After reading so many reviews about how sweet, warm, and assuring Mint acupuncture staff was, my partner decided it was a great place for me to have my first experience with acupuncture. I have a lot of trauma from having to spend a lot of time in medical offices and hospitals, and the incoming paperwork was extremely thorough. I've never seen anything like it. I thought it might be a good sign. It usually is good for healthcare professionals to be thorough. But it was a grueling process for me due to PTSD, so I hoped that the staff could work with me. Usually, healthcare professionals will ask for release forms so that they can access necessary information...or, at the very least, they're usually able to point to the most needed parts of the intake forms.
So we got to the office about 15 minutes early. I explained to the doctor that I have a lot of trauma around medical stuff, and that, as a result, the very thorough intake forms were difficult to fill out. She actually seemed annoyed. In retrospect, I think she might not have even believed me. After suggesting that I fill the form out while my partner was having their appointment, she asked me "is it just that it's a lot?" I said "yes," but I thought she was taking into consideration what I had just said about trauma. Based on how curt she continued to act, I can only assume that she thought I was just trying to get out of the tediousness of the forms. At some point, my partner suggested that I just come in another time after pacing myself through the intake forms. My partner was going to still have their appointment, but asked if, considering my difficulties, the cancellation fee for my appointment could be waived. The doctor said something along the lines of I needed to pay for wasting her time. But any doctor should know that PTSD is not a waste of time. Or maybe she just usually doesn't care about people's traumas. Or, based on the other reviews I've seen, maybe she's only caring and considerate with specific people. Whatever her problem was, there was no warmth there. And now she was rushing my partner to go into a room without me so that she could stick needles into them. I was nervous for both of us at that point. With the lack of compassion and the rushing us when we were 15 minutes early, it seemed she'd probably be neglectful toward us during the acupuncture treatment.
I put my hand on my partner's shoulder and they looked at me and could tell that I was extremely uncomfortable. So my partner offered to pay the late fees for both of us. The doctor made some joke about my partner being able to read my mind--because evidently this whole exchange was just a joke to her--but I think that if anybody else had been there for that conversation, it would be obvious that I was uncomfortable and why. No mind reading necessary.
Reading all of these reviews about her warmth is ironic after that experience. I'm pretty sure the high was around 50° that day, which can be chilly for us Californians. Nevertheless, I felt much more warmth outside than I did coming from her. So we waited outside for our Lyft to come and pick us up.
Important note: my partner and I are both Black and visibly queer. My partner is visibly genderqueer. I'm pointing this out to help others with marginalized identities narrow down where they should go for acupuncture services. This is in no way an invitation for academic debates about my very real experiences. read more