I have just returned from a workshop on Community Acupuncture put on by a group called “Working Class Acupuncture” in Portland, Oregon.
I have been toying with the idea of low-cost group treatments for some time now, and this workshop has convinced me that Community Acupuncture is the way to go. In August I will start offering group treatments at the Two Rivers Clinic in Thetford Center, Vermont for a sliding scale of $15-40 per treatment (you decide where you fit on the scale). For an appointment, call 802-785-2503, or email me through the contact page.
If we look at the Sustainable Medicine Manifesto, Community Acupuncture is a good example of sustainable medicine in many ways:
1. It is financially affordable, for both clients and practitioners, making acupuncture available to all who need it, rather than limiting it to those who can afford it.
2. It is non-toxic, to clients and to the earth, creating less waste per treatment than a single can of soda.
3. It is slow medicine—clients are allowed to relax and stay for as long as they like.
4. It builds and restores community connections by encouraging people to relax in a meditative environment with their neighbors.
5. It is pattern-based and proactive—treating the underlying cause of the illness based on whole body diagnosis.
6. The only thing sterile about Community Acupuncture are the needles. Community Acupuncture creates a healthy fertile environment in which people can grow and change.
Didi Pershouse, founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine, is featured in this month’s (March/April 2008) issue of Upper Valley Life Magazine. The article (written by Elizabeth Ferry) discusses her practice as a homeopath and acupuncturist at the Two Rivers Clinic in Thetford Center, Vermont, as well as her ideas on Sustainable Medicine. Phoebe, the medical dog at Two Rivers Clinic, is featured in the photograph that accompanies the article.
A Local Herb Walk with Peggy Fogg
Sunday, May 18th, 2- 4 PM, beginner/intermediate level.
By Donation.
Get to know your local community: Your plant community that is!
Peggy Fogg, who works at the Two Rivers Clinic was the first person who taught me how to really look at, smell, taste, explore, and even listen to plants, and I am very excited that she has agreed to take us on a two-hour adventure. We will be walking in the Union Village Dam area behind the clinic, which has gorgeous trails and a wide variety of plants. During our walk, we will focus on learning to identify at least ten local wild plants used as traditional everyday food and medicine, (particularly those that would be beneficial for the people in the group) and we will speak of many more that we find along the way. Traditional ways of working with, and learning from, the plants will also be taught. All questions are welcome, as are cameras to help you remember. Peggy will bring some sample dishes and teas made of the plants we will learn. Bring a cup for tea tasting. Class size limited to 8 for best experience. To sign up contact Didi Pershouse at The Center for Sustainable Medicine or call 802-785-2503.
I will be giving a reading from my latest manuscript at the Chelsea Public Library on January 10th, at 7 PM. The upcoming book is about my work in homeopathy–which connects patients’ language and gestures with the medicines they need. It is also about my family’s history in radical medicine. My grandfather and great grandfather were both pioneers: one in radiation therapy (working with Marie Curie) and the other in Neurosurgery—discovering the seat of memory by removing part of an epileptic’s brain. I found myself inspired by and also reacting against this legacy—and thus became a pioneer in alternative medicine myself.
There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions.
Hope to see you there.