22-3 Treating other practitioners' patients

Treating other practitioners' patients

One of the things I have never liked to do is treat the patients of other practitioners.  There can be many reasons why we are asked to do that, some of them very valid, others not quite so valid.  So let's go through some of the reasons.

 

1. A practitioner may be moving away or giving up their practice and needs to pass on their patients permanently to another practitioner.

2. A practitioner may be away for a short time, such as on holiday, and needs somebody to fill the gap in treatments.

3. A practitioner may be finding it difficult dealing with a particular patient, and has suggested to the patient that it might be good for him/her to move to another practitioner.

 

A patient will always find the change from one therapist to another difficult to cope with, and this is particularly true for therapies such as five element acupuncture or any form of psychotherapy, which emphasize the importance of establishing a caring relationship between patient and practitioner.  This was why I always hesitated before agreeing to take over treatment from another practitioner.  And this was particularly true if I was being asked to do this for only a few treatments to cover for a practitioner on holiday, for example.  I would always refuse to do so for several reasons.

 

The first most important one for me was that I was concerned that I might not agree with the practitioner's diagnosis of the patient's element, and, if so, what was I going to do?  I could not simply change element, and start treating the patient as though they were coming for their first treatment on a new element, nor did I feel it was right for me to continue treating an element which I did not agree with.  So I would simply refuse to cover for my fellow practitioner's short absence.  I noted that other practitioners seemed far less bothered about this than I was, and simply continued treating on the original practitioner's choice of element.

 

I approached taking over a patient on a permanent basis completely differently, but also with some trepidation, because I would feel that I needed to base my treatment on my own diagnosis, rather than blindly following that of the previous practitioner.  I felt that I needed to explain to the patient before they agreed to my becoming their new practitioner that I would be approaching their treatment as if they were completely new to acupuncture.  Of course I would take account of how they had reacted to their previous treatment, and deep down I would hope that I would feel that there was no need to change element, but there might be.  I had to let the patient know that they would have to accept what might be a different approach to treatment from me, and would they be happy with that?

 

Things were of course easier if the original practitioner quite honestly felt that they were not helping their patient, and I therefore felt I had a free hand to direct the treatment in any way I wanted.

 

There is one further crucial point which is often overlooked, and a point which I confess I didn't always emphasize to my students.  We were told by JR Worsley that, if possible, we should always allow a gap of a few months between a patient having treatment from a different style of acupuncture before starting five element treatment.  This would allow their elements time to settle down and be receptive to a new form of treatment.  This is very much akin to what homeopaths advise, which is not to have acupuncture whilst receiving homeopathy.  This is because otherwise it will not be clear which treatment is effecting any change or, of course, indeed making things worse.  We are often so keen to help patients as quickly as we can, and no patient likes being asked to wait a few months before we can treat them, so this instruction often falls by the wayside in our efforts to help people in distress.  But it is worth remembering that we should wait to allow a patient's element to settle and be in as receptive a condition as possible when they start receiving treatment from us.

 

This blog is prompted by an email from Sarah, a Chinese five element acupuncturist, saying "Help needed!".  She tells me about some problems she has had treating patients, who were "all new patients transferred to me from another practitioner".  Some patients complained that "they felt very tired after my treatment".  But then she adds: "Despite 1-2 days' exhaustion, patients told me that the effect is good, or even better than forecast."

 

What would be good for me to know is whether Sarah is treating the patients on the same elements as the previous practitioners, or has changed elements. Some of this tiredness could be coming from the elements' confusion at being addressed differently by the treatment.  Or, as she herself points out, could it be "because I didn't do an AE drain for them?".

 

Well yes, there could be many reasons for the tiredness the patients complained of, not least my concern that maybe they are picking up on Sarah's own anxiety about how the treatments are going, which I am reading throughout her email.  Many practitioners just starting on their practice, as Sarah is, often anxiously ask their patients how they are feeling after treatment as a way of reassuring themselves, and that often makes patients anxious because they can feel their practitioner's uncertainty.  I never ask patients how they feel after treatment.  I instead look at the patients and gauge for myself if I can see any positive changes in them.  There may be many changes which point to effective treatment which patients are often not themselves aware of, because they may be so subtle to start with.  Patients may also choose not to mention any improvement because they fear that they will lose their practitioner's interest if they tell us that they are feeling better.

 

This is a very full answer to Sarah's email, but she has touched on many topics of interest to all five element acupuncturist as we try to work out how best to treat our patients.

22-2 The miracle of clearing blocks

I have just received a lovely email from a five element acupuncturist, Sophie Barrowcliff, who lives far away In Malawi, and she writes:

 

"I have long been wondering about the role of acupuncture for post-Covid symptoms, and had a couple of interesting moments with patients that I would like to share with you.

 

The first was a young man of 34 who had medium-severe Covid, and never quite got fully back on his feet. I treated him some 2 months later and found CV-GV block on his pulses.

 

The treatment was dramatic (he still talks of it), and was instrumental in his turning a corner and getting back his energies and notably his clarity of mind.

 

The second was a lady of 50, previously without any illnesses or complaints, who took a Covid vaccination, and 3 days later collapsed with a sort of paralysis that rose from her feet to her midriff. It was diagnosed as 'transverse myelitis', possibly involving some auto-immune response.   All sorts of symptoms accompanied this. Slowly over 4 months she began to regain movement but was left with a lot of pain in the legs and discomfort in the abdomen. This is when she came to me, and again, her pulses suggested CV-GV block. After treatment and over the weeks she has improved in many ways - energy, incontinence, pain, joie de vivre etc.

 

The other post-Covid patients I have seen all seem to have a block somewhere, all respond well to treatment and are soon back to their old selves.  These few experiences make me wonder about 'long-Covid' that is so debilitating to so many people. I can't help but think that they might all have blocks, maybe CV-GV blocks, and that this is what stops them recovering. 

 

What do you think, and have you any experiences to share?"

 

I replied as follows:

 

"You did exactly what I’ve always said is essential in helping people recover from post-Covid symptoms.  Covid obviously causes all kinds of blocks, Entry/Exit, Husband/Wife (a fellow acupuncturist told me he has often found H/W), and of course CV/GV which is also often found.  So I think what you have been doing is exactly what is required."  

 

I have always thought that one of the most effective components of five element treatment is its diagnosis of the different energy blocks, and its ability to clear them so simply by means of just a few points.  I believe that if all we did was select an element's command points ,and diagnose and clear any blocks we find, we could transform most people's lives.  We wouldn't need to search around for complicated point combinations, which so many budding five element acupuncturists tend to do.  

 

There aren't many blocks:  the simple Entry/Exit blocks, including of course the major CV/GV block, Husband/Wife and Possession.  Not many points to learn, but how effective your treatment will be if you concentrate on clearing them.

And of course, we must never forget the wondrous effect of doing an AE drain, which may also be necessary when post-Covid symptoms persist.

 

 

 

  

22/1. Happy first blog of 2022

Two lovely emails have just arrived from two of my Chinese students, wishing me a Happy New Year.  Both express their love of practising five element acupuncture.  

The first writes:

"I still deeply love five element acupuncture.  Last year, I have many patients with depression.  The treatment course seems to be very long, but recently I have received feedback from the patients that they are getting better.  I am very happy and have more motivation to move on.

 

Four of today's patients are teenagers.  Their problems are related to their families.  I hope to help them get better."

 

The second writes:

"I am studying your online course these days, which is helpful in my treatment.  Actually I feel more and more confident in the treatment during the year 2021, since I always found obvious effects through very simple treatment.  Five element acupuncture is amazing.  The more I practise, the more incredible cases I observe."

 

It is so rewarding for me to receive confirmation that my Chinese students are now unquestioningly addressing that area of their patients' lives which relate to deeper, emotional problems.  When I first arrived in China, my students were very reluctant to engage in this area with their patients, believing that acupuncture was only there to address physical problems.  Now they take for granted that five element acupuncture can help all levels of the human being, the body, the mind and the spirit.  I feel that this is my greatest achievement since arriving in China 10 years ago.

87. A happy blog to complete the year 2021

I want to finish this last blog of the year 2021 on a happy note, and luckily I have found something very suitable to write about.  It satisfies me for several reasons:  firstly because it will make my life easier, less stomping around laden with heavy parcels, secondly, it is a new venture for a lovely newsagent's family, which I have been encouraging them to embark upon, and finally, it feeds so beautifully into one of my passions, which is looking around for any remaining signs of old London.

I have lived in London all my life, except for some of the war years when we were evacuated to the Lake District, and I remember so many of the sights of all those years ago, including playing in bombed-out buildings and going along the Thames watching boats unloading their cargoes into the tall warehouses.  So I was delighted one day, when walking past a local shop that was being renovated, to notice that the builders had stripped away the fascia above the shop window to reveal an old sign which said, simply, "Post Office".  I had always wondered why the post box was positioned outside this shop rather than a few shops down outside a large Rymans which then housed a post office counter.  Soon afterwards the sign disappeared under a new one advertising a hairdressing saloon.

 

The Rymans, together with its very convenient post office, closed a year ago, and since then I have had to traipse a long way away to find a post office to take the many books I send around the world, now not so much books that I have written myself, which Singing Dragon Publishers now happily do for me, but all the many books I read and pass on to whoever I think would like to read them after me.  To my delight, then, the newsagents I go to told me that they have taken on the lease of another local shop and will be bringing a post office back to this area.  Imagine, too, my further delight when it turns out that the shop they have taken is the very shop which was a post office all those many years ago.

 

So both the newsagent and I whooped with happiness, when the builders doing the renovations and taking down the hairdressing sign, again revealed the old sign, still in place.  Because I had told them the history of the old post office and its sign, the present occupier intends simply to freshen up the old sign, leaving it in its place.  This will make it probably the last reminder around this area of a bit of old London, amongst all the destructive building work now blocking the beautiful London skyline.

 

The newsagent and I have decided that we should hold a street party to celebrate the re-opening of the old post office, probably more than 100 years ago.

And here's another piece of serendipity to complete this happy little story about a bit of old London.  Early this morning I go into my lovely newsagents to pick up my daily Guardian, and the newsagent and I talk about the opening of the post office opposite.  I told him that I'd just blogged about it, and the man standing next to me, said, "Oh, I remember going into the post office there years ago."   It was lovely quite by chance to meet somebody who used the old post office regularly.  He and I agreed to meet there in the New Year to celebrate its re-opening after all these years. 

This brings the story of the old post office full circle.

 

86. How the internet rules our lives

 It is lovely to be able to write about something joyful today, and that's because of a book I am reading, 100 Things We've Lost to the Internet, by Pamela Paul.  It's a quite delightful, but also a very insightful book.  I was hooked once I read one of its 100 small chapters, entitled The Period (English translation: The Full-Stop).  "Is any punctuation mark less remarked on than the lowly period, the wearisome little dot whose job it is, essentially, to bring you to a full stop?  Nobody talks about it."ˆ  But she does, and quite beautifully.

I am now at item 25 out of the 100 little "things we've lost", and Oh! how much I agree with what she has written.  Here is a selection of her 100 things to tempt you to buy the book:  "The phone in the kitchen", "The family meal", "Handwritten letters", "Figuring out who that actor is", "Maps", "Eye contact".

 

The whole book is a splendid reminder of what we are losing each day in terms of our personal contacts in the overpowering world of the internet.  Do read it!  It will make you think very deeply about what we should value, and also remind us of what we are beginning to lose.

85. Could our element be the weakest link in the chain of elements

Pierre, a French acupuncturist, has asked me an interesting question, which has prompted this blog.  He wants to know whether I think the guardian element (CF or dominant element) can be regarded as the weakest link in the chain of the elements, something he finds puzzling.  If a five element acupuncturist's attention is focused on strengthening the patient's element does this mean that it is this element which in reality represents the weak link in the chain of the elements rather than the strongest link, as it might be considered to be in view of its dominant position?  I have been thinking deeply about this for all the years that I have practised five element acupuncture, because I realise that we have to try to reconcile the concept of a dominant element with the picture of the elements circling harmoniously around all things, and in human beings creating each of our organs.

 

 We have somehow to add to this picture another image, which accentuates one particular element for each of us, and then try to reconcile the two. Five element acupuncture is based on the understanding that one element appears to have been singled out to put its stamp upon us, marking us with its imprint, a lifetime's branding which it seems we can never obliterate, however balanced we are.  In a more fanciful moment I like to visualize this as though the universe, in its endless circling, allows the tiniest hitch to appear in the unbroken chain of the elements, through which each of us slips into life at the moment of our birth.  This is the point in the circle where we are marked with the characteristics of that element, emphasizing its role in shaping our life.  It then becomes the place where we can grow and develop, but also, if we deny it its role, the place where we can wither and fade, and therefore also of course where illness can creep in. 

 

When JR Worsley called this element the element of the causative factor of disease (CF), it was certainly an accurate description of how ill-health can occur when a patient's element is under too much stress.  But I also remember JR telling us that we should always ask, "What does this patient need to do to live the most productive life possible?"  The aim of treatment is then to help our patients achieve this aim.  I have always seen this as evidence that he saw a person's element as the point of the greatest potential development, a threshold for change, whilst only if is denied the right to flourish can it become the cause of ill-health.

 

I have been intrigued by the fact that the Western world, too, in days long gone had a similar approach to understanding how illness developed as the Chinese have.  There was a time when the concept of the humors dominated Western medical thought, each of the four humors being associated with its own organ of the body and its own emotional approach to life.  If we look at a list of the characteristics of these humors there is a definite similarity to those shared by the elements, although the seasons to which both are assigned, as well as other qualities, differ.  The similarity is in their understanding that illness is the result of a combination of both physical and emotional factors.  At a time when orthodox medicine is gradually starting to accept that the physical and the emotional may be inextricably linked it is also perhaps time to start resurrecting the concept of the humors, taking it down from the shelves of medical libraries where it has gathered dust over the centuries.  We may now see some value in determining how far our inner life may be contributing to the onset of illness, and what types of illness this makes us susceptible to.

 

Both these systems, that of the humors and that of the elements, try to offer an explanation for our individuality by listing specific features relating to each humor/element.  I believe there lies a profound truth behind both concepts, and, in the case of five element acupuncture, I have had this truth confirmed by the results of many years of treating my patients.  I have seen their lives transformed, their physical ailments helped and their emotional well-being enhanced when my treatment has been focused on one particular element.  I have not seen the same results if my treatment has not been addressed at the right element.

 

In answer to Pierre's query, therefore, I do not think that the guardian element is a weak link in the chain of the elements.  I think it should be viewed, instead, as the place of our greatest potential. 

  

84. Five element acupuncture comes full circle in China

How odd that I am now beginning to write about my life coming full circle just as I receive an update from my Chinese contacts at the Five Element Society of the Beijing Tongyou Sanhe Foundation about the number of people attending their five element preliminary courses, as well as the number of five element practitioners who have enrolled in my seminars over the 10 years I have been holding them in China.  I was prompted to ask for this information because the  Chinese publisher of my Handbook of Five Element Practice is about to publish a celebratory edition in honour of the 10th year of its publication (and presumably also of the 45,000 copies he has sold in that time).

I find that there are more than 5000 five element students and practitioners on the Society's database, and there may well be more, since the Society was only established about five years ago.  More than 800 students enrolled in five element introductory courses in both 2020 and 2021, which have been held in 23 towns, 22 around China and one in Singapore.  There must now be between 400 and 500 qualified five element acupuncturists practising in China.

 

This is a goodly number, by any measure, and particularly when set against what to me is the sad picture of five element acupuncture's position in this country and in the West as a whole. The insidious creep of other branches of acupuncture, particularly modern Chinese acupuncture (TCM), into every aspect of acupuncture, has had a depressing effect upon the teaching of five element acupuncture.  Nor did the forced closure of my School of Five Element Acupuncture (SOFEA) in 2005 help, a closure partly due to the credit crunch, but principally due to the covert and often quite overt pressure from other colleges claiming that five element acupuncture must no longer be regarded as a stand-alone discipline.  It is sad that I know now of only one or two training establishments of any kind over here who can claim to teach pure five element acupuncture without feeling themselves forced by accreditation requirements to include a more than substantial dose of TCM in their syllabus.  I find it ironic that TCM-based colleges do not have a parallel requirement to include five acupuncture in what they offer their students.  I have never understood why TCM should be considered to be a stand-alone acupuncture discipline whilst five element acupuncture is not. 

 

It is a tragedy that this country, the home of five element acupuncture under JR Worsley, who was the principal agent for the re-emergence of this ancient discipline, should, in just a few years, have concluded that five element acupuncture could no longer be regarded as a valid discipline in its own right.  And it was only by chance, or good happenstance, that I was invited to China to re-introduce it to its place of birth those 10 years ago.

 

Now, though, to my great delight, China is leading the world in promoting this branch of acupuncture.  I am honoured to have been an instrument in its route of transmission back from West to East, reversing the route taken by JR Worsley from East to West more than 50 years ago.  I am happy to witness five element acupuncture's journey coming full circle, as it blossoms once again in the country of its birth.  

 

I like to think of JR sitting up there looking down at us and smiling.  I remember him saying to us one day, "They will want it back in China soon."  And they did!