In Bend alone, dozens of clinics offer acupuncture — most, if not all of them using the traditional practitioner-and-patient-in-an-isolated-room approach. The exception is group-based Bend Community Healing, where the primary goals are “to provide access to affordable acupuncture on a sliding-scale fee basis, and to build community by creating a welcoming space where people come together to heal.”
Founded in Portland in 2002, the community acupuncture movement has become increasingly popular in the U.S., especially in urban and suburban areas, and its growth is concurrent with an increase in acupuncture use that has more than doubled over the last two decades from 1 percent in 2002 to 2.2 percent in recent national health surveys — representing more than 7.3 million Americans.
Mechanics of Group Acupuncture
While acupuncture, which originated in China at least 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, is typically associated with one-on-one sessions since spreading to the rest of the globe, the founder of Bend Community Healing, Mark Montgomery (who has been an acupuncturist for 30+ years), believes that “coming together with others in a group setting creates a powerful field that promotes the healing process for everyone there.”
Treatments are delivered to as many as six people at the same time in a shared, open room, with fully clothed patients lying back in comfortable reclining chairs while Montgomery places tiny needles on their outer limbs and head. White noise and soft music play in the background, no one talks, and everyone’s eyes are closed; the environment is quiet, soothing, and supportive. And because the treatment room is shared, the cost per patient is significantly more affordable, which encourages patients to come back more often to facilitate healing.
The Path to Community Healing
Inspired at a young age to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, a general practitioner akin to the family doctor of old who made house calls and for whom “it was all about relationships, and treating people from the heart,” Montgomery explored various options in the medical field such as osteopathy and chiropractic. He chose acupuncture after experiencing its powerful effects when persistent pain in his left hip switched off immediately after the insertion of a single needle by an acupuncturist in Philadelphia — and never returned.
After providing traditional acupuncture for 6+ years in the 1990s, Montgomery grew increasingly dissatisfied. As he explained, “In line with other practitioners, I was charging $75 per session when most of my patients were working people who couldn’t afford to come in as often as needed to produce results.”
After researching community healing as an alternative, Montgomery became an early adopter (there are now more than an estimated 200 clinics nationwide), finding that “Although people are sometimes a little apprehensive at first to be in a group setting, they often leave the treatment amazed at the depth of their relief and relaxation. I often think of what American psychiatrist and best-selling author Scott Peck said, ‘Community is stronger than (individual) willpower.’”
Customized Individual Treatments
Montgomery customizes his treatment for each client in the room, helping them “open their nervous system to allow energy to move through the body slowly and gently to clear blockages.”
For many patients, this involves “dropping into a profoundly peaceful, meditative — sometimes even altered — state of consciousness, where anxiety, stress, depression, even PTSD, begin to dissolve,” he said. “By allowing themselves to relax and be open to the power of the needles, trauma that patients may not even be aware of can come to the surface. This may be overwhelming at first, but it’s a normal part of the nervous system discharging stored stress and beginning to heal.”
Montgomery estimated that in a given week, he provides 50 — 100 sessions at Bend Community Healing — or between 2,500 — 5,200 per year. Yet, he claimed, tuning in and paying attention to his clients “is energizing, not draining,” as you might expect.
“You Need to Be Open”
Asked if some conditions are harder or easier to treat than others, he explained that “as a general principal, the longer a condition has been in place, the longer it takes to dislodge the condition and restore nervous system balance.”
“The greatest frustration in my practice,” Montgomery said, “is that while people may expect ‘miracles’ of the type I experienced, more typically the cumulative effect of the body’s healing response takes time. It’s a matter of momentum as each session brings more relief and lasts longer — like a course of antibiotics.”
Montgomery emphasized that “You don’t need to believe in acupuncture, but you do need to be open to allow treatments to work.
Costs for Acupuncture — Traditional Sessions Versus Bend Community Healing
Acupuncture costs in Bend for traditional one-on-one sessions range from $90 to $185 for initial intake sessions, and $75 to $150 for standard follow-up visits. Bend Community Healing offers reduced sliding scales from $35 to $65 for the first intake session, and $20 to $50 for subsequent visits. (“You decide what you can afford to pay,” said Montgomery. “No questions asked.”)
