Tressa Breindel is a Functional medicine specialist and acupuncturist and the owner of InHealthRVA. She specializes in in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms of health issues from a biomedical perspective as well as a compassionate, whole-person approach to treatment.
Tressa earned a Master of Science in Oriental Medicine (MSOM) from Southwest Acupuncture College and was a research assistant in neuroscience and endocrine-immunology labs at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She worked and volunteered at Boulder Community Hospital from 2009-2014, gaining broad experience in the care of critical and chronic health issues as well as the compassionate and personalized care of individuals. She is a graduate of Chris Kresser’s year-long ADAPT Functional medicine practitioner training program.
Tressa has also studied yoga, is a certified massage therapist and has been an avid competitive runner for 26 years, with expertise in athletic training, nutrition and performance optimization.
Tressa’s passion for Functional Medicine is deeply personal. Her diagnosis with a severe autoimmune disease at 14 led her on a journey of seeking to understand the causes and optimal management of chronic, complex health conditions. While her doctors told her that “Your body is attacking itself for no reason,” and that the only treatment options were immune-suppressing or modulating drugs to try and stop the inflammation, Tressa knew that there had to be a way to better understand and treat the root causes of her condition.
Tressa’s own work as a health practitioner has been fueled by that insight. She is devoted to investigating and staying up-to-date with the latest understandings in Functional Medicine and clinically applicable neuro-endocrine-immunology research and integrated physiology. In treating her patients, she integrates the best practices of both Western bio-molecular medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.
InHealthRVA is built around Tressa’s desire to investigate and address the underlying mechanisms of health issues and support each person’s unique healing journey. In her own words:
“InHealthRVA is a new model of Functional and holistic health care that combines the best of precision diagnostics and treatment with the depth of working with the whole person: mind, body, and soul.”
In that spirit, Tressa aims to meet her patients where they are, encourages them to ask questions and seeks to empower them to understand their health and wellness choices. She also works avidly with doctors, hospitals and other colleagues to promote awareness and access to Functional medicine, and has served on the board of the Denver Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and Rotary ONE.