Community Acupuncture Program Changes at Five Point
We remain committed to providing accessible community acupuncture services and have been evaluating our current Five Point Community Acupuncture Program. As an acupuncture team, we have decided to keep our Community Acupuncture Program service largely the same, but in order to sustain this program, we are moving away from a full sliding scale payment model in the community room. As such, beginning in January 2025, community acupuncture and herbal consults will move to one price that is our current Standard (Tier 2) price of $55 per treatment.
Community Acupuncture Discount Service & Opportunities to Participate
To balance this change to our Community Acupuncture Program, we will offer six two-hour shifts per month where we will offer a Community Acupuncture Discount service for the price of $45 per treatment. Discount community acupuncture includes 15 minutes for discussion, diagnosis, and needle insertion with a rest time of 30 minutes. Total appointment encompasses 45 minutes. This option is not suitable for first time patients.
For January - March 2025, we are piloting the discount shifts during the following days/times (bookable online):
Every other Monday:
5:00 - 7:00 PM with Ryan Palma (2nd Monday of the month starting January 13th)
Wednesdays:
1:00 - 3:00 PM with Derek Becker (weekly starting January 8th)
Package Opportunity
We are currently running a package promotion through the end of the year with Community Acupuncture 5 packs ($47 per treatment) and 10 packs ($44 per treatment). To smooth the transition to our new model, this is another opportunity to keep your treatments at lower rates. Packages are good for 5 years. Purchase in-person, email info@fivepointholistic.com, or call: 773-466-9882 to purchase
Private Acupuncture Insurance Coverage Considerations
If you are currently covered by BCBS PPO, United, or Aetna, you may have acupuncture coverage. As a reminder, all Chicago City employees that opted for BCBS PPO have acupuncture coverage. As insurance coverage continues to increase as a covered benefit by employers, please do not hesitate to submit your insurance information for a benefits check. Information on our benefits process can be found here: https://www.fivepointholistichealth.com/insurance.
Acupuncture as a Radical Tool for Social Change: The History of Community Acupuncture
Community Acupuncture in America has a rich history in solidarity with social activism beginning in the 1970's and continues today.
The People’s Program
In the late sixties and early seventies, New York City, especially the Bronx, was devastated by a heroin epidemic and a failing public health system. As drug addiction was seen as a problem only affecting poor black and brown communities, the city was allocating few resources toward addiction treatment and prevention. In 1970, neighborhood activists and members of the Black Panthers and the Young Lords organized an occupation of a derelict public hospital, Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx. The activists refused to leave the hospital, which had been nicknamed the “butcher shop” until the city met their demands for improved health services, including the addition of a drug treatment program. The successful protest led to one of the country’s first Patient’s Bill of Rights, the first recorded public medical malpractice trial, and the Lincoln Detox Program, also known as the People’s Program.
Global Solidarity
The People’s Program was pioneering in that it was community led. Activists such as Mutulu Shakur, Tupac Shakur’s stepfather, and members of the Black Panther Party and Young Lords, many of which were former addicts themselves, led the drug treatment program. Encouraged by reports of acupuncture being used to treat opium addiction, the Black Panthers began their exploration into East Asian Medicine. They sought the help of Dr. Oscar Wexu and his son Mario, Canadian acupuncturists who provided the activists with scholarships to their acupuncture school. The students then took a trip to China and were inspired by the barefoot doctors, a radical new system of health-care delivery for the rural masses during the Cultural Revolution. Many of the barefoot doctors were lay people, farmers and laborers, who were trained to provide basic preventative and life-saving Eastern and Western medical care to their rural communities. These doctors ultimately inspired the founding of the World Health Organization and many other public health initiatives.
Acupuncture + Activism in the 1970’s
Shakur and his fellow newly trained acupuncturists brought their knowledge back to the Bronx. At the Lincoln Detox Center, they provided acupuncture to help ease the symptoms of heroin withdrawal in a safe space. While addiction recovery was the focus, they also treated a wide variety of health issues with acupuncture ranging from pre/postnatal issues to PTSD. The activists recognized that an individual’s health is inextricably linked to structural determinants of health, like housing, worker’s rights, and police brutality. While patients rested with needles, they were provided with public health resources, counseling, and education on political and social issues. By the late 1970’s, the activists were removed from Lincoln Hospital due to their “radical” approach, but Shakur and others formed the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America and an acupuncture school to train a new generation of community practitioners.
Universal Treatment is NADA Problem
Shakur partnered with Dr. Michael O. Smith, a psychiatrist, acupuncturist, and addiction specialist, to develop a five point protocol on the ear for drug addiction treatment. This protocol, now referred to as the NADA protocol, named after the National Acupuncture Detox Association, included two points for calming the mind and nervous system and three points aiding the body’s detoxification organs: lungs, liver, and kidneys. The NADA protocol continues to be used today all over the world from addiction recovery centers to emergency rooms to communities affected by traumatic humanitarian crises like war and natural disasters through organizations like Acupuncturists Without Borders.
Making it Work for the Working Class
Inspired by the work at the Lincoln Detox Center, Lisa Rohleder, L.Ac. and Skip Van Meter, L. Ac., who popularized the term “community acupuncture,” founded Working Class Acupuncture in Portland, Oregon. In the early 2000’s, Rohleder and VenMeter were acupuncturists from a working class background who offered acupuncture in a public health setting. After the government grants that funded their work dried up, they struggled with switching to the standard business model of acupuncture. Charging $80-$150 per session was unaffordable for their working class community, but charging less was not a sustainable way to make a living and pay back student loans from acupuncture school. Hence the high-volume, low-cost treatment business model was born.
A Sustainable Path Forward
By seeing four patients an hour on an affordable sliding scale, Rohleder and Van Meter were able to make the same amount of revenue as if they saw one or two patients an hour but charged more. Eventually Rohleder and Van Meter founded the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA), a non-profit that offers training, resources, and even start-up funding for community acupuncture clinics around the country. They also created POCA Tech, an acupuncture school which focuses on the community model and is a more affordable education than most acupuncture schools.
Five Point & the Legacy of Affordable Acupuncture
The legacy of the Barefoot Doctors, the People’s Program, and Working Class Acupuncture continues to inform our model of care at Five Point Holistic Health. As un/underinsured graduate students at the Pacific College of Health Sciences, Alex, Leah, Dinah, Ryan, and Celeste couldn’t afford the medicine they were preparing to practice. They knew they wanted to build a clinic around community acupuncture to make the medicine accessible to those who were otherwise priced out of East Asian Medicine. With the help of friends and mentors at POCA-informed clinics like Sage Community Health Collective and Milwaukee Community Acupuncture, the Five Point founders learned the ropes of running a community clinic. The name “Five Point” came from many factors, but one was the powerful yet simple five point NADA protocol still used daily in our clinic.
Community Acupuncture Program Changes at Five Point
Ten years later, we remain committed to providing accessible community acupuncture services and have been evaluating our current Five Point Community Acupuncture Program. The COVID-19 pandemic required us to shift away from seeing several patients per hour, but it is time to re-establish pre-covid norms. We will begin shifting to a higher volume system – 3-4 patients per hour– as the standard of care in our community room. This change will support balancing accessibility for our patients while ensuring sustainability of our Co-op. We will be in continued conversation with our community to clearly communicate upcoming changes to our Community Acupuncture Program that will go into effect in January 2025. Please stay tuned for upcoming blogs to learn more about these changes.
References & Recommended Reading, Listening, and Viewing:
Dandridge, Tenisha (2020). The Unusual Tale of Acupuncture, Racism, and African American History in the USA
Donovan, Mia (2020). Dope is Death, Documentary film and Podcast.
Lefty, Lauren (2021). For the People’s Health: Lessons from the Young Lords for Today’s New York. Museum of the City of New York Online.
Rohleder, Lisa (2013). Fractal: About Community Acupuncture.
Rohleder, Lisa, et.al (2009). Acupuncture is like Noodles: The Little Red (Cook)Book of Working Class Acupuncture.
Shakur, M., & Trinidad, U. (2022). The Seed: History of the Original Acupuncture Detoxification Program at Lincoln Hospital. Souls, 23(1–2), 36–48.
Fall Season Changes and Transitions
It’s happening. The luxurious span of daylight we so easily grow accustomed to in the Summer is waning. The days are shortening, the weather grows cooler, we see and feel the change of season from Summer into Fall all around us.
The Fall brings natural consolidation, it is the season of the harvest, gathering, and taking stock. Outside, we see the trees beginning to shed anything superfluous to remain healthy and strong while natural resources diminish; we see the last bustle of animals and wildlife as they gather and prepare (or straight up leave town) before winter.
Within each change of season, there is an opportunity for us to check in with ourselves and align our internal energy and outward expression with the natural world.
Throughout the fall, we will post about some relevant themes regarding physical, mental, and emotional health, simple practices, personal routines and rituals, as well as recipes and other fun little things. We hope that some of these may resonate, and give some spark for a small change in the interest of greater balance towards your own sense of health and well being.
In this initial post, we wish to talk about the idea of ‘change’ itself, especially change in regard to personal routine. Change is hard, it can be shocking, it can be welcome, it can bring up fear, or it can be an escape, but it always requires some new adjustment.
Tips for changes in routine, lifestyle, and habits:
To change we usually must let go of something.
It is easier to replace something negative with something positive.
The best changes are gradual and steady.
Pick one thing to work on changing, do that until it is stable, then add something else.
Being willing to keep up a small effort that is extra to do something new, be realistic about what type of effort you can sustain.
Don’t judge yourself. Any missteps or deviations are chances to learn, just accept them, and try to do a little better with your next attempt.
Change is more Complicated than we Think:
Lets say, that I want to feel better in my body so I decide I’m going to wake up early in the morning and do some stretching and gentle workout before I get ready for the day. Even this seemingly simple thing, has a huge impact on my routine.
I have to undo my desire to sleep, and wake up early.
If I can successfully get past the desire for sleep, I have to find the motivation to stretch and workout.
I have to sustain this for a certain number of days, weeks, months for it to have any real impact on my life.
This can quickly become complex, difficult, and too big of a chore. Often what seems like a simple change is complex, because it requires many small things to also adjust, so it is good to break up the different components.
Maybe, just waking up a bit earlier is a good first step -- wake up and feel my body and do some simple movement. Maybe, I start with only waking up 10 minutes earlier, then after some weeks, increase it to 20 or 30, then after some weeks increase it to 45 minutes or an hour.
Just the habit of waking up earlier might be enough, maybe I only do a very small amount of movement or exercise, that habit might be a whole separate thing to work on. It is best to be realistic with yourself and find something that can be steady.
Once waking up earlier is normal, then I can add and experiment with what type of exercise or movement feels best and suits me in the morning. What enhances my sense of well being? Maybe movement feels good, maybe just deep breathing is what suits me best, it might be that meditation or prayer or affirmation bring about my best sense of well being.
How we conceptualize change, and understanding our own nature can help us better adapt to make realistic and successful interventions.
Common patterns:
There are two main extremes when it comes to dealing with change.
One extreme wants to explode into changing and morphing, they are full of enthusiasm and ideas, ready to change their whole life, their diet, their workout routine, their personal practices and emotional habits. They are ready to toss out the old canvas, get a new color palette, and work with a whole new set of ideas.
The other extreme is not welcoming the change, it makes them uncomfortable, and they wish to burrow and hide, hoping that they can stay the same to later emerge without too much being different. They want to hold onto what they know and are comfortable with, and don’t necessarily wish to be confronted with anything outside their realm of normality.
Think about these two extremes relative to a simple event we see in nature in the fall - that of the trees shedding their leaves. This, of course, is a big change in routine and a big change of self for the tree. If we take the examples of the two extremes above - one would be like a tree that not only sheds its leaves, but decides it can drop its limbs entirely, and maybe even get up and walk away to become a different kind of tree somewhere else. While the other extreme is like a tree that refuses to let go of the resources it can no longer sustain, and so it is taxed in a different way.
Within the dynamic changes of each of our life circumstances, relationships, and seasons, we usually find ourselves leaning toward one of these two extremes at various times. As the world of nature changes around us, we have a new chance to see ourselves more clearly and how we fit into the paradigm of change for this season.
'Notes from the Apothecary" : Summer Spotlights
By Ashley Dyer
Local Honey w/Pollen: Pick up local honey at Five Point! You’ll take home a half pint of a delicious variety that is high in antioxidants and is wonderful in tea, can ease a summertime dry cough, or can simply be one of the many fruits of the summer season to have in your kitchen cupboard. All proceeds support local ecologist and forager, Nance Klehm of Social Ecologies.
Social Ecologies: Nance Klehm has been an ecological systems designer, landscaper, horticultural consultant, and agroecological grower for more than three decades. Her work demonstrates her lifelong commitment to redefining the way human populations coexist with plant and animal systems. She currently splits her time between Little Village and fifty acres of land in the Driftless Region of northwest Illinois, where she cultivates and forages medicinal and edible plants and fungi, keeps bees and a fruit orchard, raises ducks and quail, and grows for indigenous seed banks.
Burn Cream: A sesame-based burn cream that contains herbs to help reduce swelling and redness. Helpful to have in your summer home apothecary as it also treats red/raised/itchy patches on the skin, can soothe sunburn, and can even be used for bug bites! As with all new products, you will want to patch test - try a little bit of the product on your skin - to ensure no allergic reactions or sensitivities arise. Once you have done this, use as needed!
‘Notes from the Apothecary’: Insects Awakening Room Spray
The emergence of the cicadas, in part, inspired the development of our new room spray, lovingly named Insects Awakening.
By Ashley Dyer
As the cicadas begin to emerge, we continue to celebrate this ecological moment with our creature neighbors. The emergence of the cicadas, in part, inspired the development of our new room spray, lovingly named Insects Awakening. Maureen Sullivan, our intrepid clinic manager and current acupuncture/herbal medicine student, and sun Catayong developed the uplifting spring scent, which includes hints of rose, vetiver, bergamot, ylang ylang, and juniper. sun, artist and front desk administrator in the clinic, designed the cicada label you will find on each bottle.
This season, we have the 4 oz bottles for ($20) and now have a smaller 2 oz bottle for $10. In addition, for every gift card redeemed in the month of May, you will be gifted a 2 oz bottle of room spray to accompany you through the Spring season. Hope this scent sparks some mindful moments as the season continues to pick up!
If you are wondering what the heck cicadas have to do with Five Point Holistic Health, and more specifically East Asian Medicine, check out our cicada blog for more nature-inspired medicinal connections!
Spring’s Greetings by Ashley Dyer
Spring Equinox
In the northern hemisphere, March 19th marked the 2024 vernal equinox. In the Chicagoland area, this period is where we have been slowly experiencing increasing hours of light that beckon us to get outside for more walks, runs, and activities with back-of-mind musings of if we can finally store our puffy winter jackets for the season. However, in true Midwest weather spirit, a week post-equinox we woke up to a Spring snowfall as we were nearing the beginning of April. The back-and-forth nature of the weather continues to challenge our bodies to adapt to the larger environment as the temperature and pressure changes continue to shift, seemingly at a moment’s notice.
Change of season is an excellent time to re-engage in acupuncture, East Asian medicine, bodywork, and counseling to support your specific needs – be it to prepare for allergy season, manage migraines, or help to regulate shifts in mental health. A promising practice is to plan for some additional care during seasonal transitions to help your body, mind, and spirit adjust into the new seasonal rhythms. Should you be interested in learning how to best support your individual needs, it is always recommended to meet with one of Five Point’s acupuncturists, body workers, or therapists who are formally trained in how to best transition into the new season .
Spring Energetics: The Cicadas Return
Many nature nerds may already be in the know when it comes to the forecasting of the return of not one, but two broods (i.e., groups) of periodical cicadas that return every 13 and 17 years. As we transition fully into Spring and Summer, these bugs will return at the same time, starting to chorus and sing 4-5 days after they begin emerging in pursuit of attracting female mates. It is estimated that the cicada calls register at 90-100 decibels, making for a magical and slightly noisy season ahead.
The emergence of the Cicadas embodies the energetic nature of Spring, whereby the cicada nymphs emerge from the ground, up and out of the soil. Just like the emergence of cicadas, Spring is also when trees, flowers, and plants shoot up and out, awakening from the winter phase of their own life cycles. Much like our nature neighbors, we find our own creature selves emerging out into the world again with more daylight hours as many feel the energetic bump that comes naturally with increased exposure to sunlight.
Cicadas & East Asian Medicine
Cicadas have a connection to East Asian Medicine that includes and extends beyond the energetic dynamic of the Spring season. Early in our days as herbal medicine students, we learned that the Materia Medica, our herbal medicine encyclopedia of sorts, includes the usual herbal suspects of roots, rhizomes, vines, leaves, and flowers. However, herbal medicine also includes some animal parts, shells, and bugs. The first herb as bug that we learn is called Chan Tui (Cicadae Periostracum), which in common language is the cicada molting.
This sweet, salty, and slightly cold herb hails from the Herbs that Release the Exterior herbal category. When considering what cicada moltings might be used for medicinally, we reflect on one guiding principle in East Asian herbal medicine practice called Doctrine of Signatures that we reviewed in our Winter blog. This principle, also referred to as Systematic Correspondence or Sympathetic Magic, simply means that the herbs themselves are giving us clues as to what their therapeutic effects might be by simply being who they are.
The nature of a molting, similar to fruit peels in Chinese medicine, often has an affinity for the skin or the outermost layer of our bodies. Like a molting is the shell of the cicada, our skin provides a capsule for our bodies. Not surprisingly then, Chan tui is often used in formulas to help support the healing of skin sores and episodic rashes. In addition, this herb treats the organ of Spring and Wood season, the Liver system. Internal pathologies associated with Liver system dysregulation can include internal “wind,” readily understood as convulsions or seizures. In turn, Chan tui is also one of the first pediatric herbs we learn that was historically used to treat childhood convulsions.
If you are looking to stay connected to the natural phenomenon the Cicadas bring with them this year and you live in the Chicagoland area, check out Ryerson Woods for community nature events appropriate for nature enthusiasts of all ages.
Connected Community:
Happy Birthday Five Point!
In addition to connecting to the natural environment this season, we also invite you to join our Five Point community to celebrate our first year in our new space and our 10th year as a worker co-op!
On Sunday, May 19th, 1:00 - 4:00 PM, Five Point practitioners and staff will be making 10 offerings commemorating the 10 years we have been serving the Logan Square and Avondale communities! From a Tai Chi demonstration, tea tasting, ear acupuncture, a Tarot reading pop-up, and mindful movement & self-massage demonstration, we hope you will join our team in celebration. Every $10 event ticket includes a raffle ticket to be entered to win acupuncture and bodywork sessions, seasonal apothecary goodie bags, and much more!
In addition, our 10-year anniversary month from May 19th - June 18th overlaps with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage month, and we will be offering reduced $25 community acupuncture nights and free passes to try our movement classes to celebrate and honor the contributions that the AAPI populations have had on Five Point and within our larger Chicago community.
We look forward to celebrating with you all in the months ahead and hope to connect at an event, in class, or in the clinic soon!
-Ashley
Acupuncturist, herbalist, and public health-informed nature enthusiast
SOURCES REFERENCED:
Bensky, D., Gamble, A., and Kaptchuk, T. Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica Revised Edition, Eastland Press, Seattle, 1993.
Celebrating Cicadas. Lake County Forest Preserve Education . Accessed March 25th, 2024.
‘Notes from the Apothecary’: Mugwort Musings
Ài yė, commonly known as mugwort, hails from the category of Herbs that Regulate the Blood. The most popular product containing Ài yė is in the form of moxa packs that contain loose herbs that will warm with the goal of helping decrease menstrual cramping, soothe low back pain, or warm cold hands.
Ài yė (Artemisiae argyi Folium)
Ài yė, commonly known as mugwort, hails from the category of Herbs that Regulate the Blood. Ài yė is a warming herb that can be used internally as a part of herbal medicine formulas often used for gynecological needs to stop uterine pain or support fertility as the acrid flavor helps to disperse warmth throughout the body and the bitter flavor helps to condense and drain excess dampness within the body.
In everyday East Asian medicine practice, the herbalists at Five Point are often burning a compressed version of Ài yė to use externally in the form of pole moxa to help a pregnant patient turn a fetus in the breech position or with Ibuki moxa to warm specific points to increase circulation and support the immune system. The most popular product containing Ài yė is in the form of moxa packs that contain loose herbs that will warm with the goal of helping decrease menstrual cramping, soothe low back pain, or warm cold hands.
This is a product that is nice to have in your home apothecary, and is included in our Five Point First Aid Kit alongside other helpful products helpful to have ready for use. Please ask your practitioner about moxa packs or other Ài yė products to see if they could be supportive tools for your treatment goals as we transition seasons from Winter to Spring.
All proceeds from our Apothecary items will directly support developing more community education and sliding scale seasonal offerings in the months to come. As always, we appreciate your support!
Winter's Greetings
If you have been in clinic lately, you will find the seasonal programs committee adding light in the form of tiny fairy lights to little mushroom clad scenes. While many have seemed delighted by the mushroom décor as we prepare for the winter season, others might be asking: why mushrooms?
Winter Solstice
In the northern hemisphere, September 23rd marked the 2023 autumnal equinox, which a month later was followed by a first snow fall on Halloween. While it felt like the return of winter was a bit early, the rise and falls of temperatures over the next month allowed for a more gradual transition into the season. As we inch our way closer to the winter solstice on Thursday, December 21st , we have collectively been experiencing decreased hours of light with increased hours of dark. The winter solstice, also known as Midwinter, occurs when the earth’s poles are furthest from the sun, gifting us with the shortest day and the longest night or period of darkness for any given year. Over time and in various cultures, this day has often been marked with winter festivals of light and reflection to prepare for a gradual returning of the light.
The “Lucky Holiday” Mushroom
If you have been in clinic lately, you will find the seasonal programs committee adding light in the form of tiny fairy lights to little mushroom clad scenes. While many have seemed delighted by the mushroom décor as we prepare for the winter season, others might be asking: why mushrooms? Fair question. For the mycological enthusiasts among us, we are making models of the Amanita muscaria, the mushrooms who don red caps with white speckles. In Germany, this mushroom is often referred to as Gluckspilz, or the lucky holiday mushroom because these are the fungi that readily grow next to pine trees.
The Doctrine of Signatures
Admittedly, we do not readily use the Amanita muscaria in our everyday East Asian herbal medicine. That said, we do often use mushrooms in formulas to treat myriad conditions, from gynecological issues to hypertension. Moreover, understanding a bit more about our ‘fungi friends,’ if you will, has the potential to give us further insight and broader understanding of how we are connecting with herbs in a general sense. One guiding principle in East Asian herbal medicine practice is called Doctrine of Signatures. This principle, also referred to as Systematic Correspondence or Sympathetic Magic, simply means that the herbs themselves are giving us clues as to what their therapeutic effects might be by simply being who they are. In short, noticing where and how the herbs grow in the natural world, noticing the herb’s color, and distilling down what part of the plant substance we are using often gives us insight in what that herb might be doing when consumed medicinally.
Mushrooms as Medicine
Poria cocos (Fu Ling) is a mushroom that we readily use in East Asian herbal formulas. When thinking about where mushrooms grow from a Doctrine of Signatures perspective, we can all imagine the mushrooms coming into being in moist woodlands or the innards of a decaying tree that many of us have encountered on hikes in forested areas. Even within the city limits, I have encountered mushroom clusters seemingly popping up at the base of boulevard trees overnight after a rain. You can imagine by virtue of the damp environment in which mushrooms grow, that they may have a therapeutic action focused on managing dampness. Not surprisingly, Pori cocos (Fu Ling) is the representative herb of the herbal medicine category, Herbs that Drain Dampness.
Calming the Spirit
Four layers of the Poria fungus are used in East Asian herbal medicine, with slightly different actions dependent on the layer used. The innermost layer of the mushroom, which also includes part of the root of the pine it grows near, is called Fu Shen. From a clinical perspective, this fungus helps to drain dampness but also has a particular affinity for calming the spirit—calming the shen in East Asian medicine terms—and helping to regulate the nervous system. From a Doctrine of Signatures perspective, having the pine root integrated into the herb may represent the calming rootedness this herb is helping to provide our bodies when consumed. While mushrooms can be lovely to consume as food, should you be interested in learning more about whether a formula containing mushrooms may be the right fit for your clinical presentation, it is always recommended to meet with one of Five Point’s herbalists who is formally trained in how to diagnose and treat specific health conditions.
Connected Community
In the clinic, we have been reflecting on how to best connect with community while continuing to move through these often turbulent, heartbreaking, and all too often troubling times. We have been busy curating a Five Point Winter Open House and mini–Holistic Market to be held this upcoming Sunday, December 10th from 1:00 – 3:00 PM, trying to balance reflective practices with time to connect directly or indirectly in community. We will be sipping tea, practicing solitude together through an East Asian- and nature-inspired crafts for children and adults, and sharing our updated Five Point Apothecary with items to accompany you through the winter months ahead. Patty Sugrue, LCPC will help us respond to winter’s invitation to rest with a Cozy Story Time for Grown-Ups, giving your busy mind a gentle place to explore, with cozy details and no drama. In addition, Hope, one of our psychotherapists, has been beautifully holding space to connect through art and embodied practices to come together in community throughout their Hope and Grief series, the last one which will be held this upcoming Saturday from 1:30 – 3:30 PM.
Looking forward to connecting with you all when the time is right – be it at our Winter Open House or in clinic soon!
-Ashley
Acupuncturist, herbalist, and public health-informed nature enthusiast
Sources:
Bensky, D., Gamble, A., and Kaptchuk, T. Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica Revised Edition, Eastland Press, Seattle, 1993.
Why Mushrooms are a popular Holiday Decoration Little Pine Learners. Accessed December 6th, 2023.
Autumn's Greetings
Each herb must be found in its den, harvested at its time, grubbed up from the dirt, culled and stripped, washed and prepared.
It must be handled this way, then that, to find out where its power lies.
Day upon patient day, you must throw out your errors and begin again.
--Circe, Madeleine Miller p. 84
These words from author Madeleine Miller, detailing the earthbound practices of herbal harvest in her book Circe, invite us to consider the transition to the autumnal season. In the northern hemisphere, September 23rd marks the 2023 autumnal equinox, the time each year where we experience an equilibrium between light and dark, day and night. For me, after this past summer full of yang energy marked by the hot weather and an abundance of outward facing social activities, the slow return of yin experienced in a cool morning, and a subtle movement towards increasing time allotted for inward practices is most welcome.
For herbalists, Miller offers a passage to remind us that the art and science of herbalism is a season-bound practice that ultimately connects people and place. A relationship based in stewardship of the earth, and at its best, grounded in a reciprocal relationship between humans and plants. Moreover, she reminds us that herbs grow specifically adapted to their ecosystems, must have ample time to grow, and have a season when they are ready for harvest. And yet, harvesting single herbs, historically, is only the beginning of the work of an East Asian herbalist. In this tradition, herbs are most frequently used in combination. An East Asian herbal practice is rooted in exploring the power of relationship between the herbs themselves and then, in turn, developing the most prudent combination to help ease the symptoms of the patient you are accompanying.
The smallest herbal formulas are a combination of two medicinals, called Dui Yaos. These two-herb combinations can often be found embedded in larger formulas or added as a modification to a base formula the patient may be taking. A Dui Yao that often draws me into the autumnal season here in Chicago is the combination of Chrysanthemi Flos (Ju Hua) and Mori Folium (Sang Ye). In common language, this Dui Yao is the combination of the flowers of yellow mums and the leaves of the white mulberry tree, both herbs falling within the larger category of Herbs that Release the Exterior – some of the first we learn as we begin the study of East Asian herbal medicine.
A passage pulled from the Chinese Herbalism Materia Medica, an herbal encyclopedia of sorts often open on the desks of early herbal medicine students, details the seasonal life cycle of Ju Hua, our beloved yellow mum flower as follows:
Thoroughly imbued with the qi of the four seasons, it sprouts in winter, produces leaves in spring, blossoms in summer, and reaches full flower in autumn. In its fullness, it embraces the frost and succumbs to the essence of metal and water. P. 59
In combination with Sang Ye (white mulberry leaf), this Dui Yao has an affinity to disperse or drain heat from the upper registers of the body and has a specific affinity for the eyes. In autumn, particularly for those impacted by seasonal allergies that result in itchy, red eyes, this Dui Yao can be consumed as a tea. The tea bag can then be placed on your eyes, making the Dui Yao both useful as an internal formula to be sipped and an external formula to cool or brighten your eyes.
Whether I am walking through the neighborhoods with potted mums and Cinderella pumpkins or making my way down to the Montrose bird sanctuary, where Mulberry trees are in abundance alongside other staples in Chinese medicine such as Hawthorn, I am constantly reminded that connecting with herbal medicine is but a walk away – even within our own Chicago environment. Whether out in nature, tending my backyard potted herb garden, or digging back into some of my classical herbal texts, I remain in awe of what I continue to learn from herbs, namely that there are seasons for seeding, sprouting, growing, blossoming, and eventual harvesting. Better understanding these cycles invites me to take pause from time to time, as these herbs are often some of the kindest and most patient teachers, humbly reminding all of us biological beings that we are not designed to constantly be producing or in bloom at all times, despite the often frenetic environments we find ourselves inhabiting and the larger cultural forces that continue to shape our ways of living.
If you have been taking herbs for awhile and want to gain a better understanding of herbal medicine thinking and practice or are simply a nature nerd already dabbling in your own herbal medicine practice, we invite you to connect with our Five Point community to participate in our upcoming Autumnal Seasonal Offering: Mum’s the Word. On Saturday, October 7th, you will have the opportunity to spend the morning with two of Five Point’s herbalists, Khadijah Kysia and me, Ashley Dyer. Together, we will walk you through an experiential introduction to East Asian herbal medicine, help you understand how combinations of herbal medicine flavors unlock healing potential, leave you with some contemplative practices, and gift you with an herbal medicine goodie bag for harmonization with the autumnal season. To learn more about the event and sign up, please check out our events page!
As we make our way into the autumnal season, we hope you are able to take good care and please never hesitate to reach out to our practitioners and care teams for support! For tailored herbal support specific to your body’s system as we move through the transition from Summer to Autumn, it is always recommended to meet with one of Five Point’s herbalists who is formally trained in diagnosing and treating specific health conditions.
Hope to connect with you at Mum’s the Word or in clinic soon!
Kind Wishes,
Ashley Dyer
Acupuncturist, herbalist, and public health-informed nature enthusiast
Sources:
Bensky, D., Gamble, A., and Kaptchuk, T. Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica Revised Edition, Eastland Press, Seattle, 1993.
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass. First edition. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Milkweed Editions.
Miller, M. (2018). Circe. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Interview with Patty Sugrue, LCPC
Get to know our psychotherapist, Patty, who joined Five Point in January 2023. Using an embodied, relational approach to therapy, Patty creates a space for her clients to discover what makes them unique and heal what gets in the way of becoming that. She has experience working with depression and anxiety, relationship issues, LGBTQIA concerns, spirituality and trauma. Patty offers her years as a bodyworker, yoga and meditation teacher as tools for self-understanding and empowerment.
What techniques work for you to manage stress?
I love spending time in nature, and I finally understand the truth of "forest bathing". Every cell of my body is soothed being in green spaces under a big blue sky. When I'm really stressed, doing some bird watching in these green spaces focuses my attention, engaging all of my senses. It invites joyful delight and fills my attention so that anxious thoughts don't stand a chance.
What theory in psychology do you geek out on?
Attachment theory. Being truly seen and heard, felt and known is such a powerful tool for healing. When meaningful others respond to our expressions with negativity we learn that in some way it's not OK to be ourselves. We hide or isolate parts of ourselves. When we are seen and known for our full selves, we feel safe and strong to bring ourselves into the world, take risks and become who we are here to be. We have the strength to overcome obstacles and live our authentic, rich and meaningful life. This is why I do the work I do.
What is the most important thing to you in your work with clients?
Authenticity. When I can connect with what's really true within me, we can have deeper, more meaningful and more healing conversations.
If you could do any other kind of work, what would it be?
I'd be a naturalist and educator. I would do work to protect wild spaces and invite people into relationship with wild spaces so that they would love and protect them too.
What is something you have learned from a client?
What I love learning from clients is how to speak to them in ways that they feel uniquely heard and felt. It's different for everyone. I appreciate it when things clients say help me understand how they receive connection.
What resonates with you about working at Five Point?
Five Point embodies the belief that we all together, as community, can create something stronger, more healing and more empowering than any of us can alone. We are a group of healers who are gifted, talented and always learning and who ground our work in our collective humanity.
Connect with Patty via email at patty@fivepointholistic.com. She sees individual psychotherapy clients Monday - Friday and has an upcoming group Pandemic Processing through Mindfulness beginning April 18.
We're Moving!
After almost nine years at 3234 W Fullerton, we are preparing to move to a new, larger location. Our business outgrew our little storefront long ago, and expanding has been the topic of discussion for a few years. Last winter, the owners made the decision to start looking for a new space that better met our staffs’ and patients’ needs. We signed a lease in May, and construction on a new clinic began in September.
Now, after almost one year of work, we are finally ready to announce the grand opening of Five Point’s new clinic at 2866 N Milwaukee Ave in April, and we are beyond thrilled with the opportunities this space provides for us. Our new home is in Avondale, around Milwaukee and Kimball, just 0.7 miles from our current location.
The new clinic is more than double the size of our current location, boasting four acupuncture rooms, two massage rooms, and two psychotherapy rooms. We’ll have a much bigger community room, which can also be sectioned off for our new service: Group Therapy. We still have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks before we’re ready to open, but we’ll be sharing our progress along the way.
This move represents a new beginning and a furthering of the mission and vision that was Five Point Holistic Health’s inception. With that in mind, we are hosting a couple of events so we have the chance to bring our community into our new space to help us celebrate before we are ‘officially’ open.
Open House
Please join us for our Open House event on Saturday, March 18 from 4-7pm. This event is for current patients, friends, family, and curious community members to tour the new clinic, meet our staff, learn about our services while enjoying music and light refreshments. We’ll have limited gift bags and a free raffle where you can win Five Point services and gifts donated by neighborhood businesses.
Please RSVP and spread the word!
Grand Opening
Our Grand Opening is Sunday, April 2 from 9:30-4:30pm. Enjoy FREE community acupuncture all day and 50% off all other services. Limited walk-in appointments will be available, but we recommend booking an appointment to reserve a spot.
Our last day at 3234 W Fullerton is Wednesday, March 29, and Five Point will be closed March 30 through April 1 while we move. We hope you book an appointment in the next month to say goodbye to the space we called home for almost nine years.
We cannot thank our patient community enough for your continued support and feedback which made this new space possible. We look forward to serving you for the next nine years and beyond!
Thoughts on "Wintering"
“Once we stop wishing it were summer, winter can be a glorious season in which the world takes on a sparse beauty and even the pavements sparkle. It’s a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment….doing those deeply unfashionable things – slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep…resting.”
–Katherine May
These words from author Katherine May invite us into considering a countercultural set of practices that call for a slowing down as well as an invitation to rest, reflect, and take good care. May offers up the concept of ‘wintering’ as an invitation to connect with the ever-changing natural cycles and ecological transitions. Winter, she posits, is a time where we may do well to reflect on how we are caring for ourselves, our families, our colleagues, and our communities.
December 21st marked the winter solstice, the time each year where we collectively experience the shortest day and the longest night. For those of us residing in the Chicagoland area, we swiftly experienced a winter shock of cold and snow shortly thereafter the solstice reminding us all of the current season we inhabit. For me, this wintry weather event meant a shortened clinical workday, a hot pot of my favorite carrot-fennel soup simmering on the stovetop, and many (many!) hot beverages. Somewhere between the cups of coffee and the multiple mugs of Rooibus-turmeric-ginger tea, I finally felt myself able to begin slowing down – even amidst the winter holiday hubbub.
The concept of wintering aligns with the nature-based origins of Traditional East Asian Medicine, whereby the system implicitly considers people as a part of the natural world, not separate from it. As such, we recognize that your body may have different needs as the weather chills and the sunlight hours shorten. To counteract a wintering of the body, which can in fact occur during any season, herbalists will often employ a warming strategy. For example, when working with patients on digestive issues, I will have the patient consider what happens to a stream as winter approaches.
As the temperatures drop, the stream’s current begins to slow and may eventually freeze. The same dynamics may be at play within the body. For example, if someone is experiencing a slowed digestion as evidenced by fewer healthy bowel movements or is experiencing digestive pain, this may in part be exacerbated by the ingestion of cold foods and beverages that can be compounded in winter by the external cold temperatures. With slower digestion, cold may contribute to a dynamic like the chilling and slowing stream on its way towards freezing, which would ultimately cause digestive pain.
Herbalists will work with patients to try to balance their systems by suggesting warm fluids like brothy soup and warming herbal medicine formulas. Essentially, we are trying to counterbalance the digestive wintering that has occurred. To reverse the pain, we gently warm your system – effectively melting the metaphorical ice and support a quickening of the digestive stream to support your system in moving back into a healthy digestive flow. While not all digestive issues are caused by cold alone as individuals embody dynamic systems, this nature-based example is one frame we may consider when determining how to help patients understand the dynamics of the body in relationship to nature. For tailored support specific to your body’s system, it is always recommended to meet with an herbalist who is formally trained in how to diagnose and treat specific health conditions.
That said, even for patients not experiencing pain or digestive pathology, we may suggest drinking warm herbal teas such as ginger or cinnamon to support digestive health and to simultaneously enhance well-being that often accompanies taking a ten-minute tea break at some point during your day. Other activities that may enhance well-being include bundling up and connecting with nature. As the daughter of a second-grade teacher, I have a clear memory of my mom stopping class during the first snow to bundle up and head outside. This momentary break in the day became a priority especially if there was a new student who had just moved from a warm weather state and had never experienced snow.
Once outside, she would equip the student with a black or dark blue pieces of construction paper and allow them to experience several snowflakes landing on the paper. Even today, this activity never ceases to amaze me – seeing the crystalline structures of each individual flake land in full integrity for a few minutes. While a great exercise to do with children, I have found that it can also slow down adults of all ages for a moment of joyful reflection, despite the cold temperatures.
In moving forward through the winter season, we hope you are able to take good care and please never hesitate to reach out to our practitioners and care teams for support! At Five Point Holistic Health, we recognize that our larger cultural systems often do their best to eclipse one’s ability to slow down and rest. We will certainly continue to be in conversation and support larger policy changes and systems transformations that safeguard rest such as universal sick leave, minimum paid vacation, and adequate parental leave. As we continue to cultivate a more caring culture, we also offer up some ideas for ‘wintering’ home practices to nourish your moments of solitude and to help sustain relationships as we move through this season on our Five Point Holistic Health Instagram Page.
Warm Wishes and Happy Lunar New Year!
Ashley
Acupuncturist, herbalist, and public health-informed nature enthusiast
Source:
May, K. (2020). Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times. Random House.
Introducing Our Psychotherapy Program
Five Point Holistic Health is excited to announce an additional service in our clinic: psychotherapy! Our psychotherapy program is being led by Jessica Weisbach, LCSW. Jessica has over 15 years of experience working in mental health in Chicago. Her career began as a high school social worker supporting adolescents and their families. She transitioned to working with adults, in both a group practice and her own private practice until a recent serendipitous encounter connected her with Five Point.
You can read more about Jessica on our website. As mental health services have been in high demand during the pandemic, she is currently not accepting new clients. If you need support in finding a therapist, please reach out to Jessica at jessica@fivepoinpointholistic.com and she’ll be glad to assist in finding appropriate referrals.
However, we currently growing this program and hope to accept psychotherapy clients by late spring or early summer. We are eager to integrate psychotherapy services into the new space and to expand the mental health services offered.
We are HIRING!
Are you or anyone you know interested in being a part of this growing psychotherapy practice in our holistic health clinic? We are seeking to hire an additional psychotherapist as we expand our program and grow into our new space! Our program will include general psychotherapy for individuals, couples and families. In our new space, we also plan to offer a variety of group work. Groups are an essential part of healing in community, and they also create an avenue for more affordable mental health support. The psychotherapy program will follow our tiered pricing model and accept multiple insurance carriers, while also having multiple spaces for needs-based clients. We’re eager to find ways to collaborate across healing modalities at Five Point to support clients in health through more integrated care, workshops, classes, etc.
If you or anyone you know might be a good fit for our program, you can find our job posting.
We're Expanding!
The pandemic forced us to make difficult concessions to survive and keep our community safe. We shrunk our community room and reduced the number of appointments we offered in a day. We know it has been a challenge to make timely appointments lately, but thanks to your continued support, we have exciting news about a plan to expand.
A few weeks ago, Five Point signed a lease at 2864-2866 N Milwaukee with the intention of relocating our clinic in late summer or early fall of 2022. Our new space is almost five times the size of our current space which will allow us to provide more of the services you love as well as new services and offerings like classes, educational workshops, individual and group therapy, and much more. Our buildout starts in May, and we’ll keep you updated on the progress.
This new space is for YOU! So we want to hear about your wildest dreams for your ideal holistic community healthcare clinic!
Please fill out this survey to let us know what’s most important to you in a new space and what kinds of services/offerings you’d like to see.
Thanks for your continued support which made this possible!
Price Increases in 2022
Our mission is to provide high-quality, accessible holistic healthcare and education in an effort to cultivate long-standing relationships between highly trained practitioners and the community that are socially and economically just.
We pride ourselves both in the high quality of care and attentiveness our practitioners and staff provide. Ensuring this high level of care along with our mission to provide accessible and affordable services for the community has always been a difficult task, but has become increasingly difficult as we grow in the current market.
To keep our services as accessible as possible, we have not raised our prices in three years; however, during that time period, we have continued to make substantial investment in our staff including guaranteed pay during covid, pay increases across the board, additions to PTO, sick time, and covered medical and dental health benefits for all full time staff. Raising prices is necessary for us to continue to be a supportive workplace.
In order to bridge the gap between our financial needs and our mission, as of January 1, 2022 we will be implementing a new tiered pricing approach for all of our services, similar to our community acupuncture pricing.
After a market analysis it was clear that our prices were below averages across the city. Our new Standard prices sit just below the median range for this service in Chicago. In addition, we will be extending flexible / tiered pricing to include a Reduced and Supportive price rate for all of our services to further foster our mission of accessible and affordable services.
What do the different tiers mean and who are they designed for?
Reduced - for patients who have limited means, are on a budget, or are coming in frequently (2+/week)
Standard - for most patients coming semi-frequently (1/week) - this pricing is set below the average price for similar services across the city to ensure our mission of accessible and affordable services.
Supportive - for patients who can afford to pay the market rate for services in Chicago, those coming in for maintenance or low frequency (1-2/month), or can be encouraged in lieu of tipping. Patients able to pay supportive prices are helping us foster our mission and help subsidize those who may be on a budget.
What our new pricing looks like:
What you choose to pay is entirely up to you and your comfort level. We understand that circumstances change and what you pay can change month to month or even appointment to appointment. As always, for those who may have more extreme needs or circumstances, please don't hesitate to talk with us, and we can do our best to make accommodations.
We will also be raising the prices of other services that will remain at a flat, non-tiered rate:
Cupping - $65
Ear Acupuncture - $20
90-minute bodywork - $165
We will continue to offer packages, and these will be set at a percentage discount from our standard pricing. We encourage you to purchase a package before the end of the year to ensure a few more treatments at our current prices.
Thank you for continuing to support our business, and happy holidays!
Welcome Derek Becker, L.Ac
We're thrilled to introduce the newest member of our team: Derek Becker, Licensed Acupuncturist. Appointments with Derek can be booked on Monday and Thursday evenings starting June 7.
Derek is a compassionate collaborator who partners with people to creatively overcome physical and emotional challenges. Derek’s patients often find themselves moving, breathing into and releasing pain. This practice, along with brief guided meditations, Qi Gong instruction, and prescribing herbal formulas, reinforces the collaborative nature of healing and allows a patient to experience the benefits and importance of actively participating in their own healing.
Celebrating AAPI Month
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and our Acupuncturists and bodyworkers have had the tremendous privilege of learning valuable medicines and practices indigenous to East Asia.
Racism against Asian Americans is still rampant in this country, made evident by the mass murder of people of Asian descent in Atlanta and the racist rhetoric and rise in violent acts against Asian Americans due to the coronavirus. It is especially important that those of us who profit from Asian culture and traditions speak out against such atrocities and serve as advocates of and give back to the AAPI community.
Today is Five Point's 7th birthday, so we're donating $700 to the Chinese Mutual Aid Association. CMAA serves Chicago's low income immigrant and refugee community through social services, advocacy, educational programming and assistance for youth, adults, the elderly and small businesses. We encourage you to check them out and consider donating.
We thank our beautifully diverse and generous community for supporting our clinic and East Asian Medicine for the last seven years.
Herbal Support for Vulnerable Communities Affected by Covid-19
Structural violence and systemic racism manifest as inequalities in both the burden of disease and level of suffering experienced by disenfranchised communities.
In response, herbalist Liz Appel has organized a team of colleagues, including Five Point's Celeste Levitz-Jones, to offer low to no cost herbal telemedicine care prioritizing working class and low income folks of color disproportionately affected by the current pandemic in and around Chicago.
Your donation would support our capacity to impact marginalized communities, mitigate symptoms of illness, and promote and uplift healing and well-being. Thank you for being part of the work of restorative ecology and holistic community healing!
Welcoming the Year of the Metal Ox
"In early agricultural communities, people often went for days without eating and feared starvation. To aid suffering humans, the gods and goddesses removed Ox from heaven, where she was a star, and sent her to earth. The divine ones instructed Ox to tell people that with her help they would avoid starvation and would eat every three days.
But Ox misunderstood, and told humanity that they would eat three times a day! Ox had to make her words true, so that is why Ox labors for humans and endures many burdens without complaint. Therefore, the year of the Ox is time for honesty, hard work, duty, and discipline. Like Ox plowing the field, success is attained through diligent work and conscientious effort." -Susan Levitt
"The Farmer stares out across the fallow field and sees mud and downed branches from the storms of winter, knowing that first he must clean up the field and then wait patiently until the land is ready. When it is time, the Farmer puts the yoke on the Ox and slowly plows the field. Then the Farmer plants the seeds and waits for them to grow. Eventually the Farmer brings in a good crop, maybe two if luck is with him. This is the story of this Ox Year. (2)" -Lillian Bridges
Co-owner Celeste was born in the year of the Ox, so we can expect energy like hers: calm, steady, reliable, hard working, and sacrificing. This year, establish routines and rituals, plant seeds, serve your community, be patient, and know your efforts will pay off in the long run.