Why choose Bodyharmonics for your training in acupuncture and massage therapy?

Stop Press: at last the Government have finally decided on the regulation of acupucture, herbal medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine - see here

Why choose Bodyharmonics for your acupuncture courses and training in massage therapy?

picture of Maria Mercati treating a patient The BODYHARMONICS® Centre of Oriental Medicine was founded by Maria Mercati in 1992 to provide treatment and training to the highest possible standards in traditional Oriental healing systems.

The solid experience behind Bodyharmonics

Maria's methods have been developed from her many periods of study in China (12 times) Indonesia and Thailand working with the leading experts in their respective fields since the late 1970's. She has been immersed in Oriental medicine for 30 years.

Indonesian massage became part of her life during her four year period in Bandung, where she was taught by traditional & blind experts. She furthered her acupuncture knowledge and refined her Tui Na techniques under several prominent Chinese doctors at the famous Yue-Yang hospital in Shanghai, and hospitals in Weihai, Shanxxi College of TCM, and the Shandong University Hospital of TCM. In Thailand she studied at the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok and at the massage hospital in Chiang Mai.

She has achieved outstanding results with thousands of patients and brings this wealth of practical experience to all her courses.

Maria's Qualifications

BA (Hons)
Diploma Shiatsu (Bristol School of Shiatsu - 3 year course )
Cert. Tui Na (Shanghai College of Traditional Medicine)
Cert. Acupuncture (Xiangshan Hospital of TCM Shanghai)
Cert. Acupuncture (Weihai Hospital of TCM)
Cert. Acupuncture (Xian College of TCM).
ITEC and Massage training Institute (MTI)
Member of British Register of Complementary Practitioners (BRCP)

Your training at Bodyharmonics will directly benefit from her experiences as if you had done the Eastern rounds yourself without all the stress and expense. Maria will answer your questions and share her insights with you, including advice on running a successful practice.

If I do the 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 course?

Maria's acupuncture training gives you two for the price of one.
The Acupuncture course is based on 3 modules over 50 contact days plus private study with Tui Na and acupuncture case studies. (see exemptions for different backgrounds)
You can spread these 3 modules out over 2-3 years or you can do them simultaneously with each of them overlapping. It all depends on how much time you have.
After completing and passing Acupuncture Course Module 1 which is based on a foundation in TCM & Tui Na, you are in a position to start your new career and earn some money. The Tui Na foundation diploma is vital to getting patients throught the door. This experience will also set you up for Acupuncture Course Module 2 - Tui Na Masters and Acupuncture Course Module 3.
In Acupuncture course Module 3 - you will do 150 acupuncture case studies on a combination of internal and musculo-skeletal conditions using acupoints that have been carefully supervised on each weekend of the course starting from Day One. With student acupuncture insurance you will be gaining experience on real clients outside the school, before you are qualified. Your case studies will be discussed in class.
The combined cost of all three modules is £4,625 (A&P & exam fees extra)
Two weeks clinical practice is recommended in a Chinese Hospital.
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. They 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

Oriental Medicine is evolving in the UK

Maria's pioneering work has been to develop a system of integrated Oriental bodywork with acupuncture.

The result has been a unique and powerful fusion for the control of pain and the promotion and maintenance of good health. This ground breaking work has probably made her the most authoritative and innovative teacher in this field today.

Students come from all over the world to benefit from her individualised and highly effective training style which you will personally benefit from on her courses - and so will the patients you subsequently treat of course....

Why do Maria's qualifications make this course special?

Apart from the three year British Acupuncture Council courses, most other courses now teaching Tui Na, Thai or Acupuncture have copied and modified my original ideas on course structures. In their literature, they copiously borrow from my writings about oriental therapies.

Maria Mercati has built a national and international reputation and recognition for Bodyharmonics qualifications as follows:

The World Federation of Chinese Medicine (WFCM)

Maria Mercati was invited to attend the establishment conference of WFCM in Beijing in September 2003 where she was elected as a council member for the United Kingdom. The objectives of the organisation are:

to promote understanding, unity and cooperation among academic groups of Chinese Medicine throughout the world
to improve the standard and protect Chinese Medicine to help gain access to mainstream medicineto make contributions to the health of mankind

The BODYHARMONICS School was a founding member of EURO-TCM*

Maria Mercati was involved as a committee member for 3 years in both ECO-TCM (European colleges of TCM) in helping to standardize Tui Na and Acupuncture.

For the duration of its existence, EURO TCM worked to further the unification of educational programs and procedures for teaching, examining and accrediting TCM in Europe. EURO TCM considered the Bodyharmonics Tui Na courses the best training available in Europe.
(*TCM is defined as the Chinese way of doing Tui Na, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs & Qigong )

International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC)

Maria Mercati was appointed by ITEC in 1997 for a five year period to write the original syllabuses & examination papers for Tui Na, Thai & Indonesian massage as a pilot scheme to establish standards for these Oriental bodywork treatments.

The course materials, structure and exam papers are the copyright of the BODYHARMONICS Centre. Other ITEC affiliated colleges and schools do not offer Tui Na or Thai courses based on these syllabuses.