Questions, answered plainly.

About fifteen minutes to check fit, on both sides. You'll tell us what brings you in. You'll hear how treatment works here and what it costs, so you can decide knowingly. It's not a sales pitch. If this isn't the right place for you, we'll say so and suggest where to go instead.

A first visit is $240: an hour, your assessment and your first treatment. Follow-ups are $130, booked for 30 minutes. Your practitioner is with you for the entire treatment. A complete course of care comes to about $2,500 to $2,700 at these prices. Herbs, when they're part of your care, are $15 a day plus tax, made at the strength the classical texts call for and given five to six days at a time. The first step is a free consult. We don't sell treatment packages.

We don't bill insurance. HSA and FSA cards are accepted, and if your plan covers acupuncture, we'll give you a superbill to file with your claim.

Most of the needling rests on the skin rather than entering it. The tools for that are among the nine needles described in the Lingshu, the oldest surviving acupuncture text. Dr. Bear, David's teacher, taught him the classical techniques for working with them. We stay in the room with you, and the time on the table is yours.

Loose clothes you can move in. Most people change into a gown here. Some prefer not to, and that is fine too. Whatever we are not working on stays covered.

Treatment here starts weekly. The gap between visits widens a step at a time. Each time, we watch how your body recovers on its own before we widen it again. Your plan is set by how you respond. When once a week isn't enough, the second treatment that week is often a shorter one.

It starts with weekly visits. At some point, we skip a week on purpose. No treatment, no herbs. We affectionately call it a test pause. After it, the visits spread out as your body does more of the recovering on its own. The goal is graduation.

There's no fixed number. Graduation isn't a date. It comes when the goals we set together are met, and you've come back on your own from being knocked off course enough times to trust it. Length of care varies from person to person. Your practitioner will map out the expected phases of your care at your initial visit and review progress with you as you go.

The relationship changes. At graduation we ask you to fire us as your practitioner and hire us as someone who works with you, not on you. From then on, you decide when to come in. Some people come at the turn of a season. David was taught to treat with the seasons, because the body has its own work to do when they change. Others come when something comes up, or because they find it worth their while. There is no maintenance schedule. Coming back doesn't undo anything.

We'll tell you, and we'll change the plan. We refer out when it's right for you, and accept nothing for it.