her, she references recent lectures and workshops she has completed. She is really passionate about continuing to learn about advancements in TCM as well as more techniques and many other healing concepts and modalities. If you’ve never been to acupuncture (or are an acupuncture vet) Daniela is an excellent practioner to choose.

I first approached Daniela Freda during the summer of 2007 being that the acupuncturist that I had been seeing for years doesn’t practice on Mondays and I was eager for relief. I had developed what appeared to be a heat rash and hive-​like welts on my chest that had not resolved in two weeks time and were worsening when I reached out to Daniela. I saw her three times that first week and was completely pain and itch free afterward. I had healed. The symptoms reappeared some weeks later, however with continued treatment the issue is now fully resolved and continues to be without further treatment.
Thank you, Daniela!
I very much enjoy what I experience as her warm bedside manner, her sincere care, support — and knowledge. She gave me a list of supportive foods and herbs to consume and followed my case very closely calling and emailing me to inquire about my progress. I think the sessions contributed greatly to the healing process and I have decided to continue to see her as my new acupuncturist. Also, Daniela has an account with an herbal company whose local, organic products I prefer and recommend.

Daniela has been my accupuncturist for a couple of years now. She is really wonderful. What puts her head and shoulders above some other accupuncturists and health care professionals in general is her ability to really listen to me. She takes as much time as we need at the beginning of each session to hear me out about whatever is ailing me. The results I get reflect that kind of care.
She has treated me for many different things, and every time I have found her to be very professional and helpful. Her space is also very relaxing.