Healing Together: NESA Brings Community Acupuncture to the Boston Campus

Dean Dennis Moseman highlights the restorative power of community acupuncture.

This fall, the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) will open a new treatment center on the University’s Boston campus—and it's doing so with a distinctly modern take on an ancient tradition: community-style acupuncture. 

Community-style acupuncture offers affordable, effective care delivered in a group setting. Patients are treated in zero-gravity reclining chairs, fully clothed, in a tranquil, shared room—receiving acupuncture simultaneously, often on the arms, legs, head, and ears. The experience is quiet, supportive, and designed to maximize relaxation and healing. Inspired by traditional practices across East Asia, this model lowers cost while increasing access, allowing for consistent, frequent treatments that support long-term wellness. 

“It’s an efficient and patient-friendly way to deliver care,” said Dennis Moseman, dean of NESA. “And in a group setting, people often experience an added layer of healing. There's a quiet connection that builds—patients relax, breathe together, and begin to heal together.” 

This model isn’t new to NESA. The school has successfully implemented community-style acupuncture through its partnership with Veterans Inc., where veterans are treated side-by-side in a shared space, and with Cambridge Health Alliance, where patients participate in group medical education prior to receiving acupuncture together. The results have been striking, Moseman said. 

“For veterans, that group setting is familiar—it mirrors the camaraderie they felt in the field,” Moseman said. “When you treat them in a shared room, it brings back that sense of community and mutual support, which can be incredibly therapeutic.” 

With the Boston campus center, NESA is expanding that experience to the broader MCPHS Community. The new 3,000-square-foot location in the White Building will serve as both a treatment space for patients and a clinical training site for students. It offers students hands-on experience in a setting that reflects one of the fastest-growing practice models in the field today. 

“There are many paths our students can take after graduation,” Moseman said. “Some will open private practices; others will work in integrative healthcare or hospital settings. Community acupuncture is one more model they might choose—and we want to prepare them for it.” 

For NESA, the decision to spotlight community-style acupuncture during its 50th anniversary year is no coincidence. “It’s patient-centered, it’s inclusive, and it honors both the roots and the evolution of acupuncture as a healing art. This is who we are—and where we’re going,” Moseman said.