Marilyn Allen, Editor, Acupuncture Today
Marilyn Allen is a nationally-known leader and Instructor in the fields of Professional Ethics, Medical Malpractice, Marketing, Office Practice and Risk Management. She is the editor of Acupuncture Today and a consultant to the California State Board of Acupuncture. Marilyn holds an MS degree from Pepperdine University. She teaches courses at over 20 Colleges of Oriental Medicine. She is the current director of marketing for the American Acupuncture Council.

Topic - Enforcement
Enforcement efforts against practitioners are increasing, which translate as more money from violations. Complaints, allegations, audits, citations, fines, lawsuits, and malpractice filings are all on the rise. Where are these all coming from and how can you protect yourself? Ethics and enforcement can be thought of as a balancing scale. There are things you need to do. There are things you must not do. Then, turn these regulations into practice building assets.

Brian Bender, MSTOM, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Brian Bender holds a B.S. in Education/Mathematics from the University of Colorado and a Masters Degree from McClaren College of Business Administration, University of San Francisco. After earning his MSTOM degree from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (1996), he completed his certification in Five Element Acupuncture from The Institute of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Inc. (2001). He spent two years in the Master Apprentice Program™ under the direction of Professor J.R. and Dr. J.B. Worsley. Brian has over 25 years of training and teaching in Aikido and Iaido. He is an instructor and clinical supervisor at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego. He maintains a private practice in Del Mar, CA.

Brian Bender will be the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

Niki Bilton, M.Ac. (UK), MBAcC., L.Ac.
Niki Bilton holds 3 degrees from the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) and served on its faculty from 1988-1999, holding the positions of Clinical Supervisor, Advanced Training Tutor, and Dean of Post Graduate Studies. Niki has offered/taught seminars and clinical events throughout Europe and North America since 1995. She is President of Tending Shen Inc., providing treatment and graduate education, and Academic Dean of Onigiara College of Acupuncture and Moxabustion, Ontario, Canada

Topic - To Hear: The Sounds of the Five Elements
This presentation will review the five sounds, using recorded and live readings and conversations of confirmed CFs and elements within, and cover practitioner use of sound in diagnostic inquiry. Participants will deepen their practical grasp of the sounds of the voices through experiential exercises and discussion. The aim is to encourage mastery of listening skills, leading to greater clinical efficacy.

David Ford, Lic. Ac. (UK), Dipl. Ac
David Ford is a College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) graduate (1981). He has studied the Five Elements and Chinese Medicine since 1973. He deeply believes that we can never be masters of our sacred art, only students - that curiosity, wonder, and a sense of reverential awe are our greatest allies. He describes himself as a simple farm boy from New Zealand, more in love with Five Elements now than ever before in his life.

Topic - The Magnificant Wholism of the Spirits of the Points
Through more than thirty years of clinical experience, David has found that the Spirits of the Points' names are often literal expressions of what can be found in nature. In this session, using images from the natural world, we will explore the deep personal connection one can forge with the remaining deep wilderness areas of the world to transmit the ancient knowledge contained in these powerful and sacred names.

Stephen "Tuna" Flores, L.Ac., M.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Stephen "Tuna" Flores, graduated from the Worsley Institute of Classical Acupuncture (WICA III), received his Advanced Lic.Ac at the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) and his Masters from The Academy for Five Element Acupuncture. He was a member of MAP™ and is a Worsley certified Advanced Teacher. He trained as a shaman and practices "Plant Spirit Medicine." He has worked extensively with traditional healers in Fiji, the Amazon, Mexico, and the American West. Stephen has been teaching and practicing with wife Pat Gorman in New York for nearly 20 years.

Pat Gorman, M.Ac., B.Ac., (UK), L.Ac., Dipl. Ac
Pat Gorman holds degrees from the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) and Tai Sophia, was a member of MAP™, and is a Worsley certified Advanced Teacher. Her work with the Classics includes study with Pere Larre, Jeffrey Yuen, and Giovanni Macciocia. She has been teaching T'ai Chi for over 40 years and is the developer of Roots and Branches Five Element Qi Gong. Pat is a legacy holder of Yang style T'ai Chi for the T'ai Chi Foundation.

Topic - Heavenly Acupuncture: The Classical Spirits of the Five Elements
This session will enrich our understanding of the individual spirits found within each element (Zhr, Hun, Shen, Yi, and P'o). Each plays a role in our life, destiny, death, and afterlife: the classical path of enlightenment and transcendence envisioned by the ancient Chinese. By understanding, accessing, and using these aspects of spirit, we can strongly support our patients on their paths to healing, happiness, and realizing their true and full potential.

Topic - Roots and Branches Five Element Qi Gong
Qi Gong supports the patient's energy through breath and T'ai Chi based movements, including standing Yin postures that build reserves, moving Yang postures that transform and transport, and energy massages that support the Qi of the meridians. These techniques, designed to precisely parallel Classical Five Element Acupuncture, provide a way of deepening the effects of and extending the energy benefits from one acupuncture treatment to the next.

Topic - Enhancement of Practice: Roots and Branches Five Element Qi Gong
This class will be spent refining and learning to teach a series of simple moves and breathing exercises to patients. These techniques will add powerful healing tools to your repertoire, empower patients in achieving their health goals, and help include them in their own healing process.

Chuck Graham, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Chuck Graham is a licensed acupuncturist in the State of Maryland since 2001. He holds the degree of Master of Acupuncture from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Gainesville, FL where he is also the Academic Dean. He asserts, "The traditional Five Element acupuncturist must understand each client as a whole being with unique aspects." It is this inherent dimension of caring that brought Chuck to Classical Five Element Acupuncture.

Topic - Treatment Planning
This course presents a practical method for treatment planning, supplying tools to discern how and when to use particular points and how to unify them to treat the underlying imbalance. Participants will learn how to utilize 3 stages of treatment planning: summarizing the diagnosis, forming an overall treatment principle, and planning individual treatments. Participants will learn how to make effective treatment plans and manage patients in a profound way, respecting the singular qualities of each individual.

Neil R. Gumenick, M.Ac. (UK), L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Neil Gumenick is Founder and Director of The Institute of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Inc. and has been in practice since 1981. He holds 3 degrees from the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) and an Advanced Teacher certification. Neil has written and taught extensively on the spirits of every point. He was a 10-year participant and senior coach in MAP™, has taught at numerous Oriental medical schools and symposia internationally, and is a longstanding columnist for Acupuncture Today.

Topic - The Spirits of the Points: The "Not So Common Ones"
In this session, Neil will explain the spiritual connotations and uses of deeply powerful, but often overlooked points from each meridian. These points can become tremendous allies once the practitioner understands and embodies them. Specific cases wherein the practitioner might call upon these points and how to implement them into a cohesive treatment plan will be discussed.

Dirk Hein, M.Ac. (UK), L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Dirk Hein is Founder and Director of Wu Hsing Tao School in Seattle, WA. He has been in private practice for 27 years. In 1987, he received his Master's Degree from J.R. Worsley at the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK). He also has a teaching certification from the Worsley Institute. Dirk was 2 term President of Acupuncture Association of Washington, 2 term Chair of the Acupuncture Advisory Committee in Washington, and has served on the faculty of several OAM institutions.

Topic - Finding the Way to becoming an Instrument of Medicine
"Being an Instrument" of Five Element Acupuncture refers to the distinction Professor Worsley made between a mere acupuncture technician and a practitioner dedicated to reaching the patient on the deepest levels. Various aspects of being an effective "Instruments" will be addressed as participants engage and work through exercises that bring conscious the practitioner's innate perception of odor, color, sound, and emotion, with the goal of learning to experience the patient as a complex individual in need of our skill and support.

Eliot Ivanhoe, M.D., M.Ac. (UK)
Eliot Ivanhoe received his M.D. from NYU School of Medicine, completed a residency in neurology at NYU-Bellevue Medical Center, and studied Classical Five Element Acupuncture with J.R. Worsley in Leamington Spa. These studies continued in the Master Apprentice Program™ with J.R. and Judy Worsley until 2005. Eliot is a certified Advanced Teacher of CF-EA, a practitioner of the Arica way of enlightenment, and serves on the faculty of The Institute of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Inc.

Topic - Toward a Science of Healing
How do we know if our treatments are efficacious? Most of us have been taught to use the "Law of Cure", but really the principles of this Law rarely apply in the practice of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture. Furthermore, while the alleviation of symptoms is seductively desirable, the discernment of actual healing is something else altogether. This presentation will explore attributes of healing that serve as our immediate feedback and guidance - so we can know directly the progress of our patients.

Khosrow Khalighi, M.Ac. (UK), L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Founder and Director of Five Element Trainings, Khosrow Khalighi has been practicing and teaching Classical Five Element Acupuncture since 1979. He has trained a number of leading medical practitioners who have incorporated this approach into their practices. He has lectured and taught extensively in medical and acupuncture schools such as the University of California Medical School in San Francisco, Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Maryland, Worsley Institute, American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and California Institute of Integral Studies.

Topic - Working with Spirit - A Practitioner's Model
Classical Five Element Acupuncture offers us a unique wisdom, body of knowledge and set of tools to diagnose and treat patients on the deepest level of the Spirit. This, above all, is what allows us to say that this system of medicine addresses the treatment of the whole person.

It is a formidable task for the practitioner to maintain a clear connection to this aspect of the practice and to meet the challenge of consistently applying this deep and far reaching knowledge in day-to-day practice.

This presentation examines the nature of "Working with the Spirit" through a way of developing self-observation and working with a specific model and practical exercises based on the theory and movement of the Five Elements. The model is informed by decades of teaching and clinical practice.

George Rodriguez, M.D.
George Rodriguez received his M.D. degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1980. He has practiced Emergency Medicine for 28 years is Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Scripps Memorial Hospital, Encinitas, CA. He is a graduate of The Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Program in Santa Monica, CA and the Helms Institute of Medical Acupuncture. He is board certified by the American Board of Holistic Medicine and a member of the American Board of Medical Acupuncturists.

Topic - Integration of Acupuncture and Western Medicine
Acupuncture is increasingly becoming recognized as a resource by medical doctors. It is imperative that acupuncturists understand the changing medical environment in order to optimize patient care and collaborate with Western physicians. Applications of Five Element acupuncture and potential inroads and avenues of integration will be explored; specific goals of physicians, when referring a patient, will be discussed as well as the expectations for follow up and repeated referrals. Suggestions will be provided on how to form working relationships with Western medical practitioners.

Linda Simons, RN, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.
Linda Simons has 30 years experience in the field of health care. As a member of the faculty at Tai Sophia Institute, Linda practices and teaches CF-EA based on her extensive training with JR and Judy Worsley in both England and the US. Linda received her MAc degree from TAI in 1996 is also a 1991 graduate of the Potomac Massage Training Institute with postgraduate certification in prenatal and infant massage, chakra balancing and trauma recovery work. Linda served as an RN for ten years at George Washington University Hospital in ICU Obstetrics and Labor & Delivery Suites after graduating from Hartwick College in 1983.

Topic - Nature's Wisdom - How to be a Healing Presence for Others.
We all bring our own customs, social mores, comfort levels, and experiences to the treatment room. When working with individuals whose cultural backgrounds differ from our own, who are in a different stage of life, or who have experienced trauma, the fundamental principles of our work apply. This session will focus on overcoming the challenges these "differences" bring to our work, so that we can create safety and become a healing presence for others.

Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture arose out of the deep wilderness. Unfortunately, in our city centred healing practises, we have all too often lost this 'roots knowledge' that underpins the profoundly simple 'self evident truths' revealed by the Five Elements system.

This one day field trip into nature in Topanga Canyon is open to any practitioner or student from any healing arts path; patients; and the lay public. Participant's relationship to their inner and outer worlds will be enhanced, magnified and deepened after attendance.

David will lead us on a sacred journey into the worlds of FLORA ~ FIRE ~ EARTH ~ MINERAL ~ WATER, awakening a broader knowledge within us which will deepen our understanding and compassion for others and ourselves. David has been leading practitioners and students from all walks of life on wilderness awakening walks for 37 years. He is a world authority and teacher in the Five Element tradition.

The cost for this day is $100.00; $75.00 for students. Contact David at 503-705-0895. Arrangements for transportation made on registration.

Bring a bag with lunch, fluids, and a 'treat for a friend' to be shared. Weather dependent? warm and rainproof.