Northampton Community Acupuncture
Rachel S. Condon, Lic. Ac.
Community Acupuncture
Community acupuncture is part of a nationwide movement that has grown in the last ten years in the United States, with a goal of creating high-quality care at affordable rates in a supportive community setting.
Community Setting
The clinic setup is similar to how acupuncture is traditionally practiced in Asia, which is in a community setting. At NCA, there are both massage-type tables and recliners, and patients remain fully clothed. Most points can be accessed by rolling up shirt sleeves and pant legs, though sometimes it may be helpful for patients to bring a tank top or shorts to wear during the treatment. Many patients find it just as relaxing, if not more, to be around other people! There is a collective energy field that seems to grow in the room, which can actually make the treatment feel more powerful. Also, this type of setting makes it easier to bring a friend or a family member for treatment at the same time, which can be both comforting and convenient.
How Does It Work? And Why Do You Put That Needle There?
These are great questions, and many books have been devoted to their possible answers. We will not try to answer them here, but instead to help to remind you that this medicine is based on a very different way of thinking about healing the body, and it has been used for thousands of years with good results. And so when it comes to treatment, there are many different styles, some of them seem mutually exclusive, but they all seem to work! This is one of the many confounding aspects of Chinese medicine, if you try to understand it from a Western cause-and-effect view. But Chinese medicine has long emphasized the study of patterns and the value of observing the co-existence of opposites in the universe (e.g., yin and yang) versus reductive theory. Acupuncture is both simple and extremely sophisticated and complex at the same time. This may help to explain why a needle can be put in the hand to treat the back, or the elbow to treat the knee. If it doesn't, you can trust us and see the results for yourself, or read more about the philosophy of Chinese medicine - it's fascinating!
Sliding Scale
The purpose of our sliding scale is to separate the issues of money and treatment; we want you to come in often enough to really get better and stay better! Research in the US (as well as thousands of years of tradition in Asia) has shown that acupuncture is most effective when it is done frequently and regularly - once a week is usually the minimum required to make progress on any kind of health problem.
Most acupuncturists in the US charge between $65 and $175 an hour, treating each person one at a time. There is often a lot of talking, asking questions, and personal attention given. That is a specific approach to treatment, and it is very effective as well, but it is not the only way to practice acupuncture. The model of community acupuncture was created to provide another way of offering this medicine at more affordable rates. But the way this works best is for treatments to be done in a community setting, treating multiple people per hour in the same room; diagnosis and treatment rely on pulse and tongue diagnosis, and very little talking - just like it was traditionally done in Asia.
We also keep our rates low because we do very little marketing. We rely on word of mouth by our patients and their positive experiences, which is how most of our patients hear about us. We are very grateful for this show of support from our community.
Our Commitment to Each Other
We want you to come in often enough and regularly enough to feel better. We provide high quality care in a safe and supportive environment, and offer the sliding scale to help support your commitment. In order for acupuncture to work, you need to commit to the treatment process, which means coming in often enough to get better. At your first visit, your acupuncturist will suggest a course of treatment, which may vary; for example, once a week for four weeks, to several days in a row for a short period. These suggestions are based on our experience treating many different types of conditions.
We look forward to working with you!
"the calmest revolution ever staged " - Working Class Acupuncture
