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The NADA Protocol – Thinking Outside The Box 26th May 2015 Research Dissertation Level 6 AC6906
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COLLEGE OF INTEGRATED CHINESE MEDICINE, READING, UK
The NADA Protocol-Thinking Outside The Box
Research and Reflective Practice Level 6 AC6906
Dissertation
Deborah Trafford 12.2
26th May 2015
Word Count 9,439
The NADA Protocol – Thinking Outside The Box 26th May 2015 Research Dissertation Level 6 AC6906
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(Straun 2015)
The NADA Protocol – Thinking Outside The Box 26th May 2015 Research Dissertation Level 6 AC6906
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Acknowledgements
Surveys are always reliant on the generosity of the people who participate in them so I am
grateful to all the practitioners who gave time and attention to complete the questionnaire,
especially those who gave their names for future contact. I particularly thank the
interviewees Gisela Norman, Nic Constable, Christine Smyth, Emma Guy and Maria
Okereafor for their generosity and insights into personal perspectives on NADA as an
amazing treatment for any number of reasons. Their passion and excitement really
motivated my investigations.
To Rachel, thank you for your belief in me and all your support in getting this investigation
off the ground. Your passion for NADA has inspired me.
With thanks to NADA-UK Trustees and Caroline for giving me access to the contact
database.
Thank you to Alison Savory, dissertation supervisor, for your enthusiasm for my project,
your support and expert advice.
With thanks to Mark Bovey at CICM for being available, supportive and helpful especially
with developing the questionnaire.
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Contents
Page
Acknowledgements ii
List of Tables, Charts and Appendices iv
Abstract vi
Introduction 1
Aims and Objectives 2
Rationale 2
Literature Review 3
Methodology 7
Sample 8
Data Collection 8
Rationale 9
Interviews 10
Pilot 10
Results 12
Introduction 12
Quantitative Analysis 13
Qualitative Analysis 22
Interviews 25
Discussion 36
Principle Findings 37
Strengths and Weaknesses 39
Meaning of the Study 41
Future Research 42
Personal Learning 43
Conclusion 45
References 47-49
Appendix 1
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List of Tables, Charts and Appendices
Tables
Table 1 Advantages and disadvantages of internet survey platform
Table 2 Results from Questions 1&2
Table 3 NADA-UK 2013-14 Survey – Type of Clinic ‘Other’ Category
Charts List
Results
Chart 1 Type of clinic
Chart 2 Work for/within
Chart 3 Take medical history
Chart 4 Use other points
Chart 5 Relieves bodily pain
Chart 6 Reduces general headaches
Chart 7 Reduces migraine
Chart 8 Reduces high blood pressure
Chart 9 Helps mesnstrual problems
Chart 10 Depression
Chart 11 Mental health
Chart 12 Frequency of Comment
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Appendices
1. About the NADA protocol
2. Auricular points and functions
3. NADA-UK 2013-14 Questionnaire
4. On-line survey of NADA Practitioners – Questionnaire
5. NADA-UK 2013-14 Results
6. On-line survey of NADA Practitioners – Extra results
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Abstract
The standardised ear acupuncture protocol known as the NADA protocol consists of 5
acupuncture points: Shenmen, Sympathetic, Kidney, Liver and Lung. Its main use is in the
fields of substance misuse, addiction and rehabilitation as a supportive adjunctive treatment
to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal. As use of this simple, safe and cost effective
treatment grew in popularity and spread worldwide it has provided relief to thousands of
people in other different settings such as mental health and humanitarian aid.
The aims of this investigation were to discover whether the NADA protocol is being provided
for patients in settings/clinics outside of drug and alcohol rehabilitation services (D&A) and
what the benefits to those patients are.
A survey of NADA qualified practitioners was carried out by on-line questionnaire to
discover the types of clinics where they work, independently or through a service provider
and their opinions on the benefits of NADA for seven types of health problems. Multiple
choice questions returned quantitative data and the option to provide personal opinions
analysed qualitatively. A semi-structured interview of five NADA practitioners provided
insights and anecdotal evidence.
The paucity of primary source research specifically into NADA outside D&A meant that a
liberal approach was taken to the literature review. It uncovered personal journeys, news
stories and some research evidence for NADA benefiting patients in cancer care, high stress
environments, with migraine and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Results showed that 52% of practitioners work in D&A settings as all or a part of their work;
range of settings included private acupuncture practice, residential facilities, GP surgery,
RAF community centre, school, prison, hospice, workplace and relaxation group. For specific
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client groups: youth, elderly, homeless, leaning disabled, cancer, harm reduction, staff in
D&A clinics as well as clients and community NADA groups.
Results showed that NADA has benefits to health, including mental health, reducing
depression, anxiety and panic, inducing calm relaxation. Emotional and bodily pain is
alleviated, also headaches and migraine and hypertension. Benefits to menstrual problems
were inconclusive. Strong evidence shows NADA to be beneficial for hot flushes associated
with cancer treatment in men and women.
In conclusion, NADA has a place in the spectrum of acupuncture treatment as it seems to
provide health benefits to a diverse range of people in a wide range of settings. More
research needs to be carried out to build an evidence base of the benefits of NADA
treatment.
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INTRODUCTION
The NADA protocol is a standardised 5-point auricular acupuncture protocol which has a
balancing effect on the body and mind. Inspired by the use in China of electro-auricular
acupuncture, it has become an internationally recognised treatment since it was developed
in America over 40yrs ago as a supportive component in drug detoxification settings
(Appendix 1).
5 needles are placed bilaterally in the ear auricle at specific points which are Shenmen,
sympathetic, Kidney, Liver and Lung each having a specific effect on the Qi and functions of
the Organs (Appendix 2).
In addition to the specific auricular acupuncture points, the original criteria for the protocol
included being:
Non-verbal;
Non-diagnostic - no need for medical history or health complaints, nor disclosure of
psycho-emotional issues.
Given in sessions with patients sitting quietly together for about 45 minutes.
Part of a multifaceted approach, not a stand-alone treatment.
5 needles are placed bilaterally in the ear auricle at specific points: Shenmen, sympathetic,
Kidney, Liver and Lung. Without the group setting the procedure would be more accurately
called 5-needle, or point, auricular acupuncture but the term NADA has become shorthand
for describing auricular acupuncture of just the 5 points and will be used throughout this
report.
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The NADA protocol is simple, safe and easy to learn and as such has become widely
practiced by people with no training in traditional acupuncture as well as being part of the
3-4yr training of acupuncture practitioners of East Asian Medical systems. The ease of use,
cost effective and standardised nature of the NADA protocol means it has evolved into a
treatment that can have a wide range of applications from open access community
acupuncture to schools and prisons; from reducing stress in the workplace to reducing side
effects of cancer treatment; from the local community to the world wide community
affected by war or disaster.
Aims and Objectives
The aims and objectives of this dissertation are to explore the wider applications of the
NADA protocol by discovering the range of settings where NADA treatment is currently
provided, ie. types of clinic and what kinds of patients; and to ascertain what opinions and
beliefs NADA practitioners have about the benefits of NADA treatment and its application to
other mental, physical and emotional symptoms and conditions outside of the original
purpose of addiction rehabilitation. The research question is:
In what settings are UK NADA practitioners using the NADA protocol and what are their
opinions on the health benefits of the treatment?
Rationale
The practice of acupuncture in the West is normally based on one-to-one, individualised
treatment that aims to identify and treat the underlying imbalances and causes of the
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patient’s disease patterns and symptoms. NADA is a standardised treatment that is neither
diagnostic nor requires a diagnosis but research and anecdotal evidence shows that it can
make a significant contribution to improving people’s physical, mental and emotional health
both by the acupuncture treatment itself and in the way that it is delivered.
In recent years NADA has been used effectively in areas of mental health and wellbeing,
recovering from trauma (Thick 2010), helping ameliorate side effects from drug treatment in
cancer (de Valois 2012, Harding 2009), helping relaxation in young people with behavioural
disorders (Douglas 2004), aiding recovery from benzodiazepine dependency and providing
relief in stress, anxiety and panic disorders (NADA-UK 2014).
NADA-UK (Appendix 2) is a training provider for the NADA protocol and in their 2013-14 re-
registration process they became aware that their practitioners were using their skills,
knowledge and generosity of spirit to take NADA into different communities and settings
and were observing surprising benefits (Peckham 2014).
The purpose of the current survey of practitioner’s current clinics and treatment outcomes
is to raise awareness of the NADA protocol’s wider applications. The evidence may suggest
areas for future trial based research on the benefits of NADA treatment and supportive
research evidence will assist practitioners aiming to access funding for clinics or to set up
their own NADA clinics.
Literature Review
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Dr Michael O. Smith, director of the Lincoln Recovery Centre, the home of the NADA
protocol explains that the 5-point auricular acupuncture protocol was originally discovered
as a supportive element in drug and alcohol settings where it helped control withdrawal
symptoms and it continues to play an important role in rehabilitation treatment (Smith
2009). Since that time research into the effectiveness of NADA has been mainly focussed on
treatment for addiction to various substances (Bemis 2013). The randomised control trial,
the gold standard of medical research to validate quantitative data, has often been
employed by research in this area and Peckham (2005) cites (Bullock (1989), Washburn
(1993), Lipton (1994), Otto (1998), Avants (2000) and Margolin (2002) in this regard. Despite
methodological weakness in most research into the effects of acupuncture in general for the
treatment of substance abuse (Robinson and Bovey 2007) the NADA protocol continues to
be popular. In general NADA has been shown to be an effective treatment for reducing
symptoms of addiction and promoting certain benefits such as reduced craving and
intensity of withdrawal symptoms, improved sleep, increased sense of calm and relaxation
but can the treatment be beneficial for other conditions and symptoms and what evidence
is there?
A search was made on using PubMed, AltHealthWatch and Google scholar using the key
words: NADA, NADA protocol and auricular acupuncture. Results were excluded for non-
human, acupressure, electro-therapy, substances or addiction, body acupuncture,
unspecified auricular points used and non-English language. There is a paucity of research
into the treatment outcomes of NADA outside of D&A available to review, especially
primary sources so a more liberal approach was taken to the literature review taking in
human interest stories and anecdotal evidence.
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Review took place from July 2014 to May 2015
Two particular articles inspired the investigation into the role that NADA can play in health
care: Peckham (2014), 24 years of NADA, in the BAcC journal and a moving article by de
Valois (2006) describing her journey from acupuncturist to NADA practitioner, to
researching the effects of NADA on women experiencing severe vasomotor symptoms from
adjunctive treatment for breast cancer (hot flushes): an early ‘outside the box’ research into
the wider applications of NADA on a physical health condition. Further papers and research
have grown out of this seminal work, for example most recently de Valois et al (2014)
released results of a pre-research project looking at NADA treatment for men with prostate
cancer who experience hot flushes and other physical, mental and emotional symptoms
showing positive results and concluding that further investigation is warranted. This is
supported by work on NADA to reduce vasomotor symptoms resulting from treatment with
luteinising-hormone releasing agonist in prostate cancer by Harding (2008).
Some understanding of how NADA works leads to speculation on its wider applications and
questions about why and how it benefits health were reviewed in an article by Toomin
(2007) which explains the effect of the NADA points in relation to JingShen, a spiritual
concept in Chinese Medicine, and the functions of the specific 5 auricular points in the
Auriculotherapy Manual by Oleson (2003). Summarised in Appendix 2.
The internet search revealed 3 papers that satisfied the “Outside the Box” criteria:
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Oyola-Santiago T. et al (2013) looked into the provision of auricular acupuncture
and acupressure in a university setting a tool to enhance harm reduction and
mental health services.
Reilly et al (2014) trialled NADA treatments to relieve stress and anxiety in
healthcare workers in order to alleviate burnout and renew compassion and care
at work.
Preliminary results by Ceccherelli et al (2012) support the effectiveness of
auricular acupuncture for migraine at 6 months follow up.
All three studies show NADA to be an effective treatment to alleviate symptoms and
improve well-being.
The Times Educational Supplement published an article by Douglas (2004), about NADA
being provided in a school in the UK for boys aged 11-16 who had been excluded from
mainstream education because they suffer from severe behavioural and emotional
difficulties. NADA has been helping students for the past 9 years and Jason Knowlessar, a
teacher at Starhurst School for Boys, has provided NADA treatment for 4 years, finding it
helps the boys relax, improve concentration and sometimes reduce smoking. (Peckham
2014)
Unimagined Bridges, a video produced by Acudetox, US, is inspirational in showing how
NADA is benefitting members of US communities affected by severe trauma and
environmental disasters such as following the terrorist devastation in New York known as
9/11, in 2001 and following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Acudetox 2014)
The NADA-UK website hosts video talks from Scandinavian nurses whose work in psychiatric
care has been transformed by using NADA for their patients. (NADA-UK 2012)
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Smyth (2012) carried out a trial of family carers in a small community in the UK. Results
showed that there was marked improvement in measured mental states such as depression
anxiety and stress and significant improvement in measures of well-being, energy levels and
emotions/mood. A study by Cronin (2013) looked at whether NADA could help insomnia and
symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) experienced by combat
service members and veterans and concluded that NADA is a useful tool to reduce the
development of PTSD following combat trauma. Similarly a case study by Golden (2012)
showed that 6 months of NADA relieved a variety of symptoms including chronic fatigue,
depression and grief, general anxiety, headaches, insomnia, nightmares, irritability, and
panic attacks. At seven months follow up indicated that some level of relief was retained for
a majority of the reported symptoms and that some of the symptoms were completely
resolved.
Guidepoints, published 6 times a year by Acudetox, America, gives updates on
developments concerning the use of NADA and its practitioners, including from the UK
sometimes. (Acudetox 2015)
NADA in humanitarian work is published on websites such as World Medicine (2015) and
Acupuncturists without Borders (2015) where news and blogs about the inspirational work
of acupuncturists using NADA can be found.
Methodology
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Collaboration was established between the researcher and NADA-UK with the common goal
of practitioner survey. The NADA-UK 2013-14 survey had 96 completed forms from re-
registration of trained practitioners. The questionnaire is in Appendix 3.
Collation and analysis of the 2013-14 data was done by the researcher to identify the types
of clinics where practitioners worked and anecdotal evidence of the benefits of NADA
treatment. Results are available in Appendix 5.
Advantages of collaboration for the dissertation:
Adapting the format of the 2013-14 form
Using results of 2013-14 survey as basis for the on-line questionnaire
Access to database of over 1500 NADA trained practitioners
Email sent out by NADA-UK would be a recognised contact and more likely to be
opened
The questionnaire would be officially endorsed by NADA-UK thereby encouraging
responses.
A new on-line Survey was carried out of all the practitioners in the NADA-UK database and
members of the Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics (ACMAC) who
advertise that they offer NADA treatment on the NADA-UK website. The nature of multibed
clinics is often to make acupuncture more affordable and accessible and therefore NADA is a
useful technique for multibed acupuncturists.
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Sample
The edited NADA-UK database consisted of 2380 email addresses of practitioners trained in
NADA. There were 70 ACMAC members advertising NADA treatment on the NADA-UK
website. It was feasible to send the questionnaire to all of them by email.
Data Collection
The method of data collection was by questionnaire and interviews.
Rationale
The research question needed to elicit both facts and opinions from practitioners. The
quantitative results of the questionnaire would be balanced out and enhanced by the
qualitative data from personal insights and opinions.
Use of an internet survey platform to design an on-line questionnaire was easy to do and
free. The questionnaire was quick and easy to complete with 10 questions that were either
yes/no or multiple tick-box plus an open question to add anecdotal information or opinion
(See Appendix 4).
Respondents could provide contact details or remain anonymous. This was to ensure
respondents felt secure and comfortable giving personal opinions.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using an internet survey platform:
Table 1
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Advantages Disadvantages
free to use option
easy to use design templates
questionnaires sent by email –
no paper or postage costs
link can be embedded or sent
directly
undelivered email returned
responses collated into a
spreadsheet
results summarised into charts
email message may go into
junk mail as from an unknown
source
impersonal so the respondent
might ignore it
if the link doesn’t work the
respondent might give up
no record of addresses sent to
so cannot eliminate
respondents from any
reminder mailing
Interviews
Individuals who had submitted their contact details could be selected for telephone
interview. They were chosen from the data if they had submitted interesting details about
their clinic or had observed surprising benefits to NADA treatment. Consent to identification
was given in emails (Appendix 7).
Interviews had a semi-structured format that gave the interviewee freedom to express
thoughts and feelings about their NADA related work that arose naturally from the initial
questions. The interviewer had the freedom to follow their lead and ask relevant and
related questions.
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The interviews had broad questions
- What type of acupuncture work do you do?
- What benefits do you see from NADA treatment?
- Can you give examples?
Pilot
The pilot questionnaire was sent to a NADA-UK teacher and practitioner to ensure the
questions were relevant, easy to answer and elicited relevant and useful data. The pilot
ensured the internet platform operated easily via email and the responses submitted
correctly into the spreadsheet. As a result of feedback, additional choices were added to the
questions about the type of clinic and where working. The survey platform worked
perfectly.
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Results and Data Analysis
Introduction
Although the questionnaires provided by NADA-UK are relevant to the research question,
provide valuable data and inspired the current investigation they are a separate survey. The
results are shown in Appendix 5.
Both questionnaires used multiple choice questions to generate quantitative data and the
option to add personal comments about the respondent’s experiences of providing NADA
treatment generated qualitative data. In addition selected respondents were chosen for
interview to expand on their opinions about and experiences of providing NADA treatments.
Quantitative analysis of the multiple choice questions will be presented in charts. As the
purpose of the survey was to discover evidence of the NADA protocol being provided
outside of the addiction detox and rehabilitation settings the highest frequency response
may not be the most relevant to the research question. Likewise, the frequency results of
the questions pertaining to the benefits of the NADA treatment (Q9). The main points of the
results with regard to the research question will be presented with each chart.
The qualitative data generated by the personal insights and responses of individual
respondents and interviewees was analysed using a thematic framework of key issues and
themes and is presented as charts and tables to summarise the main points relevant to the
questions of settings and benefits.
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On-line Survey of NADA practitioners and acupuncturists
Results and Quantitative Analysis
Appendix 6 shows how the sample was generated from the NADA-UK database (2,524)
through to response rate of 9.8%.
Table 2 Questions 1 and 2; from 192 responses
Question
No.
Question YES % of
192
No % of
192
1. Do you have an acupuncture
practice?
145 75.5 47 24.5
2. Do you use the NADA 5-point
auricular acupuncture
protocol?
146 76.0 8 4.2
Results and analysis of 146 practitioners of the NADA protocol:
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Question 3 Type of clinic
The term D&A is shorthand for drug and alcohol addiction and rehabilitation settings or
work and will be used for convenience onwards.
Chart 1
The NADA protocol is traditionally used in drug and alcohol rehabilitation and the training of
practitioners is primarily aimed at those working there. The purpose of this survey is to
discover the variety of new settings, so the figure for D&A can be discounted and more
notice taken of the range of settings. However, the fact that 52% of respondents work in
D&A means that subsequent results may be biased towards patients with addiction
problems and practitioners working with them.
Response error was introduced here because the question stated that the questionnaire
should be answered for EACH type of clinic but respondents did not do this, they often listed
all types of clinic in one questionnaire. Some practitioners had their own private practices
and also worked in D&A.
52
28
12 11 7 5 5 5 4 4 2 1 1 0
Type of clinic
% NADA practitioners
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In the ‘Other’ category respondents included the following:
Colleagues at work
Open access drop-in
Relaxation and stress management
Community group
Men and women charity group
Harm reduction program
Free charity
Staff in D&A clinic (2)
Residential addiction rehabilitation
2 not specified
Table 3 the results from the ‘Other ‘category of the NADA-UK 2013-14 questionnaire are:
Supported Housing
Private Practice
Residential detox/rehab
Old people
Homeless centre
Day care
Youth Justice
GP surgery
Cancer support centre
16-25 age group
School pupils
Community clinic
Salvation Army
Aftercare Programme
Hospice
RAF community centre
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Question 4 Work for or within?
Chart 2
!4 respondents (9.6% ticked all the places they worked rather than one clinic per
questionnaire, results included all the settings ticked.
In the ‘Other’ category respondents included the following:
Co-operative multibed
Not for profit social enterprise
Recovery café
Local authority (2)
Hospice for cancer and end of life
Unspecified
42
22
13 11 9 5
Charity Own privatepractice
NHS Other Privatecompany
Government
Work for or within
% NADA practitioners
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Question 5 How many practitioners? Results not directly relevant to the research question
but presented Appendix 6.
Question 6 Do you routinely take a medical history from your patients?
Chart 3
Even though the NADA protocol was designed as a non-diagnostic technique it is interesting
to note that the majority of practitioners take some sort of medical information. This gives
the practitioner a broader knowledge of the client’s or patient’s symptoms and enables
them to observe or appreciate treatment outcomes.
It is good practice for any treatment to have a record of the patient and their symptoms as
recommended in Standards of Practice for Acupuncturists (BAcC 2009). It is also a useful
tool for survey and audit.
Question 7 Do you combine NADA with other points in the same treatment?
Chart 4
76
17
6
Yes always
Yes usually
No
Take medical history
% NADA practitioners
14
17
68
Often
Sometimes
Never
Use other points
% NADA practitioners
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Other points could include other auricular points or points on the body. The majority of
respondents work in D&A clinics where the NADA protocol is the only acupuncture used.
Respondents who are qualified acupuncturists are more likely to use other points on the
body or other auricular points. Other auricular points can be used by any practitioner once
they are sure of the point location. Eg point zero, toothache etc.
Question 8 Frequencies of treatment
Results not directly relevant to the research question.
Question 9
This investigation sets out to discover whether the NADA protocol benefits patients in ways
other than to improve insomnia, reduce anxiety and help PTSD. Question 9 asks if, in their
experience, NADA practitioners have observed that the NADA protocol benefits certain
other specific physical, mental or emotional conditions.
The number of respondents answering “Don’t know” can be discounted because this has no
bearing on whether NADA helps the condition or not. Of more interest are the other
categories answered as these assume that the practitioner has noticed the conditions in
their patients, whether NADA treatment helps and how much.
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Since 52% of practitioners answered that they work in D&A there is a bias of the results
towards D&A settings. This is particularly relevant here where the question asks for
practitioner’s opinion on how much they think the NADA treatment benefits certain
conditions. For example, Question 9a bodily pain; results show that NADA treatment was
beneficial quite often. However, as the majority of respondents work in the drug and
alcohol setting, where pain can be a problem for patients/clients in detox and
rehabilitation, the positive result that NADA helps reduce bodily pain must mainly (ie 52%)
apply to patients experiencing bodily pain in drug and alcohol settings. It cannot be inferred
that this level of relief of bodily pain would be experienced by the general population or
non-D&A patients.
Although the same level of bias towards D&A settings applies to all the conditions
questioned some D&A clients may be have been clean for some time and in recovery so still
attending for support.
Question 9)a
Chart 5
NADA treatment
relieved bodily pain
quite often and
slightly.
Question 9)b
Chart 6
29 28 25
12
1
Quite often Don't know Slightly Often Not at all
Relieves bodily pain
% NADA practitioners
38
27 18
12
1
Quite often Don't know Slightly Often Not at all
Reduce headaches
% NADA practioners
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NADA treatment helped reduce headaches quite often and slightly.
Question 9c)
The majority of practitioners didn’t know if NADA helped reduce c) migraine or d) high
blood pressure but of those that did most of them said it helped them both slightly and
quite often.
Chart 7
Question 9d)
Chart 8
53
16 14 10 1
Don't know Slightly Quite often Often Not at all
Reduce high blood pressure
% NADA practitioners
42
22 18
9 3
Don'tknow
Slightly Quiteoften
Often Not at all
Reduce migraine
% NADA practitioners
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Question 9)e
Chart 9
Not many practitioners
noticed if menstrual
problems were helped
by NADA; it may help
slightly and quite often.
The two questions, f) and g), help ground the questionnaire and the data because the
results showing that NADA helps depression and mental health agree with the NADA-UK
survey and so add weight to the validity of the responses.
Question 9)f
Chart 10 NADA helps depression
quite often and often.
Question 9)g
Chart 11
34 28
21
13
0
Quite often Often Slightly Don't know Not at all
Depression
% NADA practioners
57
14 12 8 3
Don't know Slightly Quite often Often Not at all
Menstrual problems
% NADA practitioners
36
27
17 16
1
Quite often Often Don't know Slightly Not at all
Mental health
% NADA practitioners
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The result here shows that NADA helps mental health roblems quite often and often.
Summary
Health benefits
Results of the quantitative analysis show that practitioners think that NADA
treatment quite often benefits bodily pain and headaches, depression and other
mental health issues.
Results are inconclusive with regard to whether NADA treatment helps migraine,
high blood pressure and menstrual problems. Of those that have an opinion the
highest response is NADA benefits the symptom ‘slightly’.
The “Don’t know” category does not necessarily mean that NADA treatment does
not have a benefit; it may well do but if the practitioners are not questioning the
patients or asking for specific feedback then the answer is ‘don’t know’.
Qualitative analysis
The open question and the interviews gave the respondent opportunity to share personal
insights into the benefits of the NADA protocol or ways of working with NADA. The text of
the comments and transcripts of the interviews were reduced using key words and themes
for the benefits to patients or clients. Chart 12 shows the categories and frequencies of
comments.
Frequent most comments confirmed information already stated in the questionnaire or
already covered by question 9, such as helping sleep, reduce anxiety, depression and
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cravings. These benefits are the foundations on which the NADA protocol has been built and
so when these were mentioned they were excluded from the data which seeks to find new
insights into the benefits of the NADA treatment.
Chart 12 Respondents’ and interviewees’ personal perspectives on the benefits of the NADA
protocol, excluding helping sleep, reduce anxiety, depression and cravings.
Some practitioner’s reports are fascinating and intriguing. They are reproduced in the
practitioners’ own words in Appendix 6 and summarised:
Conditions and settings
Children with Asperger’s, ADHD and Autism became calmer and less aggressive.
Hair loss of unknown cause was reduced.
In fertility treatment – for anxiety
For hot flushes - cancer treatment side-effects
In hospice for cancer care and end of life. (Emma Guy, interview)
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
8
9
12
Feeling grounded
Clearer thinking
Benefits blood sugsr levels
Improves appetite
Reduces panic attacks
Reduces agitation and enabling sitting still
Reduces hotflushes and night sweats
Improves energy and well being
Reduces stress
Calming and relaxing
Frequency of comment
% NADA practitioners
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Community NADA groups
One of the core principles of the original NADA protocol in recovery was that treatment be
given in a group setting. Some acupuncturists have continued the principle of group
treatment and taken NADA out of the D&A field and into the community welcoming and
treating people with a wide range of conditions. Two of these practitioners were selected
for interview to expand on their experiences (See Interviews).
NADA in the workplace
The safety, efficacy and simplicity of NADA lend itself to workplace clinics. One practitioner
had excellent results reducing stress and improving the sleep of work colleagues using one
point – Shenmen. (Okereafor Interview, Appendix 6, Table A4)
Medical history
The NADA protocol does not require practitioner to take medical history of patients so
practitioners may not have records to show how NADA treatment has benefitted their
patients. Some feedback from practitioners on this subject illustrated this particular
limitation of investigating the benefits of NADA treatment. In contrast, Chart 3 shows that
76% of respondents do take some form of medical history.
Working in drug and alcohol clinics
Although the intention of this survey was to gather information from non-D&A practitioners
and settings there were comments from D&A practitioners (Appendix 6, Table A5) that add
quality to the survey. They have observed the effects of NADA treatment, in particular
mental, emotional and physical benefits and benefits of treating in a group.
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Combining NADA
One of the original core principles of the NADA protocol was that it was used in a recovery
setting alongside other supportive treatments or processes. Some current practitioners,
including those outside D&A, have continued that principle by combining NADA treatment
with other techniques and therapies. Examples given in comments:
Traditional Chinese Medicine – body acupuncture
Hypnotherapy, NLP, Counselling, Psychotherapy and EMDR (Eye Movement
Desensitising and Reprocessing)
Mindfulness and relaxation
Qi Gong exercises
Five-finger Qi Gung
Magnet therapy
Electro-Acupunctoscope
Offering herbal teas, fresh fruit and fresh water to encourage changes to eating
habits.
Interviews
Christine Smyth and Nic Constable
The comments of these two practitioners stood out with regard to NADA in the community.
They had given their contact details and agreed to a telephone interviews to expand on
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their work and give interesting examples of patient’s experiences. There were similarities to
their work so a precise follows.
Community NADA groups
Both Constable and Smyth are fully qualified acupuncturists who have developed a passion
for what NADA treatment can do for people in the community particularly that the NADA
groups welcome and benefit people with a wide range of health issues. They work in
different parts of the UK and provide weekly open access auricular acupuncture sessions
that last for 1 hour and patients are treated on a group basis.
Benefits of NADA
Both say that NADA is a simple, safe and highly effective treatment allowing a large number
of people to experience relaxation, well-being and other benefits in a profound way without
the need for in depth questioning to reach a diagnosis. The NADA treatment is especially
good for patients experiencing high stress, anxiety, depression and emotional pain or
distress and insomnia resulting from any physical illness, life event or circumstances.
Examples from patients included cancer, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, severe loose bowels (12
times a day), constipation, severe insomnia associated with PTSD; people experiencing
emotional distress from grief, victims of crime, emotionally demanding work, mental ill
health, degenerative and terminal illness, motor neurone disease and the demands of IVF.
When asked why do they think NADA is so beneficial to people Smyth said it has a clearing
and calming effect especially in the way that it calms the Fullness on pulses (seen in patients
in her private practice) and evident in reduction of high blood pressure and heart rate. This
Fullness is also seen in patients who are having chemotherapy and often manifests as hot
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flushes in men and women. Smyth’s experience of the benefit of NADA for hot flushes is
supported by trials by de Valois (2012 ) and she gave an example of a patient in the NADA
group:
“A lady came in who was on her third dose of chemo for breast cancer and she’d had
a mastectomy. She’d never had acupuncture before. She’d been having 14 hot
flushes a night, stripping the bed, stripping her clothes off, really very distressed. I
spoke to her the next day and the most amazing thing was, she’d had ONE sweat!
She was over the moon. She wasn’t at work because she was so ill and I gave her two
more NADA treatments. She went back to work, feeling great, NO sweats! Amazing!
That was the fastest response I’d ever seen.”
Constable said that he feels NADA connects with the Shen, strengthening the spirit of the
Heart giving a positive outlook and healthy self-awareness that strengthens the immune
system, calms the body reducing pain and improving sleep patterns. Constable explains the
diversity of benefits of NADA on this fundamental spiritual connection.
Often examples of the effects of NADA treatment were more about the psycho-emotional
benefits than about treating the physical illness such as cancer patients saying they feel
calmer and more psychologically able to cope with the illness. A particular example from
Constable illustrates this:
“A man and his wife ran business and when he got cancer he physically could not
work in the business. The treatment he’s getting is as brutal as can be but he comes
to the clinic for NADA and afterwards he can go into work. He just does 2 or 3 hours,
but that gives him a sense of real value and purpose and makes him feel a
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worthwhile member of the family again. It reduces the guilt and the depression and
anxiety that go with it as well.”
Smyth also had an example of NADA helping with the emotional side of serious illness:
“A really impressive example was a man who had just been diagnosed with prostate
cancer. He had to take time off work and go into hospital. He was very distressed,
incredibly angry and red in the face. There was no way that he would want me to
start talking to him and asking questions. I explained that I would put 5 needles into
each of his ears, to just relax and breathe, “if you fall asleep that would be great.” He
fell asleep! At the end of it he said he wasn’t expecting that, at all. The NADA just
took the anger out of him because of the Liver point and the fear from the Kidney
point; he was full of grief at having to go into hospital and family issues so the Lung
point helped with that. It’s such a simple treatment and he felt great, it made such a
difference to him.”
Constable said that treatment tends to benefit mainly physical issues such as physical pain
but both he and Smyth had examples of NADA helping mental health problems:
“A young girl of 23 with depression was absolutely fearful of going into work and of
the crowded spaces. She had not had acupuncture before. I said we’ll keep it simple
today, just do ear acupuncture and get her used to having some needles put in. She
came back 2 weeks later and I didn’t recognise her! I thought oh my goodness she
looks totally different! She said she felt so much better so went back to work.”
(Smyth)
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“People with depression say they feel much calmer and more able to cope with it.
One lady in a community mental health clinic needed personal transport to get her
there because she couldn’t cope with public transport. It was literally only a 10
minute journey. After 8 weeks of just NADA she got the confidence to get on a bus -
it was amazing! It gave her a sense of hope and opened up other possibilities, she
had more of her self-respect.” (Constable)
Group treatment
It is normal to have no chatting during treatment, just relaxation and sometimes sleep but
the actual being together is energetically very powerful. The powerful effects of treating in a
group were very apparent to both Smyth and Constable and one of the main important
elements of group NADA treatment. The idea of strong healing energies being generated in
group treatment is also supported by Deadman (2003). Constable observed that patients
can become isolated in the community because of their illness but when people who may
not ordinarily talk to each other come to the group the social barriers diminish and he said
“it is a really important part of community acupuncture; to facilitate a space where people
get to talk, interact or to just be with others.” When the social connection can develop it
becomes another layer of support for patients.
Constable described his approach to running the NADA group. He does 15 minutes of TaiQi
or QiGung beforehand to focus his energy and intention to treat. Then, when the group is
together and settled in their treatment, he does a meditation, often Loving Kindness, to
create a space of healing for the individual and for the group.
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As qualified acupuncture practitioners both Smyth and Constable are knowledgeable in and
skilled at treating a wide range of illnesses and conditions but both say that they think it is
hugely important that acupuncture is available as a spectrum of treatment options that suit
individuals with different needs at different times. They say that group NADA provides
opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience improved health and well-being
without the need to focus on any particular illness. Smyth said that patients can be
introduced to acupuncture through the NADA treatment and might move on to having one-
to-one body acupuncture once they feel comfortable with the practitioner and with
needles. Sometimes it benefits the patient the other way, having NADA as a top-up or
maintenance which is cheaper for them too.
Other settings
Smyth said she was aware that NADA was developing into a technique being used
successfully in a wide range of settings in the UK. The NADA-UK conference videos on the
website showed how NADA was being used in psychiatry in Scandinavian countries and
Acudetox in America promote the use of NADA in their publication Guidepoints.
Interview 3
Gisela Norman
Gisela was known to the researcher through acupuncture college as a lecturer and agreed to
be interviewed about NADA being used in humanitarian projects.
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Gisela is a fully qualified acupuncturist with her own practice; she has volunteered for World
Medicine working in Burma and the Occupied Territories of Gaza providing acupuncture to
hundreds of citizens and refugees who had suffered from the physical and emotional effects
of trauma and war. She also trained the medical teams in the NADA protocol so that they
could treat patients with Post Traumatic Stress and continue the work.
You are obviously very passionate about using NADA.
Yes, absolutely! It is an excellent front line tool for humanitarian aid.
It is safe, effective, treats large numbers of people efficiently and cheaply.
It is a standardized treatment so eliminates the need for individual diagnosis and treatment.
As a non-verbal treatment it can be given despite any language barriers.
Everyone knows what treatment has been given and so their response and benefits are
attributable to the protocol.
The protocol can be easily taught so creating autonomy for the local medics and continuity
for the patients.
Did you keep any records of the beneficial effects of NADA treatment?
We did have some records at the time but unfortunately they were lost.
Can you remember any particularly interesting examples of people benefitting from NADA
treatment?
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Most recently, in Gaza, the team had a local driver who was renowned for his crazy, fast and
risky driving. After having the NADA treatment he had a much more laid back style and
people commented on how relaxed and calm he was. Being a passenger was less scary!
One of the most interesting and unexpected benefits was for the children. Many of the
children suffered from nocturnal enuresis (uncontrolled urination at night) due to stress and
fear causing over stimulation of their nervous systems. After the children received the NADA
treatment many parents were reporting that their children had slept through the night
without wetting the bed.
There were profound benefits to the community with regard to poor sleep and insomnia.
The people were suffering from poor sleep in a more detrimental way than a peace-time
community can really appreciate. Their minds can never really switch off as they remain on
alert at a sub-conscious level and this can remain so for many weeks. Their sleep is never
truly restorative and in the long term is detrimental to health. The most common and
profound feedback we had was that following the NADA treatment people would often
experience a quality of sleep that was profoundly deep and restorative. This made a huge
difference to their sense of well-being and their ability to cope with their situation.
Did you do body acupuncture as well as NADA?
I didn’t but I would often have conversations with other acupuncturists who claimed that
the NADA protocol was not enough of a treatment and that other commonly used and
effective body points should be used as well as the NADA ear points. I don’t agree with this.
I believes that “less is more” in acupuncture treatment. Also, in those environments training
people to use other body points requires some level of diagnosis which complicates the
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treatment process and makes training more involved than it needs to be since the NADA
points are highly effective anyway.
Interview 4
Emma Guy
Emma came to the attention of the researcher because she commented on using NADA in a
hospice for cancer and end of life care as well as being an acupuncturist with her own
private practice.
Can you tell me some more about the work you do in the hospice?
I started doing acupuncture as a volunteer about 3 years ago and now I’m employed
because the managers saw the great results that acupuncture gave the patients. It is
generally patients that come into the day care either living with cancer or post treatment. It
includes people with any type of cancer – breast, prostate, lungs, brain, anything. I do body
acupuncture as well as NADA. We are well trained in cancer care from understanding grief
and loss through to specific protocols such as not needling on a side where there is or could
be oedema such as from removed lymph nodes.
I have about 20 patients per week in a group session and there is always a waiting list. I now
have a student acupuncturist as a volunteer to help me.
Can you tell me how and when you would use NADA?
I tend to turn to NADA if I’m not getting anywhere with the body acupuncture or if there are
times when I can’t needle the body directly due to the site of the cancer or operations or
swelling. I also use some of the NADA points separately and combine with body points.
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How does NADA treatment help?
It helps improve sleep, reduce anxiety and stress and reduces hot flushes in men and
women on anti-cancer medication. I’ve noticed it reduces some of the side effects of
medications; it helps the body cope better with the drugs. It helps with back and shoulder
problems.
I really find NADA useful for reducing anxiety clearing the qi stagnation that I often see
when men have emotional difficulties. Men often are not able to express or understand
their emotions in our society and this leads to qi stagnation which the NADA points help to
clear.
You mentioned NADA for pain. What have you noticed?
I’ve used the Kidney point for back pain. I’ve used Shenmen. One lady with back pain
due to heavy lifting was helped and so was her thyroid function too. She had an
overactive thyroid and every time she went to the doctor to have it monitored the
level was improved.
NADA has helped patients reduce or come off pain medication and is useful when
people are already on high medication and their consultants really don’t want to put
them on any more. Especially in the hospice, where I work closely with the
oncologists and end of life patients.
My acupuncture friends ask me why I go to the NADA-UK reassessments every year and I
say that I use NADA every day, maybe 2 or 3 times a day and if find it incredibly useful. I use
it for back pain, emotional pain, stress and anxiety, diet and weight control, hot flushes.
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What other conditions have you seen NADA help?
A male patient had a cluster of verrucae on his foot and he had been to the foot
clinic regularly over 4 or 5 years to have the skin removed but the verrucae always
came back. His wife was my patient and sent him to me. I decided to use the
Sympathetic ear point to boost the immune system and after just a few treatments
the verrucae completely went away.
I have a 29 year old who has a brain cancer, had a stroke and is paralysed in a
wheelchair. I used NADA points only. When she came back she said she had slept
better, felt more energised and she looked so different wearing bright clothes and
looking brighter.
NADA is great for athletic recovery. I have 4 patients who run marathons and I give
them NADA 24-48 hours after the run and it helps their body recover quicker – they
swear by it. So does the personal trainer who trains 11 times a week. NADA helps
before an event too by clearing and detoxing which helps performance. There was a
study on basketball players who had NADA after a game and they had blood and/or
urine tests to measure their recovery. They were ready to play again 24hrs earlier
than the ones who didn’t have NADA.
One lady, with several cancers had a cough so I used the Lung point, only, and the
cough went away. NADA is particularly useful in end of life care when quite often
you don’t want to pierce the body at all.
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Another lady was seriously addicted chocolate, eating 2½lbs every day. She has now
lost 4 stone and although she still has a little chocolate every day it is so much less.
NADA really helped.
Discussion
Observations of the process that affect results
Factors influencing low response rate (9.8%):
Some individuals had more than one address in the NADA-UK database so received
the email twice. This could not be quantified.
Email sent from unknown address rather than NADA-UK may have gone into junk
mailbox or unopened.
IT issues within NADA-UK meant that the response deadline for the on-line survey
was limited and did not allow for reminders to be sent out.
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Practitioners working for service providers may have moved on or ceased providing
NADA treatments.
Motivation to fill in the questionnaire may be dependent on whether acupuncture is
the main or smaller part of a person’s work. People for whom doing NADA is just a
requirement of their job may not have a strong feeling about acupuncture as a
health care system; nor realise the significance of the technique to benefit health in
general; the separate mail out to the fully qualified acupuncturists working in
multibed clinics (ACMAC group) yielded a much better response rate, 27%.
Question 9 asks specifically what effect NADA has on certain conditions. However, two
factors have a bearing on the validity of the results:
i) the bias towards drug and alcohol settings ii) answering ‘Don’t know’.
i) Bias.
Chart 4 shows that 52% of the practitioners who answered ‘Yes’ to practicing the
NADA protocol answered ‘Yes’ to working in D&A (drug and alcohol addiction detox
and rehabilitation) so the results of later questions are influenced by this bias but it
is not quantified. Interpretation of the results takes the bias into consideration.
ii) Answering “Don’t Know”
Affects the validity of the results because the practitioner’s answers rely on their
awareness of a) patient’s health conditions and b) potential benefits of NADA, to
gain information about response to treatment. As the NADA protocol does not
require practitioners to ask for health or medical information practitioners may not
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be aware of conditions that NADA treatment might help and the questions have not
been asked directly of the patient.
The fact that the open question had the option for anonymity, meant that the opportunity
to follow up interesting information was lost, so potentially limiting the qualitative data. The
case in point was the practitioner who said she/he was doing work with children with
ADHD/Autism but as there was no name or contact details this perfect “outside the box”
example could not be pursued.
Principle findings
The investigation set out to discover to what extent practitioners in the UK of the NADA 5
point auricular acupuncture protocol use the treatment outside of the original addiction
detox and rehabilitation field of healthcare.
The results of the literature review of the use of the NADA protocol and two surveys of
NADA practitioners and acupuncturists show that the 5 point auricular acupuncture
technique has evolved into an effective healthcare intervention that can be applied widely
throughout different communities to alleviate some health conditions or assist in the
psycho-emotional support of patients with serious illness or traumatised environments.
Participants were asked to choose one clinic to answer questions about but they often
ticked all applicable choices, meaning that NADA treatment outcomes could not be
differentiated or compared with regard to type of clinic. It was unrealistic to expect
practitioners to complete a questionnaire for each clinic they worked. Research into each
clinic could be considered an audit and may be an option for future research.
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The results of the survey show that although practitioners work in a variety of settings
addiction detox and rehabilitation (referred to by abbreviation D&A) is still the main area of
provision. Practitioners have observed a range of benefits to patient’s health and were able
to give relative values to their opinions of efficacy via the multiple choice questionnaire.
Positive anecdotal evidence for the benefits of the NADA protocol in terms of alleviating
physical ill health and promoting general health and well-being through the actual
treatment and the context of group treatment was gained through personal comments and
interviews.
Some results were interpreted by excluding factors influenced by D&A. The range in the
results is often more important than the statistically significant particularly if there is a bias
towards D&A. For instance in Chart 1 the highest number of practitioners works in D&A but
this can be discounted in favour of noting the range of places worked. Similarly, in the NADA
2013-14 data, Appendix 5, the benefits with the highest frequency in Chart A3 were
excluded from the on-line survey with the expectation of eliciting greater frequencies of
benefits to add to those with the lowest frequency in Table A2.
Analysis of the qualitative data derived from the open questions showed that practitioners
had noticed a range of interesting benefits for patients but in general not enough data was
generated to develop statistically significant results, such as when a particular benefit or
improved symptom was only mentioned once. The data could have been reduced further
into broader categories such as mental, physical and emotional but the interesting and
intriguing aspects of the results would have been lost.
The interviews of practitioners give much more personal insights into the provision of NADA
treatment. Strongly portrayed is the passion and commitment of those practitioners in
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providing NADA treatment in difficult environments such as volunteering in a developing
country, in a war zone and an end of life hospice; free to socially isolated members of a UK
community; regular NADA groups for anyone with any health concern. The personal stories
also show how practitioners run a NADA service and illustrate how the NADA protocol is not
just about the needles but about the group energy and about intention to treat.
One of the original NADA protocol’s principles was that treatment was part of a programme
of support and therapy and this continues to be fulfilled by practitioners who are combining
the acupuncture treatment with other techniques such as meditation, QiGung, mind and
talking therapies and body treatments. The fact that NADA can be readily combined with
other techniques means that some of the quantitative data has some element of
interference by these factors.
Strengths and weaknesses
The NADA-UK 2013-14 data was available for collation but the quantitative analysis was
limited because of lack of robust statistics. However, the qualitative data was relevant,
interesting and inspired the on-line survey.
The on-line survey was targeted appropriately through the database of the training provider
NADA-UK and the collaboration between the researcher and NADA-UK gave it added
authenticity. The invitation to participate in the survey was an opportunity to explain the
need to gather evidence from practitioners and was strongly worded to motivate response.
(See Appendix 4)
However, collaboration meant that the researcher was not solely responsible for
implementing the survey. Challenges arose concerning IT and personnel which delayed
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sending out of the on-line questionnaire and the questionnaire sent out in separate phases.
The latest phase, which had the greatest number of recipients, was sent out with a short
time period for participants to complete the questionnaire.
The response data (Appendix 6, Chart A5) shows that the response to the questionnaires
usually occurs in the first 2 days or not at all as the email slips down the inbox list,
illustrating the need for reminders.
Limitations of the study were due to bias towards D&A because the questionnaire did not
differentiate between D&A and non D&A practitioners or clinics in a quantifiable way.
Factors contributing to the low response rate (9.8%) are:
Email sent from unknown address rather than NADA-UK may have gone into junk
mail or unopened.
Late mail out and insufficient time to send reminders.
Practitioners working for service providers may have moved on or ceased providing
NADA treatments.
Issues particularly pertinent to the difficulties of collecting data from D&A agencies
are that they are often charities suffering from lack of funding, staff shortages and
reliant on high levels of volunteers. As clients of D&A services often live chaotic
lifestyles the organisations can become chaotic in trying to meet their needs.
(Peckham, personal communication 2015)
The method of using an internet platform for the questionnaire was easy to design and
implement and free. The responses were collected in spreadsheets making analysis straight
forward and reducing processing errors.
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The qualitative approaches of an open question and interviews balances the dry restriction
of the questionnaire as they allow practitioners to explore their experiences, feelings and
opinions about the NADA protocol. The semi-structured format of the interview means that
practitioners have the freedom to control the conversation eliciting information that may
not otherwise come to light. However, there is greater risk of superfluous information being
gathered that still has to be reduced and analysed before being discarded.
Meaning of the study
Practitioners and healthcare workers using the NADA 5 point auricular acupuncture protocol
consider it to be a useful tool that could be taken into a wide range of settings. This study
demonstrates the potential for further and continued enquiry of practitioners to build up
more evidence of the value that NADA has in various settings and for a diverse range of
patients and conditions.
The results showing positive outcomes of treatment could inspire acupuncture practitioners
to provide NADA treatment in their general community or for specific groups such as eating
disorder clinics, youth units, homeless or street assistance or anywhere where people would
benefit from NADA’s gentle but potentially profound healing. Any health promoting
intervention that reduces the impact of stress in people’s lives must be valuable in terms of
national health. According to the UK Health and Safety statistics the total number of cases
of stress contributing to work-related illness in 2011/12 was 40% (Health and Safety
Executive 2014).
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There is potential for this investigation to evolve into a means to develop a database of
evidence for the application and efficacy of the NADA 5 point auricular acupuncture
protocol outside of the drug and alcohol detox model.
Future research
There are 1,757 practitioners who didn’t answer the questionnaire who may have
interesting stories and insights that would give more evidence of settings and benefits so
further investigation is warranted but with improvements to the methodology and survey
questions:
The participants of a survey of the same research question should be segregated into
non-D&A clinics or practitioners to generate more valid data.
For on-line survey an internet platform that records the respondent’s address would
enable appropriate reminders to be sent over a period of time and more accurate
targeting of contacts.
NADA could be used differently by NADA only practitioners and professional
acupuncturists; future surveys could address this.
This study could be a precursor to a larger scale study where clients themselves could be
surveyed regarding benefits in their health from using NADA. Funding would need to be
generated for this as it would be on a large scale and the study may help to attract local
authority funding or small grants etc.
A standardised audit could be carried out between the community NADA groups and the
results correlated and analysed centrally to build up a body of evidence. This would be
particularly relevant to the current research question because it is a non-D&A setting.
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The questionnaire can be used by NADA-UK to continue to build a body of evidence in order
to provide acupuncturists and NADA practitioners with evidence to justify funding and
promote NADA treatment to service and healthcare providers or clinics. As the
questionnaire would be a requirement for the individual it would have to be named
meaning that interesting information could be followed up.
Further analysis could be performed on the data from this study to support a proposal to
run a trial into the benefits of NADA treatment on a particular client group, for example
eating disorders.
Personal learning
As an acupuncturist I have 3 years of training in diagnosis and treatment in Chinese
medicine and I am still inspired by the benefits that can be derived for patients from this
simple protocol. One of the main meanings for me is accessibility. The NADA protocol can
provide meaningful treatment easily, widely and affordably. Providing NADA treatment in
the community is a way to bring knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the benefits
of acupuncture as a system of medicine to a greater number of people and feedback from
the community practitioners indicates that providing affordable NADA in the community
complements private practice from an economic perspective and also personal
development.
Dogged determination, attention to detail, at the same time as visualising all aspects of the
bigger picture, are all qualities that have developed in me during the research process. More
importantly has been the opportunity to read around my chosen subject and ferret out
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interesting pieces of information. The cut and thrust of deciding what to keep and what to
discard has been both painful and liberating.
CONCLUSION
NADA has a place in the spectrum of acupuncture treatment.
The NADA protocol has come to be defined by the use of 5 specific acupuncture points in
the ear (Shenmen, Sympathetic, Kidney, Liver and Lung). But this is a simplified version of
the original protocol designed to help reduce the difficult symptoms experienced by people
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detoxing from drug and alcohol addiction and included non-verbal, non-diagnostic
treatment in a group and as component of a larger programme.
Treatment in a group is still an important and fundamental feature of the healing nature of
this auricular treatment and this is experienced and promoted by those practitioners who
lead NADA treatment groups whether in client specific, or open access.
The NADA protocol is a highly adaptable technique in its application to different settings; a
simple, safe, effective treatment protocol that can be easily taught and learned while at the
same time having profound benefits to health and well-being.
This investigation shows that NADA is being used in a in a wide range of settings in the UK:
in private acupuncture practice, residential facilities, GP surgery, RAF community centre,
school, prison, hospice, workplace, relaxation group. For specific client groups: youth,
elderly, homeless, leaning disabled, cancer, harm reduction, staff in D&A clinics as well as
clients. Community NADA groups are open to people with a diverse range of symptoms and
conditions.
This investigation has revealed that NADA has benefits to the health and well-being of mind,
body and spirit and includes benefitting mental health by reducing depression, anxiety and
panic, inducing calm relaxation and having a coping and preventative effect. Results show
that emotional and bodily pain is alleviated, also headaches and migraine and reducing
blood pressure. Benefits to menstrual problems are inconclusive. Strong evidence shows
NADA to be very beneficial for hot flushes associated with cancer treatment in men and
women.
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There are many people who are passionate about using NADA – the teachers and assessors,
the practitioners of community open access groups and those working in humanitarian aid
environments. Its power is often in the hands of passionate individuals having profound
experiences alongside the individuals who benefit from its gentle healing and
transformative potential. The purpose of this investigation is to bring this information
together to inspire further research.
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REFERENCES
Acudetox (2014); Unimagined Bridges; a video available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmcYeNxUS1Y Accessed 15/09/2014
Acupuncture Without Borders (2015) Available from: http://www.acuwithoutborders.org/
BAcC (2009) Standards of Practice for Acupuncture 2nd Edition p.34 British Acupuncture
Council
Bemis R., (2013) Evidence for the NADA Ear Acupuncture Protocol Summary of Research,
Laramie, WY, National Acupuncture Detox Association
Ceccherelli F., et al (2013) Somatic acupuncture versus ear acupuncture in migraine therapy:
a randomized, controlled, blind study, Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research,
Volume 37
Cronin C. and Conboy L., (2013) Using the NADA Protocol to Treat Combat Stress Induced
Insomnia: A Pilot Study, Journal of Chinese Medicine No 103, p50
Deadman P. (2003) Gateway a model clinic, Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 71
de Valois B. (2006) Serenity, Patience, Wisdom, Courage, Acceptance: Reflections on the
NADA protocol. European Journal of Oriental Medicine, 5(3) p. 44
de Valois B., Young T.E., et al (2012) NADA ear acupuncture for breast cancer treatment-
related hot flashes and night sweats: an observational study. Medical Acupuncture. 24
de Valois B., et al (2014) Evaluating the NADA ear acupuncture protocol to improve
wellbeing and quality of life for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Available from:
http://www.ljmc.org/2_research/publications/nada_wellbeing_for_prostate_in-
cam_2014.pdf
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Douglas O. (2004). Prick Up Your Ears. The calming effects of acupuncture are
working wonders for pupils with severe behavioural and emotional problems.
Times Educational Supplement. 10 September
Harding, C., Harris, A. and Chadwick, D. (2009), Auricular acupuncture: a novel treatment for
vasomotor symptoms associated with luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone agonist
treatment for prostate cancer. BJU International, 103
Health and safety Executive (2014) Stress-related and psychological disorders in Great
Britain Available from http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/index.htm accessed
11/09/2014
Hicks A., Hicks J., and Mole P. (2011) Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture, 2nd Edition,
London Churchill Livingstone
NADA –UK (2014) About NADA-UK Available from http://www.nadauk.com Accessed
16/09/2014
NADA-UK (2014) NADA Conference 2012 videos, Available from:
http://www.nadauk.com/nada-uk-conference-2012.html Accessed 16/09/2014
Peckham R. (2005) The Role and the Impact of the Nada Protocol (daily group acupuncture
treatment used in addiction) Explanatory case studies, MSc Dissertation University of
Westminster
Peckham R. (2014) NADA-UK 24 years on, The Acupuncturist, British Acupuncture Council,
Spring
Reilly, P.M. et al (2014) Auricular Acupuncture to Relieve Health Care Workers’ Stress and
Anxiety: Impact on Caring, Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing: Volume 33
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Robinson N. and Bovey M. (2007) Substance Abuse and Acupuncture, The evidence for
effectiveness, Briefing Paper No. 7, Acupuncture Research Resource Centre, British
Acupuncture Council
Smith M.O., (2009) Ear Acupuncture Protocol Meets Global Needs Medical Acupuncture
Volume: 21 Issue 2
Smyth C. (2012) 'Prick Up Your Ears'': A Small Scale Pilot Study into the Effectiveness of the
NADA-UK Protocol on Carers of Early Stage Dementia Patients in Their Home Environment,
BSc Dissertation College of Integrated Chinese Medicine
Straun T-C., (2015) Image; Available from: http://www.straunhealth.com/auricular-
acupuncture-1/ Accessed 20/05/2015
Thick K. et al (2010) World Medicine; Taking Acupuncture to Palestine, Journal of Chinese
Medicine Number 92
Toomin R., (2007) Beyond the Basics – Understanding the Greater Implications of the NADA
Protocol, American Acupuncturist, Accessed July 2014
Golden, G (2012) The Lasting Effects of Using Auricular Acupuncture to Treat Combat-
related PTSD: A Case Study. American Acupuncturist. Summer
Oleson T., (2003) Auriculotherapy Manual Chinese and Western Systems of Ear Acupuncture,
3rd Edition, Churchill Livingston
Oyola-Santiago T., et al (2013) Provision of auricular acupuncture and acupressure in a
university setting, Journal of American College Health, Vol.61(7)
World Medicine (2015) Available from: http://www.worldmedicine.org.uk/
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APPENDIX 1
About The NADA Protocol
The NADA protocol is a simple ear acupuncture treatment consisting of 5 acupuncture
points (sometimes 3 points) which have fine needles inserted and retained for 30-50
minutes while the patient/client sits or lays quietly relaxing. Fig A1 shows the location of the
points.
Figure A1 Locations for needling NADA points (Oleson 2003)
The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was founded by Dr Michael
Smith, a psychiatrist specialising in acupuncture and addiction at the Lincoln Hospital
Recovery Centre in New York, in 1985. Originally inspired by the use of electro-acupuncture
on the ear auricle by Dr HL Wen in Hong Kong, he devised a simple 5- point auricular
acupuncture protocol to support patients experiencing difficult symptoms when recovering
from substance addiction. Since that time the NADA protocol has made an international
contribution to addiction recovery but also found a place in trauma and conflict situations
where its gentle non-verbal, calming and balancing effects have been highly valued by
Sympathetic point
Shen Men
Liver
Lung
Kidney
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humanitarian and medical agencies, as well some psychiatric and mental health services.
(Smith 2009)
In addition to the specific auricular acupuncture points, the original criteria for the protocol
included being:
Non-verbal;
Non-diagnostic - no need for medical history or health complaints, nor disclosure of
psycho-emotional issues.
Given in sessions with patients sitting quietly together for about 45 minutes.
Part of a multifaceted approach, not a stand-alone treatment.
5 needles are placed bilaterally in the ear auricle at specific points: Shenmen, sympathetic,
Kidney, Liver and Lung. Without the group setting the procedure would be more accurately
called 5-needle, or point, auricular acupuncture but the term NADA has become shorthand
for describing auricular acupuncture of just the 5 points and will be used throughout this
report.
How and by whom it is used
The simplicity of the NADA treatment and its cost-effectiveness has meant that large
numbers of non-acupuncturists have been trained to carry out the treatment as well as it
being part of the training of professional acupuncturists. Since its inception the NADA
protocol has been used throughout the world and thousands of people have benefitted
from the treatment in a variety of settings. As practitioners have observed beneficial
outcomes or created opportunities to utilise its benefits the NADA protocol has evolved and
other applications have been discovered. (Peckham 2014)
An internet search for NADA training for non-acupuncturists in the UK shows it is provided
by three main organisations – SMART UK, NADA-UK and Yuan Clinic.
NADA-UK
NADA-UK was founded by John Tindall in 1991 and established as a non-profit making,
membership organisation that supports education and training related to the use of the
NADA protocol for the treatment of drug and alcohol problems. It helps to relieve symptoms
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during detoxification, prevent relapse and support long term recovery. Currently, NADA-UK
has approximately 1500 NADA-UK practitioners working in over 500 agencies, both
voluntary and statutory including HM Prisons, NHS Trusts and street agencies. (NADA-UK
2014)
Practitioners who train with NADA-UK and who wish to maintain their annual registration
and membership are required to complete a questionnaire so that the organisation can
monitor where and how the NADA protocol is being used and to document any interesting
practices or treatment outcomes. This has helped to illustrate that the NADA protocol is
being used effectively in other areas of mental health and wellbeing: recovery from trauma,
ameliorating side effects from drug treatment in cancer, recovery from benzodiazepine
dependency, helping relaxation in young people with behavioural disorders, and providing
relief in stress, anxiety and panic disorders (NADA-UK 2014).
In the US, post-trauma treatments have been given to people in the community following
9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and is routinely given to members of the US fire service. In
Europe, India and Thailand NADA is being used to help communities and military personnel
affected by war and social displacement (Smith 2009).
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APPENDIX 2
Auricular Acupuncture Points and their functions
The NADA protocol is part of a system of medicine called auriculotherapy and when needles
are used called auricular acupuncture. Auricular acupuncture has been researched and
developed in Oriental medicine as well as in Europe. The ancient Oriental theory of
microsystems supports the notion that the ear auricle reflects the whole body and that
stimulating specific areas or points influences the health of the body. In France in 1957 Dr
Paul Nogier developed the concept of that the inverted foetus could be mapped onto the
ear and provide locations for the anatomy of the body. Recent research in Western science
uses neurophysiology to explain the somatic (of the body) responses to stimulation of the
ear auricle, such as release of neuro-chemicals. (Oleson 2003)
The auricular acupuncture points used in the NADA protocol are related to the Yin organs:
Shenmen, Spirit Gate – Connects to the Heart; it is one of the master points that alleviates
stress, pain, tension, anxiety, depression, insomnia and restlessness. It calms the mind and
connects with essential spirit. It reduces fever and coughs, inflammation, high blood
pressure and epilepsy.
Kidney – The Kidney point Tonifies Kidney Qi deficiency regulates the fluid passages and
enriches essence. In TCM the Kidneys are responsible for the bones and teeth, hearing and
hair. Physical symptoms alleviated by the Kidney point include kidney disorders, and
urination problems.
Liver – In Oriental medicine the Liver Nourishes Yin and Restrains Yang purging Liver Fire so
the Liver point assists in alleviating blood disorders, liver disorders, improves circulation,
digestive disorders, convulsions, dizziness, PMS and hypertension. The Liver point also
benefits the ligaments, tendons and sinews.
Lung – relieves respiratory disorders such as asthma, bronchitis, coughs, flu, stuffy chest and
sore throat. In TCM the Lungs assist in detoxification because they release carbon-dioxide
with each exhalation thus the Lung point facilitates detoxification from any toxic substance,
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particularly drugs. The Lungs are associated with the skin so this point can help alleviate skin
disorders. The Lung point disperses Qi and dispels Wind. The Lung point was discovered to
be essential for auricular acupuncture analgesia.
Sympathetic – Autonomic point. This master point balances the sympathetic nervous
system activation with the parasympathetic sedation. It improves blood circulation by vaso-
dilation, corrects irregular heart-beats, relaxes spasm of the smooth muscle and relieves
pain.
(Point functions taken from Oleson 2003).
Balancing the emotions
In TCM and 5-element Chinese medicine theory the Yin organs correspond with the 5
elements of Wood. Fir, Earth, Metal and Water and they each correspond with the
emotions. So stimulating the 5 NADA points will help to balance the emotions, specifically:
Wood – Liver - Anger
Fire – Heart -Joy
Earth – Spleen – Sympathy
Metal – Lung – Grief
Water – Kidney – Fear
(Hicks, Hicks and Mole 2011)
The spirit of NADA
Rachel Toomin looks at the NADA protocol from the spirit perspective of Chinese medicine
in an article for American Acupuncturist (2007) in which she shares insights gained from
translations of the ancient texts Ling Shu. For interest a summary follows:
The ear points are categorised as ‘extraordinary’ points and as such they access the Jing, a
deep source of the body’s energy which can be accessed in times of need. It is also the
essence that becomes Ying or nutritive Qi so supporting the body from its deepest
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foundations.The ancient text spoke of Jingshen which is the purest form of energy
susceptible for transformation into the mental/spiritual energy.
So the NADA points, as extra-ordinary points act on the Jingshen as well as the spiritual
aspects of the organs related to the specific points as follows:
Lung – Jingshen Po, the sensitive soul; release of grief and sense of loss
Liver – Jingshen Hun, the creative soul; creating a new way of life
Kidney – Jingshen Zhi, the will; release of fear
Shenmen – Jingshen Shen, mental/spirit; supports strength of mind and spirit with a
release of anxiety
(Toomin 2007)
It is not surprising, therefore, that the NADA protocol can have such transformative effects
on people who are affected by illness and trauma of mind or body or spirit. As Nic Constable
said in his interview “NADA seems to help everybody; well the people we see anyway”.
Appendix 3
NADA-UK Survey 2013-14 Questionnaire
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Re-assessment Questionnaire Please circle/underline/tick all relevant options on all questions Name: Organisation
Date: Assessor 1. What type of establishment do you practice in? a) Prison b) Hospital c) Hospice d) Mental Health Unit e) School e) Drug/Alcohol Clinic f) Other (please state)___________________________________ 2. How do you use the NADA Protocol in your place of work? a) 1:1 b) group setting c) 1:1 and group settings d) throughout the day e) once per daily f) weekly g) twice monthly h) monthly i) every 2 or 3 months j) every 6 months or more 3. How many clients do you see in one week? a) less than 5 b) 5-10 c) 10-30 d) 30-50 e) 50+ 4. What are your clients receiving NADA treatments for? a) Alcohol Addiction b) Class A Drugs c) Cannabis Addiction
d) Prescribed meds e) Nicotine addiction f) Stress g) Anxiety h) Sleep disorders i) Mental health j) General wellbeing k) Stress relief for Carers l) PTSD please specify any others not listed 5. Have you had any issues during treatment? a) lost needles b) needle stick injury c) client fainting d) client becoming unwell e) client removing own needles f) client complaining about treatment 6. Have you had any remarkable experiences? a) client relieved of all symptoms
b) client relieved of majority of symptoms c) client relieved of other unknown symptoms not mentioned d) client saying treatment has not helped at all We would like to know a little about your personal experience of using NADA over the last year please tell us about it in a few sentences – eg. Have you enjoyed it, do you feel comfortable treating, have you had any really good success stories which have enhanced your belief in the NADA
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Protocol, would you like to be able to use it more if there was more opportunity to do so on a voluntary basis.
Would you be willing to let us quote from your text above or write a small piece about your experience using the NADA Protocol for our website it can be anonymous if you wish? a) Yes b) Yes Anonymously c) No
Thank you! Please hand into your Assessor once complete
Appendices 4
On-line Survey of NADA Practitioners
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NADA-UK Practitioners' Survey Dear NADA Member/Practitioner
This survey is a collaboration between NADA-UK and 3rd yr acupuncture student
researching the benefits of the NADA protocol.
We know you are busy! But it is REALLY REALLY important to us that you complete the
survey below.
If you already completed it in the last couple of months THANK YOU - NO NEED to do it
again!
Your information is hugely important so that NADA-UK can promote the benefits of the
NADA protocol in various healthcare settings, apply for funding and get NADA into more
places where it can make a huge difference to people’s lives.
The growth and evolution of the NADA protocol is due to its practitioners – YOU - BUT we
don’t know how this is happening unless YOU tell us!
PLEASE answer the 10 easy questions, it takes about 5 minutes, it is anonymous with the
option to provide your contact details.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS VITAL TO US - THANK YOU, WE REALLY APPRECIATE
YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME.
CLOSING DATE IS 24th March
NB. data is collected and collated by NADA-UK, analysis and results will form part of an
acupuncture degree dissertation for College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, Reading by
Deborah Trafford.
* Required
In the last 12 months have you run NADA sessions? *
o Yes
o No - please go to submit box at the end so that I can record your response
2. Do you use the 5-point auricular acupuncture protocol?
This refers to the NADA 5-point auricular acupuncture points of Shenmen,
Sympathetic, Liver, Kidney, Lung
o Yes - please continue to Q3
o No - please go to the submit box at the end so I can record your answer to this
questionnaire
3. Choose ONE of your clinics. What type of clinic is it?
Tick all that apply to this clinic, you can do a separate questionnaire for each clinic.
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o Multibed
o One-to-one
o Pain clinic
o Cancer clinic
o Eating disorders clinic
o Drug/Alcohol addiction clinic
o Smoking cessation
o Mental health clinic
o 16-25 age group
o Women only group
o Men only group
o Elderly
o Disaster/War
o Other:
4. Do you work for/within . . .
o Private company/organisation
o Own private practice
o NHS clinic
o Government eg prison, hospital, school, military
o Charity
o Other:
5. Clinics can be staffed by a team or an individual. On average how many
acupunturists offer the 5-point protocol in your clinic per session?
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5
o >5
6. Do you routinely take a medical history from your patients? This would
include health issues as well as their main complaint.
o Yes, always
o Yes, usually
o No
7. Do you combine the 5-point protocol with other points in the same treatment?
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o Never
o Sometimes
o Often
8. Of the 5-point only patients over the last 6months, on average, how many have
the following frequencies of treatment?
0 1-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 >20
More than
once in a
week
Weekly
Fortnightly Monthly We already know that NADA improves insomnia, reduces anxiety, helps PTSD
and sometimes remarkable cases of NADA helping specific physical problems
comes to light.
In your experience have you found that using the NADA 5-point protocol helps or
benefits the following conditions?
Don't know Not at all Slightly Quite often Often
Improves
bodily pain
Reduces
general
headaches
Reduces
migraine
Lowers blood
pressure
Improves
menstrual
problems
including PMS
Improves
depression
Improves other
mental health
problems
10. Please feel free to add anything here that you feel is important or interesting.
It would be great to build a picture of just how remarkable the 5-point protocol
is.
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Some respondents may be selected for follow up or interview. If you would be
willing to be contacted please give your name and contact details in the box
below. Your details will remain CONFIDENTIAL.
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APPENDIX 5
NADA 2013-14 survey results
98 paper questionnaires from the original NADA-UK annual re-registration survey were
returned and made available for collation and analysis. Calculation of response rate is not
possible because the number of questionnaires sent out is unknown. The main sections
relevant to the overall investigation were:
Q1. the type of establishment NADA was offered in,
Q2. whether 1:1 or group setting
The individual comments about the benefits of the NADA treatment.
Question 3 - details about the number of clients, and Question 4, what NADA was treating,
were not relevant to the overall investigation.
Question 1. Answers to Question 1 confirm that NADA treatment was primarily given in
drug & alcohol settings. This was expected and is illustrated in Chart A1 along with the other
settings choices.
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Chart A1
Practitioners could fill in the option for “Other” establishments. Table 1 shows these other
settings where NADA treatments were provided by practitioners in order of frequency.
Table A1
Supported Housing 6
Private Practice 3
Residential detox/rehab 1
Old people 1
Homeless centre 1
Day care 1
Youth Justice 1
GP surgery 1
Cancer support centre 2
16-25 age group 2
School pupils 1
Community clinic 1
Salvation Army 1
Aftercare Programme 1
Hospice 1
RAF community centre 1
Question 2
Chart A2 illustrates how the respondents use the NADA protocol in their place of work.
Some drug and alcohol clinics are residential and in these settings the treatment can be
given every day and even throughout the day. The results show that practitioners most
12
1
0
1
2
61
Prison
Hospital
Hospice
Mental Health Unit
School
Drug/Alcohol clinic
Establishments NADA practiced in
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often give NADA treatment in a group on a weekly basis. And some practitioners work both
one-to-one and in a group.
Chart A2
Respondents had the opportunity to share their experiences of the benefits of the NADA
protocol in their own words. The data was coded and categorised and Chart 3 shows how
these were grouped in order of frequency.
Chart A3
9
40
37
8
5
42
2
2
One-to-one
Group
Both 1:1 and group
Through the day
Once a day
Weekly
Twice a month
Monthly
How do you use the NADA protocol in your place of work?
Numberof practitioners treating:
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The benefits mentioned once are listed in Table A2. Table A2 Effects of NADA treatment noticed by respondents
Better behaviour
Pass more urine
Willing to change behaviour
Increase in motivation
Reduce mood swings
More able to express self
Diet control
Athletic recovery
Increase in coping
“brought back” from Bi-polar episode
More open to other treatments
Enjoy non-verbal contact
Ear seeds useful for needle fear clients
Client in crisis helped
Conclusion
The questionnaire was introduced into the NADA-UK re-registration process because it had
become apparent that practitioners were using the technique in different settings. Building
a database of its wider application would be useful to future research and development. The
results show that NADA-UK practitioners have taken the protocol into a range of different
17
14
13
9
7
7
6
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
Relaxing
Reduce anxiety
Improved sleep
Reduce stress
Reduce craving
Reduce pain
Restore sleep pattern
General well being
Calmer
Reduce hot flushes
Group bond
Mood lifted
Reduce anger
Increase engagement
Gateway to body acupuncture
Most commonly mentioned benefits
Number of comments
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settings and have noticed benefits to patients that affect physical, mental and emotional
well-being in a positive way. Some of the comments made by practitioners confirmed
current thinking on the benefits and effects NADA treatment on patients in addiction
rehabilitation ie induce relaxation, improve sleep, reduce craving, reduce anxiety and stress.
This information contributed to the design of the on-line questionnaire.
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Appendix 6
On-line Survey of NADA Practitioners – extra results
Table A3 Sample generated from:
NADA-UK contact list 2,524 email addresses;
Edited for duplicate address
Undelivered emails returned
Viable NADA-UK contacts
ACMAC contacts from NADA-UK website
2,380 email addresses
501
1,879
70
TOTAL active email questionnaires (1879 + 70) 1,949
Respondents
Response rate
192
9.8%
Question 5 How many acupuncturists provide NADA in your clinic per session?
Chart A4
The majority of NADA practitioners work on their own. This could be one-to one or treating
a group of patients.
Table A4 Interesting settings and conditions, expanded from Results
Children with
Asperger’s, ADHD
and Autism
Remarkable results: showing calmer moods and less
aggression. Parents are really interested and sit in the clinic for
a treatment with their children.
62.3
20.5 7.5 2 2.7 3.4
1 2 3 4 5 more than 5
Number of acupuncturists per session
Number of NADA practitioners per session
% NADA practitioners
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Hair loss of unknown
cause
1to1, pain, smoking,
own private practice
45 year old female patient reported striking improvement in a
long standing problem of hair loss. She had been treated by
various dermatology/cosmetic specialists for years and had no
medical cause apart from stress/anxiety. I had asked for any
other benefits from NADA apart from improvement in sleep
and coping with stress. Before NADA she was losing >300
hair/day and soon after ~30 hair/day.
Hospice for cancer
care and end of life.
In my private clinic I use the NADA protocol within my body
treatments as an Acupuncturist. I run an acupuncture clinic
twice a week in my local Hospice and use the NADA protocol on
hot flushes and the results I get are fantastic.
Fertility treatments I use it in my fertility practice as many of these patients are
very anxious. Beverly de Valois recommends it for her post
treatment Breast cancer patients and I have found it to be very
useful. I do a general body treatment first and then add the
NADA needles after about 10-15 mins. Patients will often
remind me if they think I have forgotten to do it!
Workplace setting,
Maria Okereafor,
Interview
I worked in a hospital where the cut backs affected staff
workload badly. When I went to see my patients on the ward, I
would sometimes see nurses crying due to work related stress.
This was thought provoking to me. I remembered that the 5-
point protocol helps me when I feel stressed and depressed. I
spoke to the hospital managers and offered to give the
treatment free to staff and they agreed. I treated our staff with
just 1 point (Shenmen) and the feedback from them was simply
humbling. They were able to relax, get quality sleep, and
reduce stress levels, as well as able to think clearer. The news
spread like wild fire and this led to an interview with the trust
magazine who published the story.
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Table A5 Comments from practitioners working in D&A
D&A charity I have not ceased to be amazed at how much support and how
many areas of people's lives it has a positive effect on. For most
treatments I use it in combination with mindfulness. Those who
have the greater challenges (such as panic attacks when detoxing
etc.), over time find quietness within the treatment and then
begin to arrive with that same quietness. Then you know that a
real change has come about for them. Being pain free is also such
a fundamental aspect of emotional and mental wellbeing and
being able to alleviate this also allows for calm and reduces
agitation/stress.
The group setting also creates a supportive, we are in it together
feeling. Those who have been longer welcome the new, talk about
their experiences, offer tips for the others to manage the detox
effects etc. It's such a great environment.
I also used it once on a teenager with acute tooth pain where
codeine and antibiotics had not worked. I added point zero and
toothache, in one minute she had calmed down. The heat and
redness of her face from the agitation caused by the increasing
pain went straight down; her breath and body relaxed. 15 minutes
later she even asked if she still needed to go to the dentist (yes)!
One-to-one, D&D,MH,
NHS
Reducing blood pressure, headaches, back pain. All say they would
have this treatment again and look forward to the next session.
After a session some will say they experienced colours. I explain
what the colour aura means and they are amazed on how
accurate it is about themselves.
D&A local authority Their day to day life e.g. stress, anxiety, reduce panic attacks and
emotions along with sleep problems, depression, improve
appetite etc. I have noticed that 30 to 40 minutes acupuncture
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treatment has huge impact on our regular client's eating habits as
I don't allow our clients to drink tea, coffee within the treatment
sessions. Instead I offer herbal teas, fresh fruit and fresh water.
People are able to change their habits and that is proven by our
clients, most of them are buying herbal teas and eating much
more healthily than before they have joined the clinic.
D&A, Government,
private company
Lower high blood pressure
men, women, charity As well as the physical benefits of acupuncture, there is a
therapeutic effect of all groups coming on a regular basis as a
social function. Often they will move on together to a drop in or
other social group activity.
D&A charity Sense of community
Response charts from Google Sheets – showing responses to questionnaires tailing off after
the first few days.
Chart A5
The NADA Protocol – Thinking Outside The Box 26th May 2015 Research Dissertation Level 6 AC6906
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Phase 1 7th December 2014
Phase 2 5th February 2015
Phase 3 18th March 2015
7 Dec 4 Feb
5 Feb 18 Feb
18 Mar 10 Apr