The AAC Conference – Bridging the Gap (19 November 2022, Central London)

Welcome to the AAC’s first ever conference – especially curated to provide practical and theoretical training from some of the most eminent teachers in the fields of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

Our conference also provides an opportunity to shine a light on exceptional practice in our field, and to explore  practical ways in which we can all work together to help to bridge the gap between western and Chinese medicine.

Recordings for sale now for 2022 AAC conference

As an AAC Member you are entitled to a 50% discount. Full price is £80 for all 5 lectures. AAC Member price is £40 (after coupon code ‘watchconference’) with Lifetime Access

Conference venue
The Swedenborg Society,
20- 21 Bloomsbury Way,
London, WC1A 2TH

Delegate price
AAC Members £60 (the first 50 people to book!), £90 standard rate

What’s included?

• Full day entry to all lectures and workshops
• Light refreshments during the day
• Entry to drinks reception
• Access to recorded lectures

To book tickets please login to the members area. First 50 members early bird @ £60, AAC members after early bird £90, £150 non AAC Members.

Order of The Day

9.00 to 9.30	Registration
9.30 to 10.00	Welcome
10.00 to 11.00	Felip Caudet – Advanced moxibustion skills – fire techniques to supercharge your patient outcomes
11.00 to 11.15	Break
11.15 to 12.00	Tianjun Wang – Scalp Acupuncture: Practical Treatments for Neurological Conditions
12.00 to 1.00	Rebecca Avern – Bridging the Gap – Support to spread your expertise
1.00 to 2.00	Lunch
2.00 to 3.00	Chris Davies – Accelerated Tendon Healing
3.00 to 3.15	Break
3.15 to 4.00	Lorraine Nicolle – Mitochondrial Support for better health and vitality
4.00 to 4.45	AAC Roadmap
4.45 to 6.00	Networking Drinks Reception

Felip Caudet (Spain)Session 1:

Advanced moxibustion skills – fire techniques to supercharge your patient outcomes

Moxibustion is far more than just a warming technique, it is a transformational tool and one way of nurturing your life’s fire in the body. Too often moxibustion is considered the little brother of acupuncture and this is simply not right! The power of moxibustion and benefits to your patients are bigger than you can imagine…

In this session you will learn

• To relate your moxibustion techniques with palpation
• How to significantly improve patient outcomes.
• To notice how the body’s energy system changes after moxa treatment – and how to listen to the body’s voice from another perspective.

About Felip Caudet

Felip Caudet has been in practice as a physiotherapist and acupuncturist since 1999, and specialises in Japanese moxibustion. He studied with the masters Tetsuya Fukushima and Hideo Shinma (son of Master Fukaya). Currently, Felip is recognised as the fourth in the teachers lineage of Fukaya Style of Moxibustion due to his developments and contributions to the style.

Felip developed a revolutionary moxibustion method called Kinseikyu method (Posture Balance with Moxibustion). He has published several books and articles on moxibustion. Today Felip combines his clinical activity in Spain with teaching around the world (Japan, Brazil, France, UK, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands and Canada).

Prof. Dr Tianjun Wang Session 2

Scalp acupuncture: Practical treatments for neurological conditions

This session will provide practical tips on how common neurological diseases (ND) such as stroke, brain trauma injury, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy can be improved with acupuncture.

During this presentation you will learn:

• An overview of ND through the lens of both of TCM and Western medicine
• General acupuncture treatments for ND
• Unique scalp acupuncture points and treatment techniques to support neurological conditions
• Case studies

About Prof. Dr. Tianjun Wang

Principal of London Academy of Chinese Acupuncture (LACA).Guest Professor of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine

Dr. Tianjun Wang graduated from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (NUCM) in 1989. He completed his PhD at NUCM. Tianjun moved to the UK and joined the University of East London UK as a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Acupuncture Clinic 2007- 2014. He is a Guest Professor of NUCM and the Master and PhD course supervisor at UK Centre of NUCM. Current Prof. Wang is the Principal of the London Academy of Chinese Acupuncture (LACA). Prof. Wang is the Vice President of the Scalp Acupuncture Committee of World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) and the president of the Institute of Scalp Acupuncture UK. He owns TJAcupuncture Clinic and Brain Care Centre in London.

Prof. Wang has authored and co-authored more than 50 academic papers as well as peer reviewers to many international journals. His authored book “Acupuncture for Brain: Treatment for Neurological and Psychological Disorders” published by Springer 2020.

Rebecca Avern, Sandra Dodgson, Cassandra Myers Session 3: Bridging the Gap – Support to spread your expertise

Facilitated by Kevin Durjun

Having achieved therapy professional status and with the growing body of evidence for acupuncture – what support would enable your expertise and experience to be more universally recognised for the health benefits that are possible? This is an interactive session designed to explore the kinds of practical support that AAC members would find useful.  This may range from issues that arise in daily practice through to creating links with other healthcare professionals, and everything in between!

The session will draw on the experience of Rebecca Avern and her colleagues in creating The Little Acupuncture Room (www.thelittleacupunctureroom.com), and the support they received and are (thankfully!) still receiving from Sandra Dodgson and Cassandra Myer. Both Sandra and Cassandra have experience of working across the health sector supporting practitioners.  With their wealth of knowledge and expertise, they facilitate healthcare practitioners to support each other, and to move the agenda forward.

About Rebecca Avern

Rebecca Avern has treated children with acupuncture for over 20 years, and now treats exclusively children and teenagers.  She founded and runs two children’s acupuncture clinics in Oxford, one of which offers affordable acupuncture to children and the opportunity for practitioner internships. Rebecca also founded the Hub of Paediatric Acupuncture (www.paediatricacupuncture.com), an online community providing information for parents and support to practitioners who treat children.  

Rebecca teaches a year-long diploma in acupuncture paediatrics in the UK, as well as extensively online and internationally.  She has been a senior faculty member at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, UK for the past 15 years.  She is the author of the textbook Acupuncture for Babies, Children and Teenagers and also of Chinese Medicine for Childhood Anxiety and Depression: a practical guide for practitioners and parents.

About Sandra Dodgson & Cassandra Myers

Having met at the gym and previously working closely together during a period of significant growth for a mental health charity, Sandra and Cassandra founded Metislinks to enhance access to integrative approaches to health and healthcare.

Sandra has a track record of working with groups to achieve shared purposes that make a real difference for the people who use and deliver services. She divides her time between her role as Director of Community Engagement for a charity and collaborating with colleagues in the field of integrative health to support sustainable changes in practice. In a diverse career she has advised charities, NHS commissioners and providers, central government departments, local councils and national professional bodies.

She has worked in the Department of Health, where she led ‘policy into practice’ initiatives. In her previous role she was strategic development director at a mental health charity that supports people to achieve greater independence and mental wellbeing. She is also a published author on values based governance and enhancing bleeding disorder care. Sandra is passionate about supporting access to the difference that we can achieve in our lives through effective integrated working and learning Latin-American dance.

Cassandra’s expertise lies in helping organisations move ideas into deliverable projects.  Working in both the health and social care fields she has seen the huge advantages in delivering an integrated approach to health and wellbeing.  She is keen to help organisations demonstrate both the quality of life impact and the financial impact which different approaches bring.

She has worked in the public sector, private sector and third sector, mostly recently as operations director at a mental health charity and currently she is working to improve outcomes for those with a Learning Disability and/or Autism.

Chris Davies AAC CEO Session 4

Accelerated Tendon Healing

Tendon and ligament injuries are notoriously difficult to treat. In this session you will learn invaluable tendon and ligament healing techniques which will dramatically reduce recovery times for your patients. In this practical session you will learn exclusive Japanese protocols that are not currently taught elsewhere in the UK and discover the research behind this practice.

In this practical session you will gain:

• In-depth knowledge of the two essential factors required to heal tendons and ligaments.
• Specialist techniques using topical applications
• The skills to enable qi to flow through the tendon will also be discussed and demonstrated.
• The confidence to treat professional athletes

About Chris Davies

Chris lectures internationally on specialist subjects and techniques.  His passion for teaching and improvement of techniques has enabled him to specialise in areas of Tendon Healing, Phlebotomy, Aesthetic and Cosmetic procedures as well as old family style and ancient acupuncture treatments.  His talks on psychotherapies touch and change people’s perceptions at all levels and he works with many successful business owners and entrepreneurs.

Having acquired over 40 therapeutic qualifications as well as numerous medical and health qualifications. He has had the opportunity to study in closed schools of both Chinese and Japanese unbroken family lineages dating back to 1350AD, as well as older style traditions from Bali, Java and Korea. He has had the honour of being certified in Japan by Yasuhisa Tokugawa – Great-grandson of the 15th and final Shogun of Japan.

Chris is the CEO of the British Acupuncture Federation as well as the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians and along with the AAC team has changed legislation and the UK status of acupuncturists to healthcare professionals. Chris is continuing to push forward to change the landscape of acupuncture within the UK.

Lorraine Nicolle MSc (Nutr.) (UK) Session 5

Mitochondrial support for better health and vitality

Most of us take it for granted that the batteries of our cells – the mitochondria – will efficiently transform our food into the energy we need for all our biological functions.

But a fast-growing body of evidence is demonstrating that, as we age, these tiny organelles seem to become vulnerable to damage from both environmental and endogenous factors, meaning that poorly-functioning mitochondria are a relatively common occurrence.

What’s more, it’s becoming clear that damaged mitochondria are powerful promotors of oxidation, inflammation and uncontrolled cell death, leading to many chronic conditions of ill-health, including cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue, neurological diseases and diabetes.

This short talk will introduce the importance of looking after our mitochondria. We will give an overview of the causes of mitochondrial dysfunction and what we can do to support and improve mitochondrial function, to help restore health and vitality.

About Lorraine Nicolle

Registered Nutritionist (BANT) and Nutritional Therapist (CNHC)

Originally in corporate communications, Lorraine retrained in nutritional therapy and education and has now been in practice for almost 19 years. She is licensed to work therapeutically with clients on a one-to-one basis and particularly enjoys working with clients with complex, chronic conditions, such as gastrointestinal disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes and pre-diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, anxiety and low mood. She also supports clients during and after medical treatment for cancer.

Lorraine is a qualified Higher Education teacher and as well as teaching clinical nutrition to undergraduates at various universities and colleges, she loves engaging with practitioners through teaching CPD seminars/webinars and delivering accredited supervision and mentoring sessions. She is currently working with Pharma Nord UK to write and deliver nutrition programmes for all types of healthcare practitioner.

Lorraine has authored/edited several nutrition books and is on the editorial board of the Nutritional Medicine Institute. She is passionate about ‘mechanisms’: how does the human body/brain work, how can nutritional interventions alter this, and how can we make sense of the ever-changing evidence base to best help students, practitioners and clients in the real world?