News from NADA

Nurses Breaking More Barriers In Colorado

Filed under: News — @ 10:23 am

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Beyond Talk Tapes Available

Filed under: News — @ 6:34 pm

The recent conference in Sacramento now offers MP3 downloads for all the speakers, including Michael O. Smith. Go to www.carasac.net. Videotapes are also available at www.howardjamison.com.

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Army PTSD Study On Track To Present Findings This Year

Filed under: News — @ 4:17 pm

Findings from a study on the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for PTSD among military personnel may be reported later this year, according to research officials at the US Army’s prestigious Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.

According to the government web site www.clinicaltrials.gov initial report on the study, untreated PTSD “leads to decreased force readiness and increased health care utilization. Yet, service members with the disorder may be resistant to traditional treatments or find them undesirable because of side-effects, stigma, and long-term commitment.

“Acupuncture, which has few known side effects, holds promise as an effective treatment option for PTSD. Acupuncture has been shown to improve well-being and has been successfully used to treat stress, anxiety and pain conditions.”

Col. Charles C. Engel , principal investigator of the project, reports that data collection and primary statistical analysis have been completed and secondary analysis is currently underway. He says that the project intends to report data at upcoming professional conferences. These include the Force Health Protection conference in Albuquerque and the International Society for Trauma Stress Studies (ISTSS) in Chicago.

According to the web site, the project was intended to enroll up to 75 subjects, all active duty personnel. Researchers were to gauge the subjects’ PTSD status and response to treatment with the PTSD Checklist during a 12-week, randomized, waitlist-controlled trial. Participants were to receive an eight-session course of acupuncture treatment, and were to be evaluated throughout the study by way of clinical assessments and an independent assessing acupuncturist.

According to the study staff, all subjects were to receive a standardized protocol, based on Chinese medicine principles, for “clearing and calming” during the first four treatment sessions. During the fifth through eighth sessions, individualized treatments were to be given according to Chinese medicine diagnosis. All acupuncture services were to be performed by licensed acupuncturists who were graduates of the TAI Sophia Institute located in nearby Laurel, Maryland.

Marjorie Shovlin, a licensed acupuncturist in Washington, DC, was one of the acupuncturists providing treatment during the 18-month study period. She gave a presentation on the study methods and goals at the 18th annual NADA conference in May of last year.

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9/11 Survivors Recieving NADA Treatment Show Lower Stress Symptoms

Filed under: News — @ 3:06 pm

Further evidence for the value of the NADA protocol for treatment of stress emerges from the 9/11 catastrophe. A Manhattan hospital near Ground Zero set up a trauma relief program immediately after the attack. NADA –style acupuncture was included along with Reiki, as part of an “integrative stress management program.”

The St. Vincent’s Hospital project gathered data on 99 patients ages 20-83. The first group of subjects received the traditional NADA five earpoint acupuncture alone and the second group received both the ear needling and Reiki treatment. The two groups were very similar in how they rated their stress level pre-treatment on a 0-4 self assessment scale (2.43 and 2.64 respectively).

Following treatment ,the groups’ average scores improved to 1.33 and .96. Statistical analysis of the scores shows that the improvement by both groups was statistically significant (P < 0.01) but the difference between the groups was not significant.

The authors conclude: “As new York City and the surrounding community has continued to experience physical and financial stress, the need for services at the center have increased. This patient satisfaction survey has concluded that the patients are benefiting from the treatments provided by the program.”

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Virginia Officials Praise NADA Work In Their “Conservative” State

Filed under: News — @ 11:24 am

People new to NADA work often marvel at the fact that acupuncture for addiction treatment thrives in places in the world noted more for their social conservatism than for innovation. NADA held its 2007 annual conference in one of these places – Roanoke, a small city in the hills of the state of Virginia.

Among the conference speakers were two state officials, one a human services administrator and the other a pioneer drug court judge. Their remarks showed how well NADA has found acceptance in the region.

James M. “Jim” Martinez, head of the Virginia mental health system, spoke about some of the reasons why the NADA method has been widely adapted in his “conservative, fiscally responsible” state with a tradition of being “low tax, low service.”

Mental health and addiction services operate in the state through 49 different “community service boards” (CSBs). These are located in urban as well as “very rural” areas and, according to Jim, “They’re quite different from locality to locality … They’re local government entities and there’s a strong tradition of local government autonomy here.” [Editor’s Note: Since NADA services exist in all types of areas in Virginia, this means that the value of NADA proved itself repeatedly at the local level within each CSB.]

Like all states, Jim explained, Virginia is having to transform its service delivery system to deal with increasing demand and shrinking resources. “We want to change the culture of our service system – both the organizational culture to become kind of a culture of healing and hope and recovery and also the physical culture of our service system,” Jim said, adding: “We want to change the language that we use in the way we talk about each other and about what we do.

“That’s a tough nut to crack. We have people that we serve who have been in our rehabilitation programs for 18, 19, 20 years. And we have to ask ourselves – what is it about that experience that we need to look at and facilitate recovery. I think that’s partly because our funding doesn’t create an incentive for recovery. It, in fact, may create an incentive for dependence.

“I think we underestimate the degree to which getting a diagnosis of mental illness or having an addiction can be a spirit breaking experience for people… And to believe, because of the stigma that we have, that that’s the way you are going to be for the rest of your life is a pretty crushing blow for people … we forget sometimes that for the individual we need to find a way to re-awaken the hope in that person following that despair … It involves active coping versus just a passive kind of adjustment, reclaiming a positive sense of yourself, and having a new and different kind of connection with other people.

“ My own belief is that [NADA work is] very much consistent with that vision of recovery. And acupuncture can help create a welcoming, healing kind of environment for people, support a culture of healing, and help providers and participants collaborate in a different way in a recovery process. My understanding is that [NADA] takes people where they are, and it doesn’t really matter where you are – it matters where you’re going. And it can show people that they can take some control over their own recovery path and that change is possible, that there is hope of full recovery for everyone. To the extent that that happens, that is exactly what our vision is.”

Diane Strickland is a retired judge who spoke about her experiences presiding over Virginia’s first drug court, located in Roanoke. Because of the availability of the NADA protocol in the treatment system run by the local CSB, drug court participants could receive the benefits of auricular acupuncture.

According to Diane, an evaluation of the Roanoke drug court outcomes by professors at nearby Virginia Tech University showed that participants were 60% compliant, compared to 35% for drug offenders in the criminal justice system who do not go through the drug court track. The evaluation also found a 10% recidivism rate for drug-related felons participating in drug court, compared to a 45% rate for drug-related felons that go through normal case-processing.

She concluded that “the real successes of drug courts are not in the statistics, but in the stories of the individuals that go through the drug court programs: the mothers who birth drug-free babies, the mothers who are able to reclaim their children from foster care, the fathers who begin to play a role – both financially and personally in the lives of their children. They’re the stories of the individuals who have never held a job, who get a GED, who get job training and become a tax-paying citizen. And they’re the stories of people who have been addicted for 5, 10, 15, and sometimes more than 20 years who come into the program and leave the program with the tools that they will need to serve them well through the rest of their life to being a responsible member of society.”

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Beyond Talk Therapy: New Frontiers in Addiction Treatmen

Filed under: News — @ 8:03 am

Join CARA at a Symposium of Discovery Presenting Experts in Brain Repair for Addiction Treatment and Recovery

September 27 - 29, 2007
Sacramento, California

Click Here to Register Now

More than 350 addiction treatments professionals are expected at the 2007 CARA Symposium as they explore evidence-based New Frontiers in Addiction Treatment.

All addiction professionals know, that keeping the clients in treatment is the key to success in recovery. Top professionals, experts in the field join academic researchers to share with drug treatment providers the most current evidence-based research and strategies integrating mind-body techniques with conventional therapies to achieve the goal of recovery.

During the three day Symposium you will have many networking opportunities to meet and talk to our presenters, researchers, and providers from across the U.S. In fact, networking is an important goal of this Symposium. Join our Welcome and Networking Reception for a lively and informative event. You will find ample opportunities each day built into the structure of our meeting to find people for mentoring, friendship, and continuing dialogue on topics of your special interest.

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MASCA Conference attendees rave about the NADA protocol!

Filed under: News — @ 5:01 pm

The NADA protocol created a buzz at the June, 2007 Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association Conference in Groton, Connecticut. NADA acu detox specialist and acupuncturist, Marcia Salter and acupuncturist Garry Johnson introduced the protocol to an enthusiastic group with great results. Here are some of the reactions from conference attendees who received treatments in the MASCA Wellness Room:

“This was the best part of the conference…This was better than any stress reduction class.”

“It’s a relaxing and new experience. This was a unique type of session which contributes to our overall wellness.”

“It was a great way to try something new in an informative setting.”

“…this should be used for the (MASCA 2008) Ocean City Conference for relaxation.”

“This was an awesome experience.” – Garry Johnson, M.S., Licensed Acupuncturist, presenter and acupuncturist in the MASCA Conference Wellness Room

“Garry and I are so appreciative for this opportunity. We worked with an excellent massage therapist, Andrew. The people we treated were great patients – curious and open to experiencing and learning about this treatment. Together all of us recreated the environment at the Lincoln Recovery Center where I learned the NADA protocol. MASCA Secretary Judy Blackman told us that people were floating out of the room. If this protocol can relax people on the frontlines, then we’ve had the desired effect. Relaxed workers are more productive workers. – Marcia Salter, M.S, L.Ac., jazz acupuncturist, presenter and acupuncturist in the MASCA Conference Wellness Room

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NADA IN A NUTSHELL

The NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) Protocol involves inserting tiny, sterilized needles in 3 to 5 acupuncture points on each ear and retaining those needles for up to 45 minutes to relieve opiate withdrawal symptoms. It also relieves symptoms of stress.

The NADA protocol has been used to treat first responders after 911 as well as first responders and victims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Director of the Office of Health Services in the Virginia Department of Mental Health, James Martinez says NADA practitioners have offered their services in the aftermath of the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech.

Look for a Walter Reed Army Medical Center study measuring the effects of full body acupuncture and the NADA protocol on Iraq war veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. One of the acupuncturists involved in the study Marjorie Shovlin, preliminarily reports that her patients experienced improved digestion, less fear, improved sleep and a return to hobbies.

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“Beyond Talk Therapy: New Frontiers in Addiction Treatment” Workshop

Filed under: News — @ 10:32 am

Michael Smith, MD on “Healing Through Relationship, Not Action”
Libby Stuyt, MD on “Acupuncture for Smoking Cessation and Addiction in a Mental Health Facility”
Lianne Audette, L.Ac. on “Using Ear Seeds For Adults And Infants”
Joan Mathews-Larson, PhD on “Addiction As A Nutritional Deficiency Disease”
Julia Ross on “Successful Treatments For Methamphetamine And Marijuana Addiction”

Plus other experts in acupuncture, nutrition, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, yoga, EMDR, EFT, and cranial electrical stimulation used for addiction treatment.

CEUs will be offered. Hosted by Community Addiction Recovery Association (CARA) at the Red Lion Sacramento Inn, Sacramento, CA, September 27-29, 2007. Contact www.carasac.org or 916-485-2272 for more information.

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Major Insuror To Exhibit At NADA Conference

Filed under: Announcement — @ 3:52 pm

American Acupuncture Council of Santa Ana, California, one of only two insurance firms offering special liability products for health care workers trained as Acupuncture Detoxification Specialists, will once again be a major exhibitor at the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association annual conference.

NADA’s 17th annual conference will take place in Roanoke, Virgina May 18 - 19. For more information about the conference, visit the NADA web site.

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New ADS Trainings Announced

Filed under: News — @ 4:23 pm

Two new trainings are announced today on the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association web site.

In Albuquerque, Laura Cooley will present the beginning of NADA Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist Certificate Training. This training will run from March 15 through 18. Call (505) 232-7654 for more information.

In Dallas, Susana Mendez, MD, will present the full Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist Certificate Training. This training will run April 9 through 13. Contact Susana at (214) 941-3500 Ext 283 & by email smendez@homewardboundinc.org

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News from NADA

December 4, 2009

Nurses Breaking More Barriers In Colorado

January 22, 2008

Beyond Talk Tapes Available

January 6, 2008

Army PTSD Study On Track To Present Findings This Year

November 30, 2007

9/11 Survivors Recieving NADA Treatment Show Lower Stress Symptoms

September 26, 2007

Virginia Officials Praise NADA Work In Their “Conservative” State

July 26, 2007

Beyond Talk Therapy: New Frontiers in Addiction Treatmen

June 11, 2007

MASCA Conference attendees rave about the NADA protocol!

June 2, 2007

“Beyond Talk Therapy: New Frontiers in Addiction Treatment” Workshop

February 16, 2007

Major Insuror To Exhibit At NADA Conference

February 14, 2007

New ADS Trainings Announced