Hans van Male

Why did you choose to become an acupuncturist? What or who inspired you?

After 22 years of physiotherapy, I was really in need of a new challenge. My practice in Almere was and is doing well, and I had more time for myself. Initially and with some skepticism, I started with this holistic and philosophical form of therapy. But after my acupuncture studies and the study of Dry Needling, I happily pricked away to treat various complaints. I was already a therapist, but acupuncture made my profession more complete. I was much better equipped to treat complex and even philosophical problems.

Hans van Male

NVA member since January 2010

Interview: October 2014

What is your most beautiful experience with a patient?

One patient still stands out in my mind. She came to me with pain complaints in her foot. The pain made it difficult for her to work and almost impossible to walk her dogs. After a pulse and tongue diagnosis, I could immediately tell her that she was exhausted. Her overweight (118 kilos), her years of caring for two daughters (both over 23 and one still living at home with a three-year-old child) and her husband leaning on her had worn her out. Besides her four-day job, she took care of breakfast, dinner, and housekeeping. Acupuncture worked well for her. She gained more peace and energy, lost weight, and found more stability in her life. Discussing her tendency to constantly care also had an effect. She started using her life energy differently. She lost 21 kilos, her daughter now makes dinner, and her husband prepares his own breakfast. She has the energy to go on long walks and enjoy life again!

What still amazes you in your profession?

The simplicity of the acupuncture profession. It remains remarkable that with this holistic form of therapy, you can approach people in a completely different way. Apparently, it is more easily accepted when you tell someone that they have too much inner heat and therefore should stop drinking energy drinks or coffee. The act of inserting needles to achieve calm and relaxation in the often restless bodies of patients is so simple yet so effective. That is my amazement.

Is there something in your practice that embodies the essence of Traditional Chinese Medicine for you?

It is a photo of a waterfall hanging in my room. This image of falling water being fully embraced by the pond is, for me, the essence of our life and the cosmos. We all start as a water droplet, only to be fully embraced in a pool of tranquility, and then brought back up as fine vapor, to be born again as a droplet.

Hans van Male: www.acurelease