Acupuncture has been practiced as a therapy in the West for only several decades, but it has a 4500-year history as a healing art in the Orient. During the course of that history, healers have developed therapeutic strategies that focus on specific areas of the body, like the hands or scalp, to address certain ailments. One such strategy is auricular, or ear, acupuncture. Practitioners claim it can, with the support of herbs and diet adjustments, treat a variety of mental, emotional and behavioral diseases. This centuries-old therapy has been incorporated into a modern detoxification protocol. Evan Shepherd Reiff, an acupuncturist from the San Francisco Bay area who administers the protocol, recently explained the benefits.
The NADA Auricular Acupuncture Protocol is Used Throughout the World as a Therapy for Stress
“Ear acupuncture can relieve stress and improve behavioral and mental health, as well as detoxify the body,” said Shepherd Reiff, who is certified by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA). “It can also help people recover from disaster and emotional trauma. The NADA auricular acupuncture protocol was used to treat victims and first-responders of the World Trade center attacks and Hurricane Katrina.” According to Shepherd Reiff, the effects of ear acupuncture on veterans of the Iraq war suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) are being studied by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The use of the NADA protocol is not confined to North America. According to the Yin Yang Acupuncture and Wellness Center of Chattanooga, Tennessee, it is used world-wide to treat victims of substance abuse and to help them cope with the emotional, physical and psychological conditions that accompany addiction. Unlike most of Chinese medicine, it does not rely on a diagnosis and is always administered in the same simple way. The acupuncturist inserts needles into the points of the ear specified by the protocol and leaves them for 25 minutes to an hour. The patient has only to sit or lie in a comfortable position and relax.
Receiving Acupuncture in a Group Setting Enhances the Experience
It is part of the protocol to offer auricular acupuncture in sessions shared by several individuals. Shepherd Reiff says the group setting improves the experience of each individual. He calls his sessions “Network Acupuncture”, and says that they create an amplified positive charge through a process called entrainment. According to Shepherd Reiff, entrainment energetically connects participants to “facilitate relaxation, clarity of mind and stress reduction by promoting group cohesiveness.” He offers 30 to 60-minute Network Acupuncture sessions in his own office, the homes of clients and even business settings.
C.W. Narayan, a musician from Santa Cruz, California, has been receiving acupuncture for years. He recently participated in one of Shepherd Reiff’s Network Acupuncture sessions. “It was much like sitting in a group meditation,” said Narayan. “It wasn’t like going to a traditional acupuncturist, where, even though there are a lot of people, they read or watch television to pass the time. In Evan’s session, we all went really deep. We could feel each other’s support on a subtle level. Even without the needles, the session would have reduced stress and promoted health. With the needles it was an elevating, almost cosmic, experience.”
NADA offers regular courses and trainings in the auricular acupuncture protocol. Information on these courses, and on the protocol in general, is available on their website.
References:
National Acupuncture Detoxification Association. Mission of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association. Acudetox.com. Accessed July 8, 2010.
Yin Yang House Acupuncture and Wellness Center. Auricular Acupuncture Addiction and Detoxification Treatments - NADA and ACACD. Yinyanghouse.com. Accessed July 8, 2010.
Chris Deziel - Chris Deziel has lived and worked in Asia, Africa and many parts of North America, doing laboratory research in acoustics and electrical ...
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