Rest & Relaxation Coaching, Reiki Practitioner

Have you tried community acupuncture?

Do you love it? Come regularly? Or only when you really need it? Do you sometimes forget how helpful it is, then come back and fall in love all over again?

Or have you thought about trying community acupuncture, but you’re not quite sure? Hesitations about being treated in a room with other people? Nervous about needles?

Today we are going to take a trip into the heart of Minnesota Integrative Health Studio: the community acupuncture room. I asked our excellent team of community acupuncturists (Sophia, Ashley, Emily, and Lauren) to share their love for community acupuncture, what they want people to understand about this unique model, and what makes it a good fit for so many people–including hesitant newcomers. Then I dove into a bit of history to weave our team’s insights into the fascinating legacy of how community acupuncture came to be.

Let’s go!

Affordability & Convenience

On its face, the concept is pretty simple: community acupuncture is several patients, one room, one acupuncturist. It is an efficient, effective way to bring down the cost of acupuncture for each person. Sharing the burden of cost matters for economic accessibility. At MIHS, community acupuncture appointments are offered on a sliding scale, $30-50–no questions asked. Ashley Steffensen L.Ac. says, “I come from a blue-collar family of tradesmen and laborers who felt getting care was out of reach for them for various reasons, including financial. I find, for those who are wrestling with the delicate balance of self-care and making ends meet, the community room is a fantastic opportunity!”

Larissa Vados PhD, L.Ac. and Said Isayed TCMD, owners of MN Integrative Health Studio, met while studying Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, China. Reflecting on the community acupuncture model, Larissa says:

“This style of acupuncture is what is most common in China - small groups of patients… in communal rooms with several patients in one room together receiving treatment…it is almost always a community experience and it is actually very rare to have private acupuncture treatments. This of course allows providers to see more patients in a shorter amount of time which allows it to be more cost-effective. When most people [in the U.S.] think of acupuncture they think of private treatments, but in one of the main countries where it originated it is not that way at all!”

Community acupuncture also offers convenience for patients. Since the arrival of Emily Nyberg L.Ac., our newest acupuncturist, the MIHS community room is officially open 7 days a week! You can pop in at a time that is convenient for you, or book at the last minute if the time opens up in your schedule. Lauren Windingstad L.Ac. says she loves “the spontaneity of it all. It is easy to pop onto the schedule because of the increased availability.” We often even have walk-in appointments available (although to be safe, you can check online or call first).

From Individual to Community Care

Here’s the thing. Community acupuncture is an intelligent practice model, but it’s more than that: it’s a paradigm shift. In many ways, community acupuncture challenges individualism, and invites new ways of imagining health care. In fact, the roots of community acupuncture in the United States are inseparable from movements for racial and economic justice–and a vision of a health care system that meets the most urgent needs of communities and treats all people with dignity, care, and respect.

Lincoln Detox Center
(Photo from Taft Family History)

In 1970 in New York City, a group that included the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party made history. They took over Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx in protest of the facility’s failure to provide adequate health care to the surrounding community. Specifically, the activists demanded drug detox and treatment services in the midst of an overwhelming heroin epidemic. Out of this protest movement The People’s Drug Program (later known as the Lincoln Detox Program) was born. Combining community service, political education, and acupuncture, the program supported people with addiction using a simple but highly effective auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol, offered in a community setting. (To learn more of the history, check out the Dope Is Death documentary and podcast.)

Emily says learning about this legacy has strongly influenced her acupuncture practice, noting “auricular acupuncture is so powerful as a treatment modality alone—I really appreciated learning about the history of the Lincoln Detox Center and the work the Black Panthers and Young Lords using the [National Alliance for Drug Acupuncture (NADA)] protocol to treat addiction, stress, and more.”

Today, the NADA protocol practiced at Lincoln Detox Center is used throughout the globe for addiction, trauma, crisis, disaster relief, first responders, and more. And the community setting, founded at Lincoln in an ethos of radical collective care, was the genesis of community acupuncture as we know it today.

In 2002 in Portland, Oregon, acupuncturists Lisa Rohleder and Skip Van Meter, influenced by the Lincoln takeover movement and experience using the NADA protocol in a public health setting, opened a new clinic. They called it Working Class Acupuncture, designed to make acupuncture affordable in their working class community. They practiced what came to be called “community acupuncture.” Once a misfit in the U.S. acupuncture profession, community acupuncture became a bona fide public health movement. Today, the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture represents a widespread international cooperative of community acupuncture clinics, and includes its own revered associated training school, POCA Tech.

Healing in Community, Community as Healing

“One of the most important concepts in community acupuncture is the idea that the community space where patients get treatment is, in itself, an instrument of healing, just as much as the needles.”

Lisa Rohleder, “Punking: the Praxis of Community Acupuncture”

For those who have never tried it before, acupuncture can feel a little intimidating. Lauren specializes in treating people who are nervous to try acupuncture, or sensitive to needles–including kids. She puts it bluntly: “Let's not sugar coat it. Needles are a tough sell.” However, Lauren says that in her experience, “once people have the first acupuncture needle put in, the first thing most folks say is, ‘that's it?’"

Emily points out that for those who are hesitant, “[community acupuncture] is a great way to try acupuncture. If you're needle sensitive or worried about needles, you can be around others as they are receiving acupuncture, which can help decrease needle anxiety.” Emily adds that community sessions “typically use fewer needles on the body or just ears, which can help ease folks into receiving acupuncture.”

At MIHS, we take great care to make sure the physical environment of the community room is a healing environment, taking into account sound, privacy, and comfort. Lauren says “I am a sensory sensitive person, so I don't like loud or abrasive noises. I try to make the community room as peaceful as possible.” Sophia Catanoso L.Ac. adds:

“People seem hesitant at first to being treated in a group setting, which I understand. What makes this space so great is that there are partitions between each bed, making it so you can’t see anyone next to you. Most community acupuncture clinics use chairs…but MIHS has comfortable beds that can adjust to your needs. It’s able to lean up so you’re more upright or you can be facedown as well. I’ve never seen that in any other community acupuncture clinic.”

See, community acupuncture offers so much more than simply affordability and convenience. The community setting itself is an essential aspect of the experience.

“One thing people might hesitate about receiving community acupuncture is whether it will be awkward or uncomfortable to be sharing a space with other clients. Something I notice distinctly in the community room is how often people fall asleep during their sessions. I’d be willing to wager even more so I see sleepers in community then in the private setting!

I think people find that among other people they are actually more safe to rest and thereby heal.”

Ashley Steffensen L.Ac. (she/her)

“Community acupuncture is a great setting to practice mindful body scans and drift off to sleep…I recommend community acupuncture to anyone experiencing stress - emotional or physical.”

Lauren Windingstad L.Ac. (she/her)

“For all of the emphasis placed on individual healing and inner work, we also don't grow in a vacuum, and CA mirrors that. You can go solo or with a friend (I've brought friends to CA many times) and receive care in a comfortable community setting. I think it's a really beautiful thing that the CA model provides a space for people to co-regulate their nervous systems together.”

Emily Nyberg L.Ac. (she/they)

“I love everything about community acupuncture! There is something so special about having a collective healing space. It’s my preferred way of being treated. I enjoy being in a room with other people that are wanting to work on themselves. I can feel the healing energy surround me while I’m treating people and while I’m being treated.”

Sophia Catanoso L.Ac. (she/her)

You can book a community acupuncture session online, by calling the MIHS front desk

(612-345-5648), or just stopping by!

We do recommend an appointment just to be safe, though.

Questions? Check out our website to learn more about community acupuncture,

or give us a call.

Resources:

Dope Is Death documentary (full length available free on YouTube)

Dope Is Death podcast

People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture and POCA Tech

National Alliance for Drug Acupuncture (NADA)

A Radical History of Acupuncture in America