Questioning Minds want to Know

I’ve been practicing acupuncture since 2001 and I have to say I still question whether or not this needle stuff really works. I know, I can hear the jaws dropping now. I can see folks scurrying to find those research studies which “prove” the efficacy of acupuncture. And, obviously, on some level I do believe it works or I wouldn’t still be doing it. But, I do question, quite regularly, just how important the needles I place are independent of my interaction with my clients. Would I not get the same results by doing moxa and no needling? Or maybe by massaging the points? Or, here comes the really crazy one….by just focusing my intention on seeing this person before me as whole and healed?

Now, I must tell you that I work almost exclusively with a chronically ill population so treatment outcome expectations are somewhat different. And my interactions and intensity of interactions are also different. So, I do understand that my experience and questioning come from practicing in this context. But, still, I do wonder.

But the wondering is quieted wheen I think of all the people I’ve treated and the difference that SOMETHING has made in their lives; in their ability to cope another day with their illness, to find a little more joy or peace in their day. Then I realize it really doesn’t matter whether or not the needles made the difference or the interaction made the difference. All that matters is that this client’s experience of pain and isolation has been lessened – if only temporarily. But for them, those temporary moments of relief are enough “proof” to bring them back week after week and year and year. So, it is because of the clients I serve that I as well keep coming back week after week and year after year. It is because of them that I trust in the medicine I have studied. Oh I still wonder and question. But somehow the answer seems less important.