About CommuniChi

What is different about CommuniChi?

The Community Setting

Most US acupuncturists treat patients on tables in individual cubicles. This is not traditional in Asia, where acupuncture usually occurs in a community setting.

Treating patients in a community setting has many benefits: it's easy for friends and family members to receive treatment together and many find it comforting as the collective energetic field (group chi) nurtures the entire group. (Note - until the COVID pandemic is declared over by the CDC, I will only see one person at a time per room, unless others are part of the person's quarantine bubble.)

In some styles of acupuncture, the needles are removed after only a few minutes or after a half hour at most. The style of acupuncture practiced at CommuniChi allows you to receive treatment for as long as you want. Most people learn to sense when the treatment is complete. This can vary from 20 minutes to an hour. Many people fall asleep, and wake feeling refreshed.

2021 COVID update - due to the ongoing pandemic, treatments will be limited to about 50 minutes and except for friends and family members, only one person will be treated per room at any one time until further notice.

What is Community Acupuncture?

In pre-Maoist China, acupuncture was community medicine, meaning it was available to everyone. There were no five thousand dollar deductibles, visit limits, waiting periods, or other fine print exclusionary language which is commonly found in American healthcare. As more and more Americans find themselves lacking options for care, the health standard of our nation continues to decline across a broad measurement of international standards. The current system is failing many.

At a clinic in Portland, Oregon, Working Class Acupuncture (WCA), founders Lisa Rohleder, Skip Van Meter developed a sustainable acupuncture practice model which addresses the inequities of the current health care system. This has proven to be enormously successful from a community health perspective, with hundreds of people every week receive high quality care.

The WCA founders have organized the principles guiding their mission into a national movement by launching the Peoples Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA), a non profit cooperative organization which seeks to promote the CA principles within the acupuncture profession. With health care systems in America crumbling, we would do well to heed the advice of Bill McKibben, the noted deep ecologist: "The technology we need most is the technology of community -- the knowledge about how to cooperate to get things done." A point of clarification: Community acupuncture is not "group acupuncture". Community acupuncture is personalized care with complete respect for the privacy of your personal history, with the treatment conducted in a common area. If you have any further questions about this distinction, please don't hesitate to ask.

Schedule

By Appointment Only. Hours are subject to change so please check the website for updates. Thank you for your patronage. To make an appointment, please click on the link to the right.

Monday: 8 am – noon | 2 pm – 5 pm
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 8 am – noon | 2 pm – 5 pm
Thursday: Closed
Friday: 8 am – noon | 2 pm – 5 pm
Saturday: 9 am to 3 pm

*Occasionally my schedule changes due to responsibilities to family, friends, and planet. Please use the online Appointment Scheduler to verify current hours. If your situation is urgent or my schedule is full, feel free to text me at 206.860.5009 and I will do my best to accomodate you.

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