Bringing new clinics and Medicare coverage, Crossroads Acupuncture Moves back downtown
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Ryan Bemis, 575-312-6569, ryanbemis@barefootacupuncturemovement.comFeaturing a new Medicare program, Crossroads Acupuncture has moved back to Downtown Las Cruces across from the plaza. The 501c3 nonprofit organization also has new programs within the jail system, migrant shelters in Juarez, Mexico as well as the new La Vida Project of Families and Youth Innovations, also in downtown Las Cruces.
“Through our partnership with Southwest Counseling, our Medicare patients will be able to receive care for low back pain,” says Executive Director and Doctor of Oriental Medicine Ryan Bemis, who offers cupping, acupuncture, and Chinese Herbs for a variety of health and pain problems including anxiety, infertility, allergies, long COVID, and digestive problems. The new location will be based out of Southwest Counseling/ Border Area Mental Health at 100 W Griggs, right next to Little Toad Brewery.
For people who can’t afford care or do not have insurance that covers acupuncture, Crossroads has trained over 500 community health workers in an ear acupuncture technique called acudetox.
Rachael Warner interning at a migrant shelter in Juarez…
“Seeing them was super humble: To be a part of giving something to them to ease and calm and make them feel a part of something.”
Crossroads’ teams can set up a group anywhere where people can sit. Through an extensive network of volunteers, the organization partners with programs like refugee and recovery programs the Mescalero Apache community in Lincoln County, local schools, and refugee care through the Juarez Catholic Charities and City Mental Health Department.
Many Crossroads students intern at migrant shelters on the border, like Rachael Warner of Amador Health Center, a homeless healthcare program located at the Community of Hope Campus.
“It brought me to my knees. It was probably one of the best experiences of mine in years.” says Warner. An estimated 1300 homeless migrants arrive at the border on a daily basis, and Crossroads’ global teams through the Barefoot Acupuncture Movement have been working with refugees since 2017. “Seeing them was super humble: To be a part of giving something to them to ease and calm and make them feel a part of something.”
Offered alongside behavioral therapy, “Acudetox is a great addition to our treatment plan options,” says Karen Little, a licensed counselor at Amador’s Recovery Program, who uses this skill as “a non-verbal treatment that complements my counseling approach. They’re really telling me they’re calmer. They’re able to handle things without flying off the handle. I hear so many saying they are sleeping better.”
“I develop a serene attitude and am less aggressive and angry,” writes one anonymous client of Amador after receiving the acudetox treatment.
Amador’s Wednesday Community Acupuncture Day at 10am is a free service to the public available on a walk-in basis without an appointment. The sessions last 30-45 minutes and are very relaxing while at the same time provide a quick and easy treatment to slide into a hectic schedule.
“I develop a serene attitude and am less aggressive and angry.”
“The therapeutic benefits commonly mentioned by recipients of acudetox are that it is very relaxing and calming, helping with stress, anxiety, and cravings or urges related to substance use,” remarks Ray Stewart, Director of Amador Recovery, located at 999 W. Amador. “In our comprehensive menu of available services, including medication, case management and counseling, auricular detoxification (“acudetox”) is an important adjunctive therapy where needles, seeds, or magnetic beads are applied to 3-5 points on the surface of the ears.”
“Community residents really benefit from collaboration such as this one between Crossroads and Amador. Together we can accomplish much more for community health improvement and more specifically for persons in recovery.”
Crossroads prepares students like Warner at Amador to become a Licensed Auricular Detoxification Specialist through the state of New Mexico Acupuncture board.
“The course itself was easy to follow along and self-paced to follow,” says Warner. “We learned a gentle needling technique and received guidance from Crossroads on how to treat communities successfully,”
The move arrives on the heels of Crossroads celebrating its 10th year making acupuncture affordable to people of all income levels. The clinic has been located within Families and Youth Innovations at 1320 S. Solano since 2016, and originally opened off Main Street in 2012 where Downtown Blues Coffee is currently located.
“Creating safe space for people to find peace and wellbeing in the heart of their community is what we are all about.”
Ryan Bemis, who offers acupuncture out of Border Area Health 100 W Griggs, downtown Las Cruces
“We are so excited to be back downtown and part of the urban renewal in Las Cruces,” says Bemis, who co-founded Crossroads in order to make acupuncture a preferential option for the poor. “Creating safe space for people to find peace and wellbeing in the heart of their community is what we are all about. We see how it helps prisoners and migrants, and we hope to expand it again back downtown this year. We want to offer free group acupuncture on the plaza. We can bring acupuncture to your community project, and help you create an integrative medicine program. We have also piloted meditation training at a jail and hope to expand these types of services for the next decade.”
To schedule an appointment at Crossroads’ full body acupuncture clinic downtown, or ask Crosssroads to check your insurance benefits, you can book online: crossroadsacupuncture.com or call 575-312-6569
To learn about acudetox and how to get support from Crossroads in helping your program create an integrative healthcare project, head to: https://www.crossroadsacupuncture.com/earacuborderlands
To take a free Youtube Online Masters Class in offering acupuncture for refugees, head to Crossroads global causes: https://www.barefootacupuncturemovement.com/
To receive acudetox, harm reduction or other recovery services, contact the Amador Recovery Helpline at 575.323.2266
https://amadorhealth.org/recovery-services/.
