Our origin stories
Share the experience of working with an acupuncturist that inspired you to train.
Guidance for acupuncturists and student acupuncturists on how to share your story.
Three steps
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Reflect on the five questions
They’re further down this page. Speak to them in order, as you’d tell a friend.
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Record it on your phone
Speak as you would to one person, and stop when you’ve said what matters. Short and heartfelt works beautifully. Audio or a written story work too.
Wear what you’d wear in clinic and choose a calm, tidy spot with good light. More on sharing responsibly.
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Send it to us
Choose whichever route is easiest for you. Stories sent before 16 November can be shared during the public week, 16–23 November, and we keep sharing stories after that too.
Use the story form
- Open the form. It asks you to sign in with Google before you can upload. If you use Gmail or YouTube, you already have an account.
- Choose your account, answer the questions and upload your file.
- Your Google name and email are recorded with your story but are never published.
Send it with a free transfer service
- Go to SwissTransfer (no account needed). Smash or MailBigFile work too.
- Add your video or audio file.
- Choose to send it by email and enter [email protected] as the recipient, with your name and country in the message.
- We’ll reply with a short form to confirm your details before anything is published.
Before you begin
Thank you for being willing to share your story. By doing so, you are helping someone else recognise they’re not alone, putting a real, human face on our profession, and adding your voice to a growing community of confident advocates.
We want to hear your story, in your own words.
Imagine you are talking to one person who is where you once were.
You are not presenting, teaching or trying to explain acupuncture. You are simply sharing something that was important in your own life.
There’s no need to sound polished or professional. Being over-polished can feel less authentic. Speak naturally and honestly, as you would in a conversation, and don’t worry about getting every word right.
Share it your way
No professional equipment or media experience is needed. A phone is enough.
If you’re recording
- Find a quiet spot and face a window or lamp so your face is well lit.
- Prop your phone at eye level, close enough that we can hear you clearly.
- Do a short test, play it back, then record. One take is fine.
- Don’t read from a script. A few notes on the five questions is plenty.
Who can take part
Acupuncturists and student acupuncturists anywhere in the world, aged 18 or over, whose own experience as a patient inspired them to train.
When you share your story
Reflect on these five questions. Together they capture the whole of our experience as patients. You can answer them directly or simply speak to them, but do try to follow this order: it makes your story easier to follow.
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What was life like for you before you worked with an acupuncturist?
- Think about how you were actually feeling and what life was like at the time.
- What were you struggling with? What had become difficult, frustrating or overwhelming?
- People want to hear your human experience, not a detailed medical history.
Why we ask this: This is where people recognise themselves in your story. That recognition is what makes them want to hear more.
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Why did you choose to work with an acupuncturist?
- What made you take that step? What were you hoping might change?
- Talk about your experiences, choices and motivation, rather than explaining acupuncture.
Why we ask this: This shows that reaching out was an active choice you made, not something done to you. It models the step we hope others might take too: “perhaps this is a choice I could make as well.”
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What was it about your experience with your acupuncturist that made a difference to you?
- Think beyond acupuncture as a treatment. What did your acupuncturist bring through their knowledge, skill, attention, empathy or understanding?
- What did it feel like to be in that relationship?
- Tell us about the person and the relationship, not acupuncture itself.
Why we ask this: This helps people understand how positive the relationship with an acupuncturist can be for them.
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What changed for you?
- What became possible that hadn’t felt possible before? How did life feel different?
- Describe the change in your own words. Don’t worry about saying what acupuncture is supposed to do. Tell us what you personally experienced.
- Tell us about the person and the relationship, not acupuncture itself.
Why we ask this: This is the heart of your story. The hope and possibility in a story of change is what lets people feel the same could be possible for them.
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Why did that experience inspire you to become an acupuncturist?
- What was it about your experience that made you want to devote years of your life to learning this medicine and helping others?
- This is your chance to connect your personal experience with the professional journey you chose afterwards.
Why we ask this: This is what makes an origin story more compelling than an ordinary review: you’re speaking to the depth of your experience and how it inspired you.
Be yourself: express, don’t impress
You don’t need to make your story sound impressive.
There are two ways to tell a story: to express it, or to try to impress with it. Impressing means worrying about sounding polished, convincing or professional.
Expressing simply means being open about what happened and how it felt.
Expressing is always engaging. Trying to impress never is.
You don’t need to explain or promote acupuncture.
Your story shows what can happen when someone works with an acupuncturist, and that speaks for itself. Tell us what it was like for you, and what changed.
Acupuncture is an effective treatment that…
Acupuncture can be used for…
I was struggling with… I decided to see an acupuncturist because… and what happened for me was…
Your story is not a presentation about acupuncture. It is your story about being a person who needed help, choosing to work with an acupuncturist, and discovering what that experience made possible for you.
Your privacy and how your story is used
- You can stay anonymous: we won’t use your name. If you’d rather not be recognised, a written story works beautifully. We need an email address, but it is never made public.
- Your full name is only published if you say so. You can give your social media or LinkedIn name instead.
- Every story is reviewed before it is published. It may be shortened or adapted for different formats, but its meaning is always kept.
- You keep ownership of your story and can withdraw your consent at any time.
- Please don’t include other people’s personal details.
Every acupuncturist has a story. What’s yours?
- Any language
- You can stay anonymous
- Your email is never published