An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Posted September 14th, 2007 by lupine
The purpose of this letter is to open a dialogue.
Acupuncture Today recently published an article in its September 2007 edition, titled Money is Qi is Money, by Felice Dunas.
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31577
That article has stimulated a great deal of discussion among both acupuncturists and patients, and has intensified a desire to hear from you, our leadership, what your true intentions are for our profession.
Many people were outraged by what they perceived as the crass materialism that “Money is Qi is Money” seemed to them to be promoting. Other readers were certain that the article was intended as a satire. Felice Dunas has subsequently clarified that she was trying to treat a serious subject -- how practitioners receive financial compensation -- with some levity.
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31598
Unfortunately, the ideas that Felice Dunas stated in jest -- acupuncturists should charge as much as possible, acupuncture fees reflect acupuncturist self-esteem, patients love shopping so sell big, expensive stuff -- are presented in earnest in practice management classes all over the country. She humorously equates undervaluing one’s work with “trading treatments for garden vegetables back in the 1970s”, but unhappily, the decade that the acupuncture profession is really stuck in is the 1980s, back when superficiality, avarice, and big hair were all in vogue, and no one had ever heard of sustainability.
The 1980s were also the years when unprincipled chiropractors were treating insurance like a slot machine, and somehow that became our model for professional success: both packaging acupuncture as if it were a subset of chiropractic, and resolving to take as much as we could get from whoever seemed to have it. But now that insurance has become increasingly problematical, and at least 80% of Americans cannot afford acupuncture at market rates, the ones being taken are acupuncturists themselves.
The national leadership of the acupuncture profession in America currently seems to represent 1) those people who by virtue of seniority no longer need to make their living by actually practicing acupuncture -- those who have secured teaching jobs, lucrative consulting gigs, or have figured out how to work the CEU circuit; and 2) those companies and institutions whose revenue stream is provided either by acupuncture students or by acupuncturists who do practice. As a result, the national leadership inhabits a dramatically different economic reality from that of most rank and file acupuncturists who are trying to make a living practicing acupuncture. In 2005 (the most recent year for which figures were available from IRS Form 990), the compensation for the CEO of the NCCAOM was $210, 538. Since conservative estimates suggest both that two-thirds of acupuncturists are no longer practicing five years after graduation, and that current graduates are carrying unprecedented levels of debt ($100,000 or more in student loans), this suggests that the acupuncture profession is essentially afloat on the credit of individuals whose only mistake was to love Chinese medicine enough to want to study it. This is an unsustainable situation if ever there was one.
Recently I received a telephone call from a lawyer who wanted to know why one of his clients, my patient, was able to pay out of pocket for her treatment while another of his clients had a $16,000 bill for acupuncture. Both of these clients had been in auto accidents and had received comparable amounts of treatment. His client with the $16,000 bill, who had a head injury, had been repeatedly reassured by her acupuncturist that her insurance would pay and she didn't need to worry about it. He had also failed to inform her of the actual cost of the treatments. Her lawyer was calling me because her insurance settlement, unfortunately, was not going to be sufficient to cover her acupuncture bill and her acupuncturist was threatening to take her to collections. The lawyer remarked grimly to me that it would only take a few more $16,000 acupuncture bills before legislators began to get interested in the price of acupuncture -- just as they became interested in the price of chiropractic in the early 1990s in Oregon, after a decade of outrageous billing.
The 1980s are long gone; it’s 2007 and the US is in the middle of a health care crisis. There are national epidemics of pain and depression, both eminently treatable with acupuncture, and yet most acupuncturists are severely underemployed, and the fastest growing acupuncture “specialty” is facial rejuvenation. We are in desperate need of leadership that is both timely and accountable -- accountable to the majority of acupuncturists who are not making a living practicing acupuncture and to the majority of patients who cannot afford to receive acupuncture. We need more than self-interested guild politics; we need more than the creation of yet another regulatory board. “Money is Qi is Money” makes light of a sycophantic amorality that embraces acupuncture as medicine by the rich, for the rich, but many acupuncturists would have trouble distinguishing the author’s whimsy from the reality in which we find ourselves.
Article 4 of the NCCAOM Statement of Ethics, under the subheading “Commitment to the Public”, used to read : “To make an effort to keep fees within the reach of the general public, and to have provision for flexibility in fees for low income patients.” That article disappeared from the Statement of Ethics some time ago without explanation. For many of us, however, the need to make a living by providing treatments to people in our own communities, who like ourselves are not rich, is a primary concern for us. Just as we inhabit a different economic reality from you, our leadership, we are concerned that we inhabit a different ethical reality as well. We see little evidence of interest from you either in the ability of rank and file practitioners to make a living, or in the health of the hundreds of millions of patients who cannot afford acupuncture at market rates.
For further clarification, please see the following article:
http://theintegratorblog.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view...
Felice Dunas has publicly clarified the intention of her article. We are asking you, our leadership, to clarify your moral vision for acupuncture as a profession. We are asking you to be accountable to us. Your comments may be posted on the Prick, Prod and Provoke blog, on the home page of the Community Acupuncture Network, where this open letter is also posted: www.communityacupuncturenetwork.org
Sincerely,
Lisa Rohleder, L.Ac.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Argh! One of these days, maybe we will be able to edit posts. My basic point as it relates to Ms. Dunas's article is that one doesn't need to be overly concerned with making a lot of money. (Okay, I confess there is this nasty problem of student loans that I never had to deal with).
However, even if I did have loans, I'm confident that Community acupuncture is a model for a sustainable business such that a practitioner or two, or more, can pay off loans and live a reasonable life free from material poverty while helping many many people. That's doubly rich! Furthermore, someone recently posted some information about the government forgiving loans if one lives in a medically underserved area.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
You hit the nail on this one Earthwater. Fear and greed go hand in hand. The sad thing is. Fear only begets more fear. We struggle to make piles of money and then only worry about the volatile stock market, or wonder if we have enough, etc.
Meanwhile, if we simply care for others, that investment will definitely bring returns.
At CommuniChi, we've been doing a once a month First Free Friday (FFF) which attracted about 45 people on the first Friday in September. I've been looking at the data from these FFF's and determined that on the surface, it's not a very effective marketing technique.
Most of the people it seems to attract are just window shopping for experiences. Most come once and don't come back. A few make followup appointments. But they don't seem to be the patients who are sincerely looking for solutions to deeper problems.
However, I hope we will always do these events, though we are probably going to put it on the back burner after this Friday until our one year anniversary 2-1-08.
I am quite confident that energy of giving will come back and support me in one way or another. If nothing else, I know it will give me a large measure of peace when the inevitable day of my death arrives.
I never met Lama Yeshe, but feel complete faith in his lineage. Here is a powerful teaching on death:
http://www.lamayeshe.com/otherteachers/dhargyey/death.shtml
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Many of us, I believe, adopt a make-all-the-money-you-can goal for our practices, not necessarily out of greed and avarice, but out of fear, fear based on the idea of scarcity, an idea that others have discussed in various contexts here.
I'm quite confident that receiving acupuncture will keep me out of the nursing home, keep my wits about me, and keep me practicing acupuncture until the day I die. but if it doesn't, or some catastrophe befalls me, what then? It's so acculturated in us, in America, to want to store something up for old age and hard times; hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. I really don't want to live that way. Someone mentioned a Tibetan Buddhist tradition above, and there's a commitment there to follow the Dharma even if by so doing one ends up a beggar, and then even if the beggar ends up with some loathsome disease, and then even if the diseased one ends up a pile of bones in some dusty ravine. The practice is to visualize those things in the present, ponder your own suffering and death, so that you become fearless in your practice.
However, there's no reason to *expect* things to be so morbid. Here is a fantasy I have: one day I, or one of you, may be very old and a bit feeble and in need of some assistance. And the dozens, the hundreds of people I helped in my community practice, the very people I helped to feel what community is, now give back to me of their time, energy, and love, so that in truth, I lack nothing, age gracefully, and die with dignity.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
I agree that AT is a rag, but this is where I found out about Lisa & Skip’s Working Class Acupuncture clinic, so I always read AT when it comes out, searching for the gems inside. I have been inspired by WCA since my first year of school and I never fail to spread the word about that style of practicing.
The only part of "Qi is Money is Qi" that I could appreciate (not knowing it was tongue in cheek when I read it) was the idea of people feeling good enough about themselves to charge what they need to charge. We all have a different sense of abundance. Some of us feel impoverished no matter how many material things we have. Others feel full on a shoestring.
I used to say Money is like Water—there’s more of it where that came from. Now I am less certain that Water is that plentiful! I guess in a sense Money is like Qi, you need to get it to flow correctly so that you have enough. I do think there is plenty of money around, we see a lot of consumption in New York. I happen to be more interested in people, they are certainly more interesting than shopping!
I like the idea of making acupuncture a movement, a vehicle for change. It is a very Yang medicine and the best we can do is help motivate people to change and to feel good about change. But I think the movement will have more momentum if everyone who participates feels great about their contribution. Having worked in non-profits, I’ve seen plenty of people who are motivated by guilt, or even just a sense of duty, and they tend to get burned-out quickly.
I am about to graduate from school in December and everyday I talk about the clinic I will open, to make it more real. I have been committed from the beginning to making acupuncture a reality for my friends, and I don't have too many friends that can afford $75/week. How I will accomplish this with NYC rents I don't know, but I do know that Jing + Shen = Sui/marrow, so I give these ideas and the details a bit of spirit everyday and I feel confident it will manifest.
At our school we study the Classics with Jeffrey Yuen and learn a lot of secondary vessels--8 Extraordinary, Divergents, Luos. They are very powerful and personal treatments, and most of my classmates and I are interested in practicing with these ideas in mind. I am not certain how this can work in a community setting. But on the other hand, as we become more and more isolated by technology--our minds in computers and game-boys, maybe letting our emotions and deep-seated issues out in a community situation is just what we need. Maybe privacy and prolonged chatting are over-rated. Let the medicine and the needles do their thing.
I know a lot about leadership from being a financial controller for 22 years. What I have observed is that "Leadership" is really the people who take charge and do the work. (Or the people smart enough to know how to delegate!) I consider Lisa Rohleder and the many others on CAN with similar style clinics, to be a crucial component of the leadership of acupuncture in America. With this philosophy guiding us, we can reach so many more people, change so many more lives. Once this begins to reach "critical mass," then many people will begin to see the moral bankruptcy of our economy, our politics, our wars, our healthcare system. We need people to be personally affected so that they have the energy to make change.
Ethics on paper is one thing. Feeling good in our hearts is what helps us to feel good about our lives, to enrich our spirits. It is less interesting for me to see what we sign on as the written code of ethics. It's more exciting to see the spirit of a rich full and happy life shining out of your eyes.
Hugs,
Addie
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Ahem...Good points, indeed! You might consider the fact that you are taking a leadership position by dint of your fine letter. Now that the AAOM has absorbed the creaky old Alliance, our profession needs folks with your voice helping to run the shop. There's a lot of old hippies out there who practiced acupuncture when it was illegal and who will find your opinion to be marvellously clear and agreeably so. I've been in practice for 15 years, I love it, and I sure as heck ain't making no 100 grand a year (nor do I care to create the practice that such a sum would require). I get by, working ethically, and attempt to bring some measure of peace and harmony to my little section of the community.
Thanks for your fine letter!
Sincerely,
Christopher Huson, L.Ac.
ps AcupunctureToday is a stinkin' rag.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Just a note -- Michael Smith of NADA graciously called me at work tonight to tell me how much he liked the Open Letter. He said that it reminded him of The Communist Manifesto. In a good way.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
"If nothing else, I would like an answer to why the NCCAOM Statement of Ethics was modified such that the article relating to keeping acupuncture affordable to the general public was dropped from (Lisa quotes the article at the end of her post above)."
I hope you're not expecting such an answer from me. I have no affiliation with the NCCAOM, and I don't anticipate having any. When I entered acu-school in the early 90's before leaving for China I imagined that I could simply go through the program, get my license and hang up my shingle. Any contribution I might have to make I could do as a private practitioner on my own. More or less the kind of approach that Bob Flaws evokes in his message of the other day.
But as I got moving through the program and began to understand what it was that I was being prepared to be a part of I realized that I would not be able to hang these certificates and licenses on my wall and represent myself according to the "standards" that they stand for to patients as a licensed acupuncturist. The meaning and substance of what the license and the supporting degrees actually stood for in my estimation amounted to fraud.
The gap between what I knew to be the actuality of Chinese medicine and what was being taught in the schools was simply too wide. I couldn't get over.
So I went to China in hopes of finding some way to proceed.
An ethical code is only as meaningful as the indivdiuals who subscribe to it and who bring its principles into practice. That the NCCAOM does or doesn't include language about access to care really doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
The spirit of ethical conduct that lives in this network is a far more reliable source of guidance...because it is alive and moving towards greater survival of both patients and practitioners. Isn't that the whole aim of ethics?
Ken
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Thank you for clarifying this for me Ken. Yes, of course more can be asked of our profession than just offering a select few individuals good care. One can always ask more, especially if it is based on compassion and good reason. Holding expectations of the acupuncture leadership picking up CAN's social justice banner is probably not wise...but we can always ask.
In my first comment above, I made a typing mistake...
I intended to say that although maintaining an attitude of respect is important, we should NOT hold absolute reverence towards the acupuncture leadership. That needs to be continually earned.
If nothing else, I would like an answer to why the NCCAOM Statement of Ethics was modified such that the article relating to keeping acupuncture affordable to the general public was dropped from (Lisa quotes the article at the end of her post above).
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
"As long as each practitioner does give their particular patients the best care they can, I think that's all that can be asked of another."
I think that the spirit of this Community Acupunctuer Network tests this assertion. In other words, I think that that is not all that can be asked...expected...and in fact demanded of one another. And I think that the community awareness and the thrust of the motion towards social justice as a component of medical/health care, which characterize this spirit most definitely, demand more, of ourselves and of one another.
And I think that this increase in demand level is a clear sign of the maturation of the field as a whole. At the very least it is a sign of the desperate need for such maturity.
Ken
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Personal choice regarding setting fee schedules by members of the acupuncture profession (or members of the health professions in general) only caters to the needs of a select few individuals within a world with a widening gap between rich and poor.
Although you may be correct, Bob, that this is all that can be asked of another, it seems a sad abdication of the noble principles of Biomedical Ethics in terms of their actual practice.
Isn't it true that Chinese medicine was available to the average person for most of its vast history, and that only in America and other industrialized nations it has been priced out of reach of the average person?
Where does this leave us today? Paying empty homage to some noble ethical principles perhaps framed in our waiting room? Or striving to uphold the letter of those ideals in actual practice?
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
The word "profession" means to profess to A) one's peers and B) the community at large certain educational and good practice standards as well as ethical principles to which you pledge to hold yourself in your practice. In terms of the practice of medicine, including acupuncture/Oriental medicine, the first and foremost thing must be the welfare of patients. That is the first of the so-called Four Universal Principles of Biomedical Ethics. The welfare of our patients is a "fiduciary responsibility" we voluntarily take on when we enter this profession. Fiduciary means that we put the welfare of our patients above our own.
That being said, each acupuncturist/OM practitioner does also have the freedom of choice to decide how much they want to charge for their services and how much pro bono work they will do. While some people charge a lot and, therefore, have an upscale practice, others charge much less due to their commitment to public service. In both cases, this is a personal choice, and I think it would be wrong for those on either end of this spectrum to demand that all other practitioners follow their example. Each practitioner has their own wants, needs, level of compassion, and commitment to public service. As long as each practitioner does give their particular patients the best care they can, I think that's all that can be asked of another.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
Is anyone holding their breath, waiting for a response from "our leadership"?
I suspect many of us are holding our thoughts, slowly chewing and digesting this very tough piece of tofu, awaiting for the great-post-from-on-high-which-clarifies-all. Or something like that.
With no desire to curtail, divert, or narrow discussion on the many and complex issues so eloquently stated by those above, I have just a few comments.
I am looking for the middle way in this. I know that I owe a great debt of gratitude to those who came before me in this tradition....the carriers of knowledge who brought acupuncture to America.
So I don't want to ever lose sight of that.
A sense of respect towards one's teachers and elders transmits knowledge and power. This is analogous to the bond of trust that exists between master and disciple. Without it, no accomplishment is possible. For those familiar with Buddhist history, the story of Milarepa and Marpa comes to mind.
However, this situation is a little different. In the spiritual context, the ideal guru-disciple relationship is a near total bond, a seamless union between minds.
In our case, we have received teachings (and benefit) from many people in our education - teachers, administrators, secretaries, even janitors, as well as other contributors who though seemingly peripheral (e.g. people who form the various national acupuncture boards) nonetheless made it possible for each one us to be where we are today.
However, maintaining a respectful attitude towards our "benefactors" does imply we have the same sort of near total reverence that a spiritual disciple has towards his guru. There's obviously a lot of disagreement with where the supposed acupuncture leadership is leading the profession as a whole.
I interpret Lisa's appeal to "our leadership" as offering the respectful (secular) homage that I have attempted to convey above, but it also begs the question (and perhaps this is her purpose) - who is our leadership? Who represents our values and our desire to serve people honorably and justly using our evolving skills, while receiving a sustainable wage?
Are "our leaders" really our leaders? Or just followers of the rotten corporate greed which is destroying human civilization (such as it is) before our very eyes?
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
I hope to accomplish a few things in this piece of writing. I want to introduce myself to the Community Acupuncture community. I want to respond publicly to Lisa’s open letter. And I want to make a modest suggestion regarding self-evaluation in the field of acupuncture and East Asian medicine.
I have to begin by explaining the path that brought me here. I do a radio show on the Mendocino County Public Radio affiliate station KZYX&Z. The show is called Mind Body Health, and the primary theme of the show is questioning the relationships and dynamics that exist between individual well-being and community/environmental well being. How can we be well people in a sick society? How can we hope to engender health and well-being…regardless of the modality or theoretical approach to medical intervention employed…as citizens of a country that spews death and destruction around the globe? How can we treat disease among our selves if we do not address the needs and challenges of a society that has sustained a sickness unto death?
I had the good fortuned of interviewing Lisa on my show a few weeks ago. We had a lively discussion that has sparked strong interest in the local community here in Mendocino in a community acupuncture clinic. And we are now following up on this with plans for a new node in this network soon. Stay tuned…
In the days and now weeks since that show, Lisa and I have been in regular touch; and as it happens it was during this period that Felice’s letter appeared in Acupuncture Today, sparking the various responses that it has provoked. I’ve suggested to both Felice and Lisa…as well as a few others in the field that a public debate between the two of them might help focus the attention of students and practitioners in the field on this critical topic of class economics in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. In fact, I’ve felt for a long time that we need a widespread process of self-examination, both as a field and as individuals. I’ll come back to that once I’ve completed my self –introduction.
I am not a licensed acupuncturist. I have studied and practiced acupuncture since 1970. From the beginning of the regulation of acupuncture by the State of California, I have been distrustful of the processes involved. I doubt that the State of California has the capacity to understand and regulate the practice. And by and large, the results of the State’s efforts have shown my mistrust to be well founded. Consider the following, from an article in the Sacramento Bee of June, 1993:
"In 1989, one of the biggest corruption scandals in California history unfolded at an obscure regulatory board - the Acupuncture Examining Committee, which licenses 2,870 acupuncturists. Longtime committee member Chae Woo Lew, a Korean-born acupuncturist from Hillsborough, went to prison for taking half a million dollars in bribes in exchange for the answers to the state's certification exam."
One of the biggest corruption scandals in California history. That’s quite a distinction for what was then a profession of slightly more than ten years of age. It seems that for a long time now, the acupuncture profession in this State has been haunted by strange urges and efforts related to the earning of money. No wonder that to some, money and qi appear synonymous. They are not, of course. I’m not sure if my self-introduction is getting us anywhere, but I guess that I think that if you understand what concerns me, you will know me a little bit.
I have written a number of books and articles about Chinese medicine and related topics. I published an essay in Qi Journal this summer entitled What is Qi? If anyone is interested in clarifying how qi is not money, I recommend this piece.
I think I should have added to my list in the first paragraph, above, that one of my aims in writing this is to thank all of you who constitute the Community Acupuncture Network. Back in the early 70’s, most of us who were studying and practicing acupuncture shared at least a general sense of an agenda of social justice. Like today, the 60’s and 70’s were hard times to grow up in. The country was fighting a stupid and pointless war halfway around the world…the other way from today’s fatal follies. And we turned to acupuncture as a method for raising our spirits.
I spent most of the 1990s living and studying in the People Republic of China, and when I returned to the States a couple of years ago I was somewhat shocked to realize the state of affairs here with respect to Chinese medicine. It wasn’t all news to me. For several years I have been working as an editor on various publications and with various publishers who are active in the field of Chinese medical publishing. I’ve had to deal with a number of issues over the years that have led me to consider the urgent need for a process of self evaluation in the field.
I take the confusion of qi and money as an example, a manifestation of a far deeper ailment that plagues our profession. Not only are we susceptible to false definitions of even the most basic terms in the field, we are as a community essentially illiterate. We do not learn or know the language of Chinese medicine, by and large. In fact, the language of the subject has been systematically ignored in contemporary training programs and certification operations. If you want to understand or verify what I’m saying here, just walk into a room full of acupuncturists and ask everyone to define qi.
We are not familiar with the ethical and the broader philosophical and cultural values that have supported and sustained the study and practice of Chinese medicine for millennia. We are not even much familiar with the history of the subject, despite a growing body of excellent scholarship available these days.
I was at a dinner several months ago that included the authors of a book on Taijiquan that is about to be reprinted in a new edition. We were discussing what to include and exclude of the previous edition. One of those at the table, Ben Lo, made a statement that touched me deeply. Ben said that we had to make sure that we didn’t include anything unless we knew it to be true. There is no shame in being ignorant, Ben said. We are all very ignorant. That’s no problem. But it is a great shame to pretend to know something that you don’t really know.
My response to Lisa and Felice’s writing is to suggest that we all engage in this process of self-evaluation. Who are we? What do we actually know about Chinese medicine? What makes us think that what we know is so? What is qi? What are these acupuncture points? How does it all work? We don’t need to wait for someone else to prove it. We simply need to be able to discern among our own thoughts and certainties on the subject those that are accurate and correct from those that are spurious and just plain wrong. Unfortunately there is an awful lot of the latter circulating out there and passing for knowledge in the field. If you are interested in self evaluation leading towards a program of remedial education and training to fill in any holes that may have been left as a result of your training to date, I would love to hear from you.
I see qi as money as a fixture that fits into one of these gaping holes in our community life. And the only way I know of patching up holes like this is with greater and easier access to relevant information.
Re: An Open Letter to the National Leadership of the Acupuncture Profession in America
I am not an acupuncturist. I am a patient. I have derived great benefit from this medicine, from acupuncture and other modalities. This has been true for me, despite the fact that I am not an adherent to any particular philosophical or economic system.
Acupuncture works for me, not because I pay a lot for it, and not because someone feels satisfaction that they have extracted every last penny from my store of cash. It works because it is based on truth and a history of observing what actually works with people.
The best acupuncture I have experienced has come from a very few practitioners who have cared about me. They have taken the time to know me and care about the issues that matter to me. It is not their technical proficiency (I think), or their beautiful offices, sterling support staff, or elaborate bills (I am quite certain) that have brought healing to my life. It is the simple act of engagement from a healer to one in need of healing. I have received acupuncture's greatest gifts when I paid little or nothing for the treatment. Acupuncture works and acupuncturists are amazing healers. Period.
It appalls me to read of so-called healers who believe in their own greed as the measure of their consequence. It appalls me even more to know that so many of our national leaders pander to the basest motivations of ungifted practitioners, affirming their self-serving prejudices without question or assessment.
I am not an acupuncturist. I am a patient. I am happy to pay for what I receive. I am not happy to pay for an illusory marketing ploy the reinforces the notion that healing is psychosomatic and not a result of a real encounter between healer and patient.
Let those whose calling is to serve self be first against the wall.
Michael