What to expect at your appointment

The Kindred Currents clinic is located at 2724 Chippewa St. in the Dutchtown neighborhood of Saint Louis.

Initial acupuncture appointments are 120 minutes in duration. During our first meeting, we will talk about your life history and any symptoms for which you are seeking care. Pulse taking is one of the primary tools I used to check in with your body in a nonverbal way. During this visit, we will also do a thorough pulse intake together where I will take your pulse while taking notes for about 15-20 mins. I take this amount of time on our first visit to best set us up for successful and transformative work together. With holistic medicine, it is important for me to get to know your whole self, how you experience the world, and the patterns that may be contributing to your symptoms. We will end the session with an acupuncture treatment.

All follow-up acupuncture appointments are 50 minutes in duration. 

The use of acupuncture needles is not required during a session. There are many other modalities including teishin, cupping, bodywork, and moxabustion that I often weave into treatment.

Herbal medicine recommendations are included as a part of sessions. Herbs are provided at an additional cost.

Come wearing comfy clothes and make sure you have eaten a meal sometime during the last few hours before your acupuncture appointment.

Even more details about what to expect can be found here.

Why a Sliding Scale?

I am committed to providing acupuncture at a reasonable rate that is accessible to a range of income levels, that also allows me to sustain and grow a practice. I want you to receive acupuncture frequently enough to notice supportive changes. I am passionate about providing alternatives to our current healthcare system and want to be a part of shifting to a model that is accessible, holistic, and centers the impacts of living within our system of racialized capitalism. Everyone is guaranteed the same thorough and consistent care, regardless of what you pay.

Sliding Scale Pricing

My standard rate for an initial (new patient) acupuncture appointment is $180, and my standard rate for a follow-up acupuncture session is $90.

Everyone is welcome to use the sliding scale. Initial (new patient) acupuncture appointments are offered on a sliding scale of $80-200. All follow-up acupuncture appointments are offered on a sliding scale of $40-100. 

Note: I only have a certain number of spots available on the lower end of my sliding scale, $80-129 for initial acupuncture appointments and $40-64 for return acupuncture appointments. They are currently full at this time. I have current availability for initial appointments on a scale of $130-200 and return appointments on a scale of $65-100. Please let me know if you would like to be put on a waitlist for when lower spots on the scale open up. As always, reach out with any questions.

I will not ask any questions about your self-determined rate, and I trust your thoughtfulness and care as a part of our interdependent community. You are always welcome to pay more than your chosen rate. If you pay more on the scale, you are supporting others who come in lower on the scale and for my “Care for the Long Haul” appointments for community organizers.

If you’re still unsure of what to pay or want to learn more, I find this resource from the Catalyst Project about class and wealth accumulation very helpful. 

Care for the Long Haul Program

Care for the Long Haul is a program that will launch in Summer 2024 that offers appointments at or below sliding scale rates to people who are committed to longterm organizing and are making at or below working class pay. BIPOC and trans organizers will be prioritized for these spots, and all are welcome to apply. 

I define organizers as the people who are orchestrating the educational events, the actions, the campaigns, the community meetings, and the back room strategizing that build mass movements for collective liberation. At this time, I particularly want to make these spots available for people who are involved in the movements for abolition and-or Palestinian liberation. If this is you, I believe you will know who you are! Please reach out.

If you are a paid organizer, I would love to work with you too! Please fill out my new patient form.

If you have any questions about this program, feel free to reach out to me here. 

Forms of Payment

You may pay with cash or card. I also accept HSA and FSA.

COVID-19 Safety

For all patients’ well-being, the continuing impacts of COVID-19 and my commitment to disability justice, I continue to require that masks are worn in the clinic by everyone.

Please wear a surgical mask or a K95/KN95 mask. Two people wearing K95/KN95 masks offer the best protection. If you do not have one, I will be happy to give you one when you arrive.

If you have COVID-like symptoms, or you or someone in your home tests positive for the virus, please do not come into the clinic. I love to support people when they are sick. A strength of this medicine is providing acute care. If you are feeling under the weather and want to come in for care, please confirm a negative covid test and make sure to wear a K95/KN95 mask. If you are testing positive for covid or don’t know and are unable to test, we can turn your appointment into a video consultation if you’d like so I can support you in navigating the infection effectively with herbs, nutritional advice, or other support. If you have any questions at all about coming in, please contact me.

To assist with at home testing, you can order free covid tests here and pick up free at home covid tests at any of the St. Louis County library branches.

Late Cancellation Policy

I ask that you let me know if you will not be making your appointment at least 24 hours in advance.

As a practitioner, I commit to being here, ready and prepared for your appointment. I am often booked several weeks out and have wait lists for appointments. If I do not have sufficient notice of appointment cancellations, I often cannot fill the missed appointment slot.

As a courtesy to you, and to help patients remember their scheduled appointments, Kindred Currents scheduling system offers the option to send reminders of your appointments via text and/or email.

If your schedule changes and you cannot keep your appointment, please contact me so I may reschedule you and accommodate those patients who are waiting for an appointment. 

If you cancel, miss or re-schedule within 24 hours of your original appointment, regardless of the reason, you are asked to pay a cancellation fee. Your cancellation fee is half the price of what you pay for a follow-up visit. (i.e. If you regularly pay $90 / visit, your cancellation fee is $45.) Please make every effort to make your scheduled appointment time, or change your appointments prior to the 24-hour window so others can access your spot if you can't make it. I understand that life happens for all of us. For this reason, I am choosing to meet you in the middle, making the cancellation fee half of the cost of your appointment.

If you arrive 15 minutes or later for your scheduled appointment, I cannot guarantee that I can see you. If you communicate to me that you are running late, we may be able to have an abbreviated appointment. But if you are running more than 15 minutes late and I'm unable to see you, it will count as a missed appointment.