Worsley Five-Element Acupuncture

Worsley Five-element acupuncture is a unique healing modality, created by the British military paramedic, J.R. Worsley who studied with several Taoist and Zen masters in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea immediately after World War II and was granted permission to bring these specific teachings back to Europe and the United States to incorporate into the culture of the post-war western hemisphere. This modality harmonizes the elemental balance within the human ecosystem.

It begins with a diagnosis of your constitutional Chinese element–Fire, Earth, Metal, Water or Wood–and continues with a deeper understanding of how your constitutional element affects your physical, mental and spiritual health. As the pattern of your qi flow shifts within the physical body, old patterns of behavior fall away, and new ones begin to form. The goal of treatment is not only to improve the symptoms of the primary medical complaint, but to move beyond pathology to a focus on wellness and individual potential for health on all levels.

In Five-element acupuncture, the patient-practitioner relationship is fostered through one-on-one health counseling, specific point prescriptions based on your Five-Element diagnosis, and the use of moxibustion to warm and prime the acu-points prior to needling. A minimum of five weekly appointments is recommended for the new patient in order to complete the clearing treatments that reset the patient’s habitual qi flow pattern, and allow for a positive response to simpler element-focused treatments. These treatments may be combined with other specific treatments for the local pain or pathology or combined with massage or cupping as needed by the patient. The initial appointment is an hour and fifteen-minute diagnostic session, and appointments thereafter will last an hour to provide time for individualized treatment.