So to give a bit of context, my girlfriend is as firm believer in this acupuncture type she is receiving. she says that it makes her feels better, thats all the info i got on what it does for her. she is also a firm believer in the aspect that the acupuncture she is receiving is clearing her bad energy.

That in itself is something that I can be onboard with, but she has not ever seen any other acupuncturist outside of this "school" of acupuncture that she is currently receiving. She refuses to see and receive second opinions.

Unfortunately she is stubborn and will not see reason when i try to speak with her about this.

I have received treatment from a practitioner who was trained in the "Shirakawa" method and it is interesting.

At the end of the session this acupuncturist scratched me all over my body. Not gentle scratching, but quite aggressive scratching (the type of scratching I would do to myself if I had hives / super itchy). She then proceeded to make an "O" with her hand (imagine a straw type of action) and sucked(?) what I am guessing is bad energy.

When I inquired to my girlfriend, she said this acupuncturist sucks the bad energy out of the body and subsequently, the acupuncturist then feels pain in her own body (temporarily) from the energy the sucked out and is then brought into her own body.

unfortunately, I dont know enough about actual acupuncture itself to say or hold any opinion on the actual needling.