Peter Eckman, M.D., M.Ac (U.K.), in his book "In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor" offers well researched answers. Dr. Eckman is more than a scholar, having studied and practiced Western and Oriental medicine, including TCM, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese...as well as Classical Five-Element acupuncture. He writes:

"Traditional Chinese Medicine, this officially approved methodology which is promoted by the Chinese Government...was itself a creation of the latter half of the twentieth century and is, in fact, only one line of development among many from a conglomeration of theories and practices in the Orient stretching back to the Stone Age and which I will refer to by the more generic and inclusive label, Traditional Oriental Medicine... TCM developed in China under the guiding light of dialectical materialism. As such, it has needed to reject those historical aspects of Traditional Oriental Medicine that reflected spiritual issues...Essentially, it has focused on somatic complaints (bodily symptoms) and has relegated most complaints of mental, emotional, and spiritual distress to the realm of politics. ...regarding the style of practice taught by Professor Worsley... His approach specifically aims at touching the more intimate levels of human experience, especially the life of the spirit, which one of the original foundations of Traditional Oriental Medicine."

Employing the term Leamington Acupuncture (L.A.) to refer to Professor Worsley's Classical Five-Element system, borrowed from the name of the English town which was, for many years, the home of Worsley's school, Dr. Eckman continues:

"L.A...seems to me to have preferentially adopted those elements of Traditional Oriental Medicine of a more metaphysical character - the place of man in the cosmos and the meaning - be it physical, psychological, or spiritual - of his moment to moment experience in health or in illness."

Gumenick asserts, "What we do at the Institute is teach our students to diagnose and treat everyone as a unique individual with unique physical, mental, and spiritual issues that must be addressed in order for real healing to occur. In twenty years of practice, I have not seen a single patient who is only physically sick. There is always a mental and spiritual component which is actually at the root of disease and unique to the individual. The ancient Chinese knew this. Therefore, in this system, no two patients, even with the same physical symptoms, are ever treated the same. As our mission statement proclaims, our purpose is to enable practitioners to provide the highest standard of care to the bodies, minds, and spirits of patients."