Eve Harburg
Lead Acupuncturist, Co-owner
Eve is a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental* medicine, a nationally board-certified diplomate of Oriental* medicine, and a licensed acupuncturist in Oregon.
Eve became interested in medicine at a young age, but even before she started playing “Veterinarian” with her stuffed animals as a student at Colorado College (just kidding–she didn’t bring her stuffed animals to college), she was passionate about writing. It was how she made sense of the world. When she was seven, however, Eve had an experience that she had trouble putting into words. Soon enough she stopped trying to, as she developed a debilitating skin disease that demanded her immediate attention. Most troubling of all was that the pharmaceutical creams she was prescribed seemed to do more harm than good. The disease worsened to the point that Eve could barely walk. Needless to say, the experience she had had beforehand essentially fell off her radar. When she did think about it, it seemed insignificant.
As other health problems followed, Eve became increasingly frustrated with the dominant medical system for dividing her into a body and a mind as though they weren’t related. The treatments for her “physical” ailments, which also wreaked havoc on her mental health, didn’t engage her mind, and the treatments for her “mental” illnesses, which also wreaked havoc on her physical health, didn’t engage her body. This led her to research medical systems with a mind-body approach, that didn’t amount to selling snake oil. Chinese medicine checked both boxes.
Deep down, Eve knew that Chinese medicine was just what she needed in order to get to the bottom of her chronic health problems that had become part of her identity, which is why, naturally, she did her damnedest to keep them to herself while serving as a human pin cushion for her fellow students learning acupuncture at Oregon College of Oriental* Medicine. It wasn’t until after she graduated in 2016 and was going to be seeing patients in the “real world” that Eve finally bit the bullet and put these health problems on the table for Chinese medicine to address, as was only fair if her patients were going to do the same. Through regularly having acupressure treatments and writing about the insights they inspired, Eve began the process of piecing together the story of the experience in her childhood that she hadn’t been able to come to terms with and came to see it for what it was: traumatizing. This became the basis for her doctoral capstone project at Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental* Medicine: Eve proposed that journaling (with words, images, or both) after acupuncture could be of particular benefit to those who aren’t aware that they have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or even that they have experienced traumatization, because their PTSD symptoms “covertly” manifest in other illnesses that pose such a pressing threat the illnesses “cover up” the traumatizing experiences that caused them.
Even out with Eve!
*This term is controversial as some claim that it has racist connotations. Eve uses the term Chinese medicine to describe her field, although it is not perfect because the body of medicine historically described as Oriental has influences from regions other than China.
Ben Taber
Business Manager, Co-owner
Ben is a doctor, but good luck asking him about your medical maladies; his doctoral degree is in physical chemistry. He does know, however, that regular acupuncture treatments helped him manage stress while he worked on his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. Upon completing his postdoctoral work at University of California, Irvine, Ben left academic research behind and now runs the business side of Even Out in addition to teaching chemistry as an adjunct instructor at Central Oregon Community College and Oregon State University – Cascades. He also enjoys writing, reading, and cycling, after a history of going out to run way too long in the wilderness. Ben had his first literary publication in 2019 and has run four ultra-marathons.
Myboo
Unofficial Emotional Support Animal
Myboo is a labradoodle (25% Labrador retriever, 75% poodle, 100% princess). While she has never tried acupuncture, she believes strongly in the healing power of cuddling.
Logan
Recliner Chair #1
The heaviest member of Even Out’s community acupuncture recliner chair family, Logan is quite the recliner chair animal and has definitely earned his nickname “Logi Bear.” His superpower, however, is called “the swivel.”
Harriet
Recliner Chair #2
Harriet has a sturdy exterior, but don’t let that fool you; once reclined she has a sweet spot right in the middle. After years with the same caretaker (or chairtaker, if you will), Harriet has shown that she knows how to make you feel safe in her arms.
Gene
Recliner Chair #3
Gene is a hug in chair form, but the kind of hug that gives you space to breathe. He likes to be in the reclining position so much that there is a secret to getting him out of it.
Bill and Gloria
Recliner Chairs #4 and #5
Great chairs don’t just think alike; some also look alike! When Bill and Gloria first joined the team, we had no idea what to call them other than “The Twins.” Then, while they rested on their backs during an initiatory cleaning, one of them–it was hard to tell which–released a piece of paper that may as well have been a birth certificate. It was a small card, like the kind affixed to a gift, that read, “From Bill and Gloria.” The rest is history!
Mesa Roja
Treatment Table
Though Mesa Roja rarely shows her true color, generally covered by a soft flannel sheet, our one and only private acupuncture treatment table is red–Mesa Roja means “Red Table” in Spanish, an homage to the national park called Mesa Verde (“Green Table”) in our business manager’s home state, Colorado. Recognizing that one size does not fit all, we have outfitted Mesa Roja with table wideners that give her an extra eight inches of width.
