Pain & Injury Approaches in Musculoskeletal Treatment – The Evolve Acupuncture Method

It happened in 2013. After being in practice for over 19 years, I broke.  By most measures, my practice was successful. I was seeing 48 clients per week; I had a month-long waiting list, and 30 people on a cancellation list. So, what was the problem? I was spending an hour with each client, working six days a week, and hedging my bets by offering massage, acupuncture, moxa, cupping and/or craniosacral in each of my sessions. I incorporated these additional modalities to give my clients ‘value’ for money and hold the space for them. But there was another reason, one I didn’t share with anyone. I wasn’t convinced acupuncture was all they said it was. ‘They’ being the college I graduated from. I never saw the miraculous, instant results that had been sold to us as students. I assumed I was the problem. Never being a natural student, learning has always been a challenge. So, I figured the lack of significant outcomes from acupuncture alone was down to me.

Back to 2013. I was mentality and physically burnt out. I closed up my clinic. Then my partner and I sold almost everything we owned, and we hit the road for a five-month trip across the north of Australia. At this stage, I wasn’t sure I would go back to practising acupuncture ever again.

Fast forward to 2026. I now run a three-room practice seeing 60 clients a week in 3 days. After developing a one-needle technique that achieves amazing results, I’ve realised that clients pay for results, not more modalities. I have a loyal client base and now teach acupuncture internationally. So, what changed? Well, I fell in love with acupuncture again.

In 2015, I experienced something extraordinary. I was fortunate enough to attend the last Dr Tan Balance Method seminar in Australia, hosted shortly before he passed (RIP). In this seminar, the world of channel relationships opened up to me in a way I never experienced at college. Dr Tan showed me the true power of acupuncture. He showed me that immediate, extraordinary results were possible, particularly with musculoskeletal issues. I left the seminar with his final words in my head: ‘If, after this seminar, you believe this method can get you better results, faster, then go back to your practice and only do this. Otherwise, you will fall back to what you know and eventually not use this method.’ I returned to my new practice in Darwin, Australia, and took the leap. This meant telling my clients I no longer offered massage, moxa, cupping or craniosacral therapy in my treatments. It was a radical step. I also told my clients if they didn’t like the treatment, they didn’t have to pay for it (of course, if they came back, they would have to pay for future treatments). Do you know what? I didn’t lose one client. In fact, word got around about the results I was getting, and, within a month, I had started up a second treatment room. Removing all those additional modalities meant treatments were much faster, and I was able to leave patients to rest for longer with the needles in.

In 2016, I was introduced to Tung acupuncture. This made treatments faster again. I no longer had to palpate for ashi, which is one of the aspects of The Balance Method when treating musculoskeletal conditions.

In Tan and Tung acupuncture, several channel relationships are identified. For instance, if you have pain or disease on the Bladder channel, you can use points on SI, He, Lu, Ki or the Bl channel to balance or treat this channel. As I continued to practice this method, I found that there were more relationships than these two systems suggested. I continued with this method over the next few years. When I eventually moved to Newcastle (Australia) and set up my own clinic, I was able to expand to three rooms. At our peak, the clinic saw 150 clients per week split between two practitioners working three days each. Distal acupuncture delivered extraordinary results, mostly immediately and with very little time required. This is what acupuncture was about, not the TCM style I had been taught.

Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t a production line clinic. But we have streamlined our diagnostic and treatment approach to the point where we still have time to talk with patients about where they are at and where they may be struggling. We also acknowledge that we are not counsellors, and so don’t try to be.

A few years later, I had my mind blown again. This time, by Dr Slate Burris. Burris developed Neoclassical Acupuncture, which is essentially his own reinterpretation of the classic texts. In my opinion, Burris is one of the true greats of the modern era of acupuncture. This method involves lots of body palpation, which naturally appealed to me given I began my health practice career as a deep tissue massage therapist. Through the process of palpation, the practitioner identifies specific patterns requiring specific treatment points. If you get the pattern wrong and you use the wrong point, it won’t work. Neoclassical Acupuncture reduced my use of needles down to one. It was hard to get my head around using just one needle, but the results were indisputable. This approach was next level.

About a year into using Neoclassical Acupuncture, I discovered a nuance with needle technique that led me to develop ‘The Evolve Acupuncture Method’. We still use one needle, but the diagnostic and treatment approach is entirely different to Neoclassical Acupuncture.

In March 2027, I will be visiting London to teach ‘The Evolve Acupuncture Method’ for the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians. So, what will you learn?

You will leave understanding the following:

1. Palpation for diagnosis and treatment
   This method, developed and used by me for over 27 years, is a way of getting a total body picture of what is going on. Often with musculoskeletal issues there is far more than the just the symptom to consider for the best outcomes. This method helps you identify where the issues are in order to treat the entire picture and the symptom simultaneously.
2. The power of channel relationships
   This helps recognise the channel system as far more interconnected than many of us are taught. As a result, you learn how to get wider results using less input.
3. How to reduce needles down to 1-5 with extraordinary results
   Learn how to treat multiple patterns at the same time, rather than picking points separately for each issue.
4. Refined needle techniques
   This is the key to this method. It is also simple and easy to apply from Day 1.

The workshop includes a significant amount of hands-on practice, so you are applying what you learn over the weekend – and on Monday you can in your own practice. There will be a maximum of 24 participants, ensuring you receive as much guidance and support as you need. You can book your place here.

WHAT DO PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS SAY?
(Authentic reviews from existing practitioners you can contact directly to verify)

“This has completely changed the way I practice acupuncture – and I’m not going back. The concept of being able to balance the body and do a full treatment with one needle felt strange, very uncomfortable. To say I was sceptical was an understatement. Jeff explained the why and the how. Then he showed us. And I was still sceptical. Then I did it – it worked, and it worked on me. The pieces fell into place – my mind was blown.”
– STEVE DAUNCEY, FULL CIRCLE ACUPUNCTURE

“What an incredible few days – absolutely frothing over these new one-needle ninja skills! Huge thanks to Jeff Shearer for sharing such generous golden nuggets. Genuinely one of the most useful, fun, hands-on course I’ve ever attended. I’ve already treated 24 clients using the techniques learned and the results have been remarkable.”

– EMMA QUINE, EMMA QUINE ACUPUNCTURE

“A course to blow your mind…Year 1 after the workshop, I increased my clients by 20% and used 35k less needles. This year, my client increase will be 40%.”

– ANTHONY HOLDING, WHITTLESEA CHINESE MEDICINE CLINIC

“Just finishing up my first day treating after the workshop over the weekend. I’ve had 10 patients this morning and I’ve used this method on all of them. The results getting off the table have actually blown my mind I’m sooooooo excited about this style of acupuncture. It’s been such a joyful day in clinic.”

– ARNA TAYLOR, GREENSTONE ACUPUNCTURE

Written by Jeff Shearer