Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture

I studied Five Element acupuncture at the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Maryland as well as the College of Traditional Acupuncture, UK with JR Worsley. I also studied at TSITCA in Stamford, CT. Some years ago, I gave up my acupuncture practice in order to be a full-time parent to a child with a disability. Now, after many years, I am studying to re-take my acupuncture board exams so that I can resume my practice. Although only a small portion of the exam covers Five Element Acupuncture, since this was my foundation, I decided to start here, and use this book for review.This is an extremely helpful book for two groups of readers. The first group would consist of practitioners who have never studied the Worsley tradition of acupuncture. Although Worsley is mentioned briefly and with gratitude at the beginning of this book, it is not made clear enough that the method described therein is definitely "Worsley School Acupuncture." Just as in ancient China, Japan, and Korea, different masters evolved their own "schools" of medicine, so J.R Worsley took the best of the ancient teachings and applied them brilliantly, sensitively, and wisely to the needs of the modern western world. While not giving Worsley's adequate credit appropriate from a student to a master, the book is an admirable introduction to his methodology.However, the most important feature of Worsley's method was-- again, in keeping with classical tradition-- the personal transmission from teacher to student. Whether it is gaining rapport, identifying "golden keys" in a patient's story, identifying the person's color, sound, odor, or emotion, or determining in what level their imbalance resides, none of this is possible to transmit through the medium of a book. That would be an absolute fraud. It would be to use this book as the "Cliff's Notes" of acupuncture. J.R. himself wrote several excellent books, but would be the first to acknowledge that these skills simply cannot be learned from a book. They are learned by seeing many, many patients with the guidance of a master practitioner, such as himself. It would be a travesty if a practitioner from a different tradition used this book to attempt to self-teach these skills. However, such a person might be inspired by reading this book to study this tradition of medicine further at one of the few schools that teach it. If so, that would be a wonderful result from this book.The second group consists of people like me who would use this book for review or reference. For me it is a reminder of the teachings that I received, almost like "class notes" but never, ever replacing the class itself.With all of that said, and giving due honor to J.R. Worsley who was an incredibly loving and gifted teacher and practitioner, others have made the point that J. R. doesn't "own" five element acupuncture, and that his students, and their students, have the right to take his teachings and elaborate on them, expand upon them, incorporate their own wisdom and experience.That is absolutely true; Chinese medicine has always evolved, and different practitioners and schools give different emphasis to different aspects, as well as making innovations of their own. This means that the authors do have the right to take J.R.'s teachings and incorporate their own experiences to arrive at a slightly different "version" of 5 Element acupuncture. However, it is clear to me that the vast majority of this book derived directly from J.R.'s thought and methodology. Perhaps the primary original contribution of the authors was a section on integrating 5 Element and 8 Principle acupuncture. Actually, I was almost disappointed to see that section, because it is almost a statement that 5 Element isn't "enough." But perhaps that section might make this text more accessible to practitioners from other traditions.All told, if one were to create a "textbook" of 5 element acupuncture, this book would be as close as one might come to achieving that. But, 5 element acupuncture should never, ever be taught from a textbook.

A very clear introduction on how to use Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture. It introduced various aspects of the five elements so that it is easier for practitioners to make diagnosis. It had patients sample there and you could peek on the reasoning behind each treatment session. If you’ve learnt proper pulse and tongue diagnosis from TCM, you will learn more from this book.

Since I bought it I am waiting to every moment of timeTo learn this bookI am happy when People are late for meetingsSo I have time to get great deatailed knowledgeIt is very deatailed well explainedEverything became so clear to meThank you Angela HicksI bought it when my dog had a disc irruption screaming from painIt was a weekend and I used information from this book-he is a water element-To help him with the knowledge I already haveIt is one of those books I will learn and read many times

This is a great book for any acupuncturist who wants to gain a deeper understanding of 5-element acupuncture. It is easy to read, clear, and concise. It gives great examples of how to determine what element is showing up in a px. There is a specific section addressing how elements can be mistaken for other elements that I found incredibly helpful for my own practice and I haven't found many other books that make these comparisons so easy to grasp. Definitely not your typical "medical" type textbook.

Excellent textbook on the subject, and very readable – for practitioner and layperson alike. Very true to J.R.Worsley's original intention, despite the addition of the word 'constitutional.' I say that as a former Leamington Spa College graduate ! Highly recommended.

Definitely has the goods but a little too pedestrian for me. Too long before getting to the good stuff. Great but not extra-ordinary

Detailed book on 5 Element

Great book

I bought this book by the recommendation of my acupuncturist as I asked her to name a book which would be a master piece to outline the true base of the Traditional Chinese Medicine theory - 5 elements. And this book explains the theoretic basic from the characteristics of the elements to the related organs, human behaviour patterns for the elements, etc., or how to diagnose a "patient", to all details by the treatments and acupuncture side of them and the points on the body in all detail. I haven't read it yet, only started but feels it would give me all the deep knowledge what I was sought for to understand my own medical issue and the treatment applied by my acupuncturist.

Well written, well structured with clear explanations. A big book, not a five minute read, but that was understood. Commended!

Good

Usual amazing service from Speedyhen

The book is a very sound primer for acupuncture students - albeit probably not for the general reader. It is understandable and crisply written as befits authors, who are nationally recognized practitioners and teachers. The text offers a good balance between the practical and the philosophical for western readers.