Here is a short clip with a short answer:
What is the longer answer?
Acupuncture is for everyone, who is willing to invest in their own wellbeing.
Change is generated from micro-changes. Dedication and consistency.
It is totally fine to simply arrive to your session to relax and wind down. So you can look forward to your weekly self-care.
However if you wish to make the most of your sessions, you will need to supplement your journey with reflecting on your daily actions and habits. So you can make the neccessary changes that can support you to reach your ideal outcome.
Acupuncture and Tuina are focused on the person, not the disease.
Thus if you come to see me with back pain. I will be able to help and alleviate it. However in order to “fix” it you will have to do your reflective work, identifying actions (e.g. too much screen time) that are aggravating your conditions.
I do offer general lifestyle advice, but usually we do not have the time to go into too much details on that topic in your sessions.
The more involved you are in your own healing process/journey, the quicker and more meaning ful changes we can make. It is a 2 player game 🙂
Do you use protocols?
Two people visit me, complaining about headaches. Chances are, I will treat both of them very differently. Every client goes through a process of diagnoses, which allows us Acupuncturists to understand the pathomechanism involved with your complaints.
As opposed to allopathic/western medicine, most of us do not work with protocols.
You have chronic back pain? Sure I could just use a list of points that tend to work, however I much prefer going through a detailed diagnostic procedure (asking questions, palapting the area, listening to your pulse, looking at your tongue, etc) before I develop a treatment plan.
Thus your treatment will be fully tailored for you!
Does it mean that you can heal/fix everything?
Certainly not. Every practitioner has their limits.
It is just as important to stay within your level of competence, as you trying to provide the best care for everyone coming through your door. Sometimes the best I can do is refer clients to other specialists. And that is okay.
I am only going to work with you if I believe I can offer you some reliefe to your suffering.
Is it actually a good idea to fixate on the outcome of the treatments?
That is the golden question that I have been pondering on for years. Us “healers”/therapist are driven by results. We love to see the change we co-create in our clients lives. We aim to ease suffering in everything we do.
However, I found that chasing outcomes is detrimental for both the practitioner and the client.
What is the focus of Chinese Medicine?
So what should we focus on then?
My role as a practitioner is to focus on You. Your very current representation, needs priorities. When I say you, I do not only mean what you convey through language, but also what your physical and energetical body tells me through my diagnostic skills.
I have a role where I need to observe changes and react to it in a way that serves the best possible outcome in that moment based on my knowledge and understanding.
Your role as a client is to also focus on Yourself. To observe the changes. To notice not only the changes around your complaint but also the changes that needs to happen in your life in order to best support yourself in the moment.
Healing happens in the present, not the future.
So what should I expect?
You can expect to be understood and compassionately cared for.
Throughout your session I will do my best to listen to you and assess your condition.
I will provide you with personalized advice, treatment plan and a safe environment for your healing journey.
Is Acupuncture and Medical massage a quick fix?
It can be, but most often than not: it isn’t.
However I do tend to see around a 50% improvement within the first 2 sessions.
If you think about it.. Usually people develop health issues over many years due to poor lifestyle, emotional abuse, stressful jobs and such.
Healing a bone fracture that happens in a second can take up to 3 months to fully heal.
So is it really a healthy expectation to be “healed” in 3 sessions of Acupuncture?
Whether it is emotional or physical trauma. Healing takes time.
Change requires time and effort.
We are working through many different layers (psychological, emotional, physical, energetic) instead of simply focusing on the symptoms. Which may come back much easier if the root is not addressed.
Acupuncture and Tuina treatments are accumulative. It is not a linear, ‘quick-fix’ path. It can be better imagined as a Spiral of healing journey.
Is healing about fixing problems and symptoms?
That is a slightly deeper subject, so I will leave that question for a later blog post.
Where can I ask further questions and book my personal appointment?
Please feel free to get in touch here.