Neighborhood Acupuncture

Like many of you, many of the things that led me to community acupuncture was a simple wish to be able to provide Chinese medicine for and within my own community. And, there are lots of significant social positives to be had in actualizing this desire. A few for me are the ecological and political benefits of working a few hundred yards from home while trying to think globally, taking on classism and racism within my own life, and assisting a shift in the locus of our health care conscience from a finite physiology of the individual and her diagnosis to the unlimited relationships between elements within a person and persons within a community.

But, what I'd like to say is that the wish to work with and support your own people is simply human. In this sense, the questions of whether CA represents a more ethical practice or a less ambitious business model or whether we're employing deeper or more superficial principles of Chinese Medicine all kind fade a bit. At least these questions defer to the way each of us are actually being liberated towards our natural goodness.

We're ALL born GOOD, totally brilliant and creative and wanting closeness and collaboration. And, we all want a chance to be effective and to make a difference. It's natural for us to want our lives as healers to not be unconnected from the social and physical communities we inhabit.

I'm writing about this now because I'm realizing how much more deeply connected I feel treating 100 of my neighbors a week with Ellen than I did treating 10 or 15 people I probably wouldn't see outside my private office. And, even though I believe that wanting all this connection is natural, I'm realizing how far I've been socialized away from being comfortable with it.

So, here's a couple ways my life has changed upon becoming a neighborhood acupuncturist here in Cedar Park, West Philadelphia.

When I was doing my private practice, talking about acupuncture with neighbors (at the coffee shop, co-op, block party, on the soccer field, or at a community meeting) was largely an abstract or theoretical conversation. I'd answer the questions about whether it works for what symptoms. I'd listen to people free-associate about acupuncture, reiki, chiropractic, and past-life regression.

These conversations were often frustrating but somehow comfortable in the way I got to stake out different positions and impress (or put off) people with interesting theory tidbits or success stories. I think this strange combination of comfort and dissatisfaction mirrors a lot of interaction under advanced capitalism, and in this case is related to the actual social distance between myself and those with whom I spoke.

We get used to having cordial, even crackling conversation with one another without the hope of actually reaching in there and making a difference in other peoples' lives. It's not always like this, but it's a dynamic I'll bet we all wish we could break through more frequently.

So now, since my neighbors and friends and colleagues can afford to get acupuncture, it's almost always the case that someone in the conversation has either had treatments or knows someone who has. The conversations are totally different, and it's taking some getting used to, partly because there's a brand new juicy opening for my ego.

Not only is the social distance between us shortened, but the proof pudding is close at hand. Sometimes, this means the language gets a little less rich and a whole lot more practical. Did the hives go away or not? Did she get her period or not? Are they feeling more motivated or not? Whether the answer is yes or no, this is where it starts to get uncomfortable.

If the hives did go away, or she did get her period, one of a couple very interesting things is bound to happen. One is simply the expression of appreciation. As someone raised middle class by protestant parents, the giving and receiving of appreciation i learned was always of a somewhat qualified variety. I'm not real good at either. And, it's not just me. But, I'm trying to learn to go ahead and accept the appreciation, even if I think what should be appreciated is the brilliance and simplicity of acupuncture itself or the community in Philadelphia Community Acupuncture. I'm deciding that it's actually radical to make space for the flow of simple appreciation even if it comes out seeming inappropriately heavy, and even if I have some early life experiences which tell me that it's actually dangerous to be singled out.

Another thing that sometimes happens when people hear or see positive outcomes resulting from friends' or relatives' treatment is that they get wildly hopeful. Now, you're answering whether acupuncture can help with a father's stroke, a niece's autism. Once again, the conversation has moved to a different and more personal level.

On the other hand, if in the friendly conversation it's established that the hives haven't gone away, or the amenorrhea isn't resolving, then my ego is jumping around on its other leg. I'm still learning how to explain with relaxed confidence about chronic conditions requiring a long course of treatments and/or lifestyle changes. Once I do, though, I realize how powerfully relieved I am to actually be able to offer an affordable, and attractive solution.

I'm face to face with patients or patients' friends many times a day now. This means I have daily practice of checking my worry or attachment about their health, and of trying to remember that my goodness and value don't have anything to do with whether the man who volunteers to pick up trash around the neighborhood still has back pain.

I'm also having to learn another level of integrity around confidentiality and responsibility. Now that most of my patients are, at most, one degree of separation from me, I'm figuring out what a principled practice is regarding key confidential details about them. When I know important people in a particular patient's life, I ask myself different questions about knowing, for example, that he or she is an abuser, or is considering suicide.

And, finally, I'm learning how to take myself both more seriously and more lightly. I feel way more personal investment in my work now, and way more immediate accountability with my patients. It's inescapable that I'm important in the lives of people around me. At the same time, it also becomes clearer that every patient's life is complex, and that i am simply their acupuncturist (or, one of their acupuncturists).

What really stays up ion my face is that it takes a village. And, to do my job as an acupuncturist and as a human, moving qi in the channels is but one part of contributing consciously to the village by increasing and reinforcing the connections that hold it together.