Inspiring Conversations with Emma Hosford of Emma Hosford Acupuncture

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Hosford.

Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my journey with acupuncture and East Asian medicine as a patient. When I was 19, I became very ill with a mysterious illness that stumped all the doctors I came in contact with. I was one of the thousands of patients who get lost in the western medicine industrial complex. I was lucky enough to come from a background that had great curiosity and interest in natural medicine, and I tried many modalities over many years. When I found my way to acupuncture and Chinese herbs, I was deeply captivated by both the improvement in my health, but also the theory behind the medicine. East Asian medicine is more than just a series of acupuncture points and a list of herbal remedies, but rather it stems from a theory of how the whole world and cosmos work. I got my masters degree in Chinese Medicine in Oakland, California. While there, I came into contact with healers who I found incredibly inspirational, both as people, but also because of the amazing results they achieved with their patients.
In 2022, I moved back to Michigan and started a practice located on a small farm, the property I grew up on. East Asian medical theory always comes back to theories about how nature works. I find being closer to nature to be both beneficial for me, as the practitioner, but also for my patients. Getting away from some of the hustle and bustle of life and coming out to the farm only deepens the relaxation inherent in the treatments.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a smooth road in the sense that I’ve always held onto the conviction that working with this medicine is what I’m meant to do with my life. This makes the ups and downs easier to weather, but of course there have been bumps on the road. Bodies and medicine are both incredibly complex and I am always learning and growing as a healer. Creating a business from the ground up will always come with trials, errors, and uncertainty, which requires a lot of creative problem solving. Sometimes this is fun, and sometimes it feels challenging.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I believe the best health care is specialized and personalized. I take up to 2 hours in the first appointment talking to patients about their health. I want to know the details because it is often the small details that lead to a correct diagnosis and treatment. Acupuncture works by supporting the body’s own innate capacity to heal. It is not about suppressing symptoms, but rather about supporting the body, which has amazing self-healing capabilities when in alignment. There are many lineages within the history of acupuncture. I primarily practice a type of Korean acupuncture called Sa’am. This is a lineage passed down by the wandering monks in Korea. These monks had the goal of relieving as much suffering as possible, a goal I hold in mind for my own clinic.
Herbal medicine is also an important part of my practice. I recommend herbs for most long term and chronic conditions. I work with an herbal company whose goal is to preserve traditional ways of growing, harvesting, and processing herbs. Herbal medicine helps heal the native terrain of the body, and thus takes time and patience, but can have amazing long term results.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think one of the qualities that helps me achieve success in clinic is the ability to listen deeply. The Chinese word for listening, 聽 (pronounced ting), contains within it the radical for heart, and can be translated as “listening with your heart.” More than just listening with my ears, when a patient comes into my practice I try to listen with my whole self. This includes feeling the pulse, a diagnostic technique in East Asian Medicine, which is a way of listening to a person via touch. I’m also always listening to my own intuition about what a patient needs.
All these same things apply to the business side of the practice, which requires listening to what’s working and what isn’t working.

Pricing:

• Initial Appointment $175
• Follow-up Appointments $85
• Sliding scale available upon request

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.emmahosfordacupuncture.com