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• current courses
• tui na courses
• acupuncture courses
• for beginners
• for shiatsu practitioners
• for medical practitioners
• for sports therapists
• for physiotherapists
• dates, fees & bookings
• acupuncture styles
• micro systems
• thai massage courses
• indonesian courses
• anatomy & physiology
• Stay here to studyPleasant, self contained accommodation next door to the course
• Trip to ChinaNext trip spring 2010 - Study Acupuncture/Tui Na massage

Acupuncture Course

Maria Mercati's Acupuncture course will get you a Diploma and consists of 3 Modules. Total contact days - 46 (plus A&P) The combined cost of all three modules is £5,200 (A&P & exam fees extra)

Module 1 - Tui Na Foundation Diploma

14 days - Basic TCM theory is taught through the medium of Tui Na which is used in the practical context from the start. Our Tui Na course is very thorough and comprehensive giving enough TCM to apply an effective Tui Na in a therapeutic context (you learn both the location and function of 100 acupoints).

Module 1 is a great precurser to the acupuncture course because it not only gives confidence in touching and treating people before inserting needles, but gives students the opportunity to become familiar with the body and various health issues. Being able to accurately locate the acu-points, feeling and detecting pathological changes in the underlying tissues is vital before ever inserting a needle.

No student should ever insert a needle into a patient without this theoretical and clinical experience. After passing Acupuncture course Module 1 , you are in a position to start your new career and earn some money. This experience will set you up for Acupuncture course Module 2 and Module 3. Students who do not have any acceptable qualification in Anatomy & Physiology ( ITEC ) must do the Anatomy & Physiology course.

Module 2 - Tui Na Master Practitioner Diploma

20 days - ( you learn over 100 new techniques for treatment, tongue & pulse diagnosis as well as the syndromes). Module 1 & 2 provide a strong foundation of TCM needed for the Acupuncture

Module 3 - Acupuncture Diploma

22 days - If you are prepared to study more intensively you can do Modules 2 & 3 simultaneously.

Dates and fees for next acupuncture course
Book your acupuncture course place here

EXEMPTIONS: Medically qualified persons (doctors, physiotherapists, registered osteopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths, nurses, Western herbalists – members of NIMH ) can go straight to Module 3 - Acupuncture course.

A one day primer course will be necessary to learn basic knowledge on meridians, points and TCM essential for the Acupuncture module, cost £150. There will be a points location test based on this which must be passed.

Instead of doing a 2 day medical acupuncture course, choose Bodyharmonics Module 3 to learn the unique combinations of acupoints for effective treatments. Qualified Shiatsu practitioners can go straight to Module 3. Qualified Sports Therapists. With over 23 days training. Must do Module 1 – Tui Na foundation before Module 3 – Acupuncture

Bodyharmonics is liaising with the Department of Health regarding standards. There are present no statutory regulations.

According to our students, our courses can be described as qualitative rather than quantitative. They are like distance learning with intensive periods of contact. The intensity of contact study is much greater than that which would be the norm in a College of Higher Education.

All aspects of TCM are taught during the Modules 1,2,3. It is progressive. Our acupuncture course is founded on the application of theory to the practical situation which is always supervised. Students do lots of private study to achieve the standards required for safe and effective practice.

Acupuncture is a practical skill which needs lots of practical experience

"Our acupuncture course gives each student the opportunity to practice needling each acu-point, accurately, deeply and experience first hand the unique different effects and sensations."

Ultimately, the ability to use Tui Na with acupuncture greatly enhances the effectiveness of treatment for all conditions. Tui Na provides the ideal practical base on which to build Acupuncture. Students who possess Tui Na qualifications will have:

• a working understanding of TCM
• an ability to diagnose the body in health and disease
• an ability to use meridians and acupoints in a clinical context.

The combination of Acupuncture with Tui Na creates some of the most powerful medicine available in the world today.

"Our carefully controlled acupuncture point combinations are practised both in class and used for your out-of-class case studies. They help you build up mega confidence in treating all kinds of musculo-skeletal conditions as well as internal problems on a wide variety of people.

Dates and fees for next acupuncture course or Book your acupuncture course place here

By the time you take your exams, you are experienced enough to work as an acupuncturist. Most of the other schools do not give you this hands-on training and tend to teach basic TCM theory as an academic exercise since practical clinical experience only comes in much later in the acupuncture course. However long the course, understanding the complexities of TCM takes a lifetime of study."

If I do this acupuncture course, will it be recognised when regulation takes place?
Students who have gained a Bodyharmonics acupuncture diploma can have membership & insurance from UK Oriental Medicine (UKOM) which is a voluntary regulatory body with a rigid code of safe and effective practice.

Maria Mercati is currently representing UKOM at the Acupuncture Stake Holders Group meetings and at the Microsystems Acupuncture Regulatory Group. They are both planning and co-ordinating the future regulation of acupuncture in the UK.

At present there is no government legislation in the UK covering Acupuncture. It is unlikely to come into effect for some time. When it does, those who are qualified acupuncturists on UKOM will almost certainly be accepted.

Grandparenting
“The Department of Health (England) Working Group for the statutory regulation of acupuncture, are recommending that members of a voluntary regulatory body ( ie UK Oriental Medicine - UKOM) be automatically transferred to the statutory acupuncture register when it is established.”

What is the difference between Maria's acupuncture course and a 3 year BAac accredited course?

• BAac accredited courses are not accredited by government legislation but privately by BAac itself. They are three year courses, based on university term time tables and are highly academic and theoretical. Invariably a very small proportion of the total time allotted to these courses involves actual clinical practice treating patients and this usually takes place in the third year.
• The cost for these three year courses is about £15,000 - £20,000

Acupuncture Styles - Chinese, Western or Five Elements?

Before taking an acupuncture course it is important to be aware of the differences existing between these distinct acupuncture styles, philosophies and depth of needling at present used in this country (UK). Without such knowledge, you will be unable to make an enlightened choice when choosing training courses.

A very small proportion of the British population know that there are different styles of acupuncture. The assumption is that acupuncture is "acupuncture" from who ever you receive it or wherever you train.

This is misleading and unfortunately the terms 'acupuncture', 'traditional acupuncture', 'Five Element acupuncture' and 'Medical Acupuncture' are all used.

Traditional Acupuncture based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) could mean:

• the much more gentle and very shallow acupuncture commonly used by those trained in most of Britain's schools, or
• the type of more powerful acupuncture using deeper needling performed in present day China.

Five Element Acupuncture as well as 'Stems & Branches' acupuncture has been developed mainly in the West. It focuses on acupoints mainly located on the extremities of the arms & legs. Needle insertion is often very shallow & brief.

Integrated Acupuncture combines 'Five Element' with 'British style Traditional acupucture'

British Medical Acupuncture. The public should be made aware that doctors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, etc do a very short acupuncture training, mostly just 2- 5 days. They mainly perform acupuncture for pain relief relating to musculo-skeletal problems. They do not recognise Qi Energy or meridians and do not use Chinese diagnosis.

Microsystems Acupuncture is alternative to & complementary to traditional acupuncture. It comprises the following :

• Auricular acupuncture uses either needles, studs, seeds or metal balls on specific points which functionally and topographically represent the whole body.
• Korean Hand acupuncture “Sujok “ treats in the same way.
  Wrist and Ankle acupuncture based on 12 points which energetically links into all the body’s physiological systems
• Scalp acupuncture affects the motor, sensory and associative areas of the cerebral cortex.
• Master Tung’s acupuncture system where needles are inserted into specific areas which correspond to specific and quite different parts of the body
  
  The word acupuncture gives no clear description of the exact type of acupuncture being offered and is confusing for the public.

At the BODYHARMONICS centre, we teach practical Acupuncture exactly as practised in China today.

Many patients are paranoid about acupuncture needles however, and being able to offer Tui Na in addition to acupuncture gives you another set of options.

Acupuncture enables you to treat conditions that Tui Na alone would treat more slowly:

• all musculo-skeletal conditions & sports injuries
  • Repetitive strain injuries to muscles, tendons and joints
  • Osteo and rheumatoid arthritis
  • Spondylitis, tendinitis, bursitis
  • Knee conditions
  • Frozen shoulder
  • Epicondylitis
  • Back pain, sciatica
• acute and chronic internal conditions
  • Insomnia Headaches, migraines
  • Allergic rhinitus, hayfever
  • Earache, tinnitus
  • Asthma, coughs, eczema
  • Diarrhoea, constipation, IBS, hypertension
  • Gynaecological disorders, PMT, menopause
  • Depression, anxiety, broken heart
  • ME, MS,
• to powerfully boost the body's immune response