A standard acupuncture session with me begins with a conversation where you’re invited to share your reason for coming in, and what has happened for you since we last met. At the initial session, we’ll spend more time talking—for me to get to know you and your particular focuses, and for you to get to know me and my approach.
Pulse + Tongue Diagnosis
Next, I’ll feel your pulse and look at your tongue. These are key ways traditional Chinese medicine practitioners observe patterns in order to create a diagnosis.
Palpation
I may then palpate your channels to gain a deeper understanding of your structure. This will likely feel like a gentle massage on your arms and legs. I’ll share what I’ve observed and we’ll talk about how to proceed with the session. My approach is gentle and conversational: you always have choice about where the needles are inserted, and for how long. I stay in the room during sessions.
Treatment
The beauty of traditional Chinese medicine is that there are many different ways to work with what you’re experiencing. Your session may also include cupping, Chinese massage, and other indicated approaches that fall within my scope of practice.
Throughout our time together, I’ll work with you to gain insight into how patterns of your body interact with various facets of your life. I’ll aim to support you to establish patterns that improve your sense of wellbeing.
Like the broader world around us, we are constantly in flux, and so the practice of traditional Chinese medicine is a dance: how you feel one day may be very different than how you feel the next, and so my approach in working with you will shift in relation to how you grow, change, and integrate your experience.
Inclusivity
I celebrate the spectrum of genders, sexual orientations, abilities, cultures, belief systems, and backgrounds that make up the rich diversity of human experience, and aim to create a welcoming space for everyone who walks through my door. My lens as a white, queer, gender fluid person from a middle class background and socialized as a girl/woman shapes how I see the world, and how the world sees me. I’m always working to broaden my perspective so I can show up with more compassion, humility, and awareness in my work and my life.
