Joep van Leeuwen

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

From a young age, I came into contact with acupuncture. My father is also an acupuncturist. But I have to say that it actually felt distant to me because of that. Let's call it resistance. During the physiotherapy course I took in Amsterdam, you could choose a module on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Since I realized during the course that I wanted to do more for the patient, it seemed good to delve deeper into this. Joost Zalm taught this module, and anyone who knows Joost knows that this man can inspire you. So, after ten weeks, I was convinced and immediately started studying acupuncture after completing my physiotherapy course.

Joep van Leeuwen:

NVA member from May 2009 to 2018

Interview: November 2014

What is your most beautiful experience with a patient?

The most beautiful experience I had was with a nineteen-year-old boy. He lived alone with his mother and was completely exhausted after a severe mental trauma - someone under his supervision almost drowned in the pool. He was no longer able to pick up his life. After three treatments, he was much better, and after two more treatments, he wanted to try it alone again. About two months later, I received an email that he had started studying, just got his driver's license, and felt happy. Need I say more?

What are you still amazed by in your profession?

I continue to be amazed by the fact that sometimes you can mean so much to a person and sometimes so little. The example as mentioned above is beautiful and also something to be amazed by. But I am just as amazed by a patient whom you try everything with and yet does not get better. You then refer him or her and suddenly the complaints improve. Because of this, I believe more and more that as a patient and therapist, you also have to match each other. That this combination also has to be in balance.

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

It's not so much something in my practice but something in my life. And that is my first EP that has just been released. Besides being an acupuncturist, I am also a singer/songwriter and musician. And why does that embody the essence of TCM? Because making music is what I love doing the most, and no matter how tired or stressed I am, I always feel calm and relaxed when I make music. It brings balance back into my life. That's why that EP is the symbol of the essence of TCM for me. Balance!

Joep van Leeuwen: is in 2018 become a full-time musician!