Thirty years ago as a student at Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I first saw this connection when I treated a fifty year-old female patient whose main complaint was acute shoulder pain. I questioned her about the nature of her pain; sharp or dull, constant or intermittent and radiating or fixed. I was new to clinic and so I was hesitant to ask many questions of a more personal nature. As I placed the fine needles along the appropriate acupuncture meridians…she immediately burst into tears! I asked her why she was crying and she responded that her needles were comfortable, but she had no idea where her feelings of sadness had come from. My clinic supervisor, Dr Hao, guided me in asking my patient additional questions. We discovered that her son had left for college a couple of months prior and she was missing him very much. He was understandably excited to be in his new environment and had neglected to stay in touch with his mother, a single parent. Her shoulder pain had begun within a couple of weeks of his moving to a different state. I proceeded to add points to effectively treat grief, “letting go”, and relationship boundaries in addition to the needles I had already inserted earlier for pain.

The following week my patient returned pain-free and smiling! I asked her about her son and she responded that she had called him following her treatment and asked that he consider being in closer communication with her. He had readily agreed and they had arranged to talk a couple of times a week, and for him to return home for Thanksgiving. This experience early in my acupuncture career was the first of many situations where I clearly saw how our emotions and physical well-being can be intricately connected.