Here at Bright Hope, we pride ourselves on being integrative and not traditional.   Throughout the years, we have explored many different techniques to help people rid themselves of anxiety.  I personally like to see this as an evolution of both myself and this practice.  With advanced training in Chinese medicine, I learned to use the acupuncture meridians to find and locate where the body stores unwanted stress and anxiety. Since my role here at Bright Hope is not that of a licensed acupuncturist,  I use both pain-free and side effect free lasers to stimulate acupuncture points to help restore emotional balance in order to help my patients lead an anxiety free life.  

The reason why I am a fan of this method is that it is even easier and faster than NET.   What is so cool about acupuncture, and the style that I practice is the body responds to anxiety and other emotions as tender spots on ether the lower arms or lower legs.   This tenderness either correlates to actual acupuncture points, or they are along the Meridian as something called ah shi points.  Once these points are located, the laser is placed on these areas, and the emotion is literally melted away.    I have never seen anything like this.   It is definitely something to be experienced.

So, if you ever were thinking about acupuncture,  consider our needle free alternative.


Till Next Time,

Justin

Here at Bright Hope Counseling, we only employ low level light class IIIa lasers.  In other words, a person can experience all the benefits of acupuncture without experiencing any pain or fear of needles.   There is absolutely no risk or negative side effects.   A traditional acupuncture appointment takes anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour depending on the type of treatment.  With our lasers, we can get the same amount of work done in under 15 minutes. 

The following is taking directly from the World Health Organization of what Acupuncture has been studied and able to treat:
1. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment:

• Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
• Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
• Biliary colic
• Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
• Dysentery, acute bacillary
• Dysmenorrhoea, primary
• Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
• Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
• Headache
• Hypertension, essential
• Hypotension, primary
• Induction of labour
• Knee pain
• Leukopenia
• Low back pain
• Malposition of fetus, correction of
• Morning sickness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Neck pain
• Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
• Periarthritis of shoulder
• Postoperative pain
• Renal colic
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sciatica
• Sprain
• Stroke
• Tennis elbow

2. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed: 

• Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
• Acne vulgaris
• Alcohol dependence and detoxification
• Bell’s palsy
• Bronchial asthma
• Cancer pain
• Cardiac neurosis
• Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
• Cholelithiasis
• Competition stress syndrome
• Craniocerebral injury, closed
• Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
• Earache
• Epidemic haemorrhagic fever
• Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)
• Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
• Female infertility
• Facial spasm
• Female urethral syndrome
• Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
• Gastrokinetic disturbance
• Gouty arthritis
• Hepatitis B virus carrier status
• Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)
• Hyperlipaemia
• Hypo-ovarianism
• Insomnia
• Labour pain

So if you or a loved one have been thinking about trying acupuncture, but have been hesitant because of the fear of needles,  come check us out.

Chinese and Eastern Medicine as mentioned before is at least 3,000 to 5,000 years old.   We have written documentation of what works, and what does not work going back at least 2,500 years. What we gather out of this documentation and through the countless practitioners is that there are 12 primary channels within the body and 12 extraordinary channels within  the body.  These can be imagined as very small rivers within the body that form a very complex flow of movement  of something called, Qi.  What is Qi one may ask?   Well, that answer is not easily explained.  Western medical science says it does not exist, but ask any Chinese medicine physician, or someone whose health condition seemingly vanished after having acupuncture if they believe Qi is real.    The easiest way to think of Qi is that it is the life energy that flows through the body. (If my Chinese medicine instructors ever read this, they would have my neck for calling Qi life energy).   This energy is able to be accessed in different ways. It can be accessed directly through both acupuncture and acupressure, and can be felt in the radial pulse of both wrists.   Now, if we circle back to the idea of the channels, we learn that each channel is named after the organ that it passes through in order to come together to form a complete circuit called the Jing Luo.    What this means is that there are different levels of influence each branch or channel does to both the channel and the body.   


 We have the liver channel, spleen channel, stomach channel, and so on.    Also, each channel manifests certain emotions when it is under duress.  For example, the liver channel contains anger and the lung channel contains  the emotions associated with grief.  This is where the Pulse Code,  and other energy psychologies come into play.    More on this later.


On top of the channels, there is another influence that is layered on top of it all.   This next influence is called the Wu Xing of the 5 phases or the 5 elements.  There are many branches of Chinese medicine, and what is going to be presented is part of one branch.   The easiest way to explain the 5 elements is to look at the observable world.   We have elements of the ground or Earth,  Water, Wood, Metal, and Fire.  Each element contains two channels called the Ying/Yang pairs.  Within these elements contain different emotions and patterns  of disharmony that exhibit when one phase or channel needs to be addressed.  These patterns of disharmony are what Chinese medicine physicians address when they use acupuncture or herbs.

Laser acupuncture is where modern technology meets ancient medical wisdom.  Laser acupuncture is a needle free approach to receiving all the benefits of traditional acupuncture, but without the fear of needles or any pain. Traditional acupuncture, when done correctly, causes little to no pain, but try telling that to someone who has an aversion to needles.  With laser acupuncture, on the other hand,  a painless low level light laser is placed on the acupuncture points and stimulated with either a red or blue light.  The effects are nearly instantaneous, and treatments can be completed in about 10 minutes.   With traditional acupuncture, the needles are inserted and left in the body for about 20 minutes before being removed.   

What can it help me?

Well...Acupuncture changed my life.   I speak a lot about the emotional effects of Neuro Emotional Technique, and since learning this NET, I started a journey to understand the science behind this method and how exactly it does what it does.  This rabbit hole sent me to acupuncture school where I learned about this whole system of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. What I learned is that the body creates an electrical bio-field, that when needles or in this case, lasers, are placed in specific locations, the body responds in a favorable way.   The results can at times be nothing short of miraculous.   I can go on and on about what I have seen accomplished with the use acupuncture.  Each person has a pattern of energy flow the Chinese have called, Qi.  Qi is the bio energetic field that flows and can be felt when a trained person feels the pulse along the thumb side of the wrist. This pattern that is felt tells the trained person the direction of the flow Qi.   The trained acupuncturist then knows where to place the needles, or lasers, to best benefit their patient.   So instead of seeing people who have anxiety, depression, diabetes, low back pain, etc,   I see patterns that need to be readjusted in order to bring the body back into balance in order for all those symptoms to fall away.  

My encouragement is that everyone give this system of medicine a try, and they too can have their own success story.


Till next time,


​Justin