HOSTING A SEMINAR

Thank you for considering hosting a Traditional Studies training program! Below is a brief overview of how we work with hosting organizations, as well as the list of courses being offered at this time. If after careful review you would like to book a seminar or seminar series, please email us to begin organizing dates and content.

Regards, Andrew Nugent-Head

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Who is Authorized to Teach an Association for Traditional Studies Program?
Many practitioners who have studied with us in the past are currently teaching material that either contains or is similar to what Andrew and JulieAnn Nugent-Head teach. ATS does not create licensing structures or official authorizations, and any previous participant is free to use the material they learn from us in whatever manner they choose. Should you have a question about someone claiming to represent or teach our material, simply email us with the person’s name and course content. We will happily give you an honest assessment of the person in question.

ATS has, however, produced a number of recognized Senior Practitioners who are capable of speaking and teaching on what we call Tangible Acupuncture and Full Strength Chinese Medicine to one degree or another. Many of them are actively teaching and offering clinical observation opportunities to see their practices in action. They can be trusted to provide a certain level of skill and will be honest about what they can and cannot do. A list of recognized Senior Practitioners is below. The information that follows refers only to Andrew or JulieAnn Nugent-Head.

What Kind of Seminars Do We Offer?
Aside from our teachers presenting at conferences or giving lectures, our teaching takes two major formats:
• Stand alone 2-3 day seminar on a specific topic. All lecture and practical portions are presented on location OR there is online lecture material to be viewed ahead of the in person practical training of the course. This is usually the best choice for hosts unfamiliar with us or unsure of their audience.
• Intensive multi-module training programs, usually 5 modules completed within a 10 month period. Using a flipped classroom model, participants watch hours of video lecture prior to each module and then work on practical training in person. These programs give the greatest depth in training we currently provide.

Stand Alone Seminars
• Full Strength Chinese Medicine: Treating the Gut. In this seminar, we draw from our actual clinic patients who suffer a wide variety of gut conditions. We discuss the condition they have, the classical theory around their pathology, lay out the treatment strategies we used and the results obtained. The herbs used in our cases will be listed with a brief discussion on why they were chosen, the acupuncture and bodywork treatments demonstrated, and then participants will partner to practice the physical techniques we use in the clinic to address gut issues in our patient base.

• Full Strength Chinese Medicine: Treating Auto-immune Conditions. In this seminar, we draw from our actual clinic patients who suffer from Lupus, RI, MS, Crohn’s, and other AI conditions. We discuss the condition they have, the classical theory around their pathology, lay out the treatment strategies we used and the results obtained. The herbs used in our cases will be listed with a brief discussion on why they were chosen, the acupuncture and bodywork treatments demonstrated, and then participants will partner to practice the physical techniques we use in the clinic to address gut issues in our patient base.

• Full Strength Chinese Medicine: Treating Insomnia: In this seminar, we draw from our actual clinic patients who suffer from insomnia for many different reasons. We discuss the condition they have, the classical theory around their pathology, lay out the treatment strategies we used and the results obtained. The herbs used in our cases will be listed with a brief discussion on why they were chosen, the acupuncture and bodywork treatments demonstrated, and then participants will partner to practice the physical techniques we use in the clinic to address gut issues in our patient base.

• Understanding Tonify the Earth in Clinical Practice. In this seminar, we lay out the foundation of treating the Middle Palace, both in theory and with herbs, acupuncture and bodywork. By understanding the healthy and pathogenic flows of Qi through the Stomach, Spleen and Liver and recognizing the movement of Qi within ourselves to better understand what is happening in our patients, we remove many of the confusions around digestive conditions. In this seminar we balance theory and practical training. Participants learn the techniques to manipulate Qi to benefit the Earth aspect of our patients through Internal Cultivation practice, Daoist Zangfu Acupressure massage, Acupuncture and herbal formulas from Li Dongyuan’s Treatise of the Spleen and other texts.

• The Pulse, the Heart, and the Four Seasons in Clinical Practice. In this seminar, we bring the influence of the Four Seasons on our patients into tangible, clinically applicable focus. By examining the different pulses of each season matrixed over their constitutional or illness pulse, we can see how the shifts in Qi direction as Yin and Yang wax and wane affects the heart of our patients. We learn to recognize when the shifts happen, and what heart conditions will pose greater danger for our at risk patients in each season. We will also understand the cascade of symptoms our other chronically ill patients can expect as their Qi, and thus pulses, change due to the shifts between what the Nei Jing calls the Influence of Heaven and Earth.

• Orthopedic Acupuncture: Treating Musculoskeletal Injuries. In this seminar, we focus on a specific region of the body and address the treatment theories and strategies behind quickly and successively treating them. Regions which can be chosen for the weekend focus are: Back Pain; Shoulder Pain; Knee Pain. Focusing on understanding the role of the sinew channels in physical injuries, we learn to diagnose, develop a treatment strategy, use Ashi point needling and channel needling for treatment, as well as simple but critical massage techniques to effectively treat external injuries.

• The Nine Essential Needling Techniques to Tangibly Manipulate Qi in the Clinic: A needle is not meant to be inserted into a point, but to manipulate the Qi of a patient. The point is only a location, and its actions can only happen reliably with correct manipulation of the needle. Understanding how to change the motion and intensity of our needling hand and supporting hand as well as our body weight is critical to moving beyond insertion and hoping for results. These are the foundations for being able to tangibly creating warming, cooling, movement along the channels, gathering, spreading, filling or emptying sensations in our patients. Without these essential hand and body skills, we cannot hope to have predictable responses and reliable clinical results. In this seminar, Andrew walks through the physical mechanics of each technique as well as demonstrates them on volunteers from the audience to the keep the presentation practical. The Nine Essential Techniques covered are:
1. Burning Mountain 燒山火法
2. Cooling Sky　透天涼法
3. Channel Traveling　行經通絡法
4. Softening/Spreading 散法
5. Gathering/Consolidating 聚法
6. Sparrow Pecking 雀啄法
7. Pulling Out 提氣法
8. Pinning In 扣氣法
9. Awakening the Yuan 醒元法

• Tangible Qi in the Clinic: In this seminar we first focus on what we call Demystifying Qi, creating a grounding of what Qi really is and isn’t as well as a common language for participants to use together. This is followed by what we call Developing Tangible Qi, which is seeing and training in how to tangibly and reliably affect Qi in patients by applying hand techniques to the skin, connective/muscular tissue, and skeletal system. Participants learn the Eight Storing Qi & Developing Sensitivity Practices and map their clinical application of tangible Qi manipulation for reliable, repeatable treatment results. This seminar is open to both acupuncturists and bodyworkers, as the practical work does not involve the use needles. It is also the required foundation seminar for anyone wishing to take any of the in-depth acupuncture and bodywork training courses offered by ATS. Note: this seminar uses the flipped classroom model and requires watching video hours before attending. Participants must have purchased the online version of this course from ATS prior to registering and paying for the in person course with the host.

Multi-Module Training Programs:
• Chinese Bodywork for Clinical Practice (Five Modules, hybrid online/in person program)
• Tangible Acupuncture for Internal Medicine (Five Modules, hybrid online/in person program)
• Tangible Acupuncture for Orthopedic Injuries (Five Modules, hybrid online/in person program)

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Financial Considerations for Hosting a Seminar
The financial commitment for hosting a seminar is quite simple. ATS’ honorarium is either 60% of the gross take of the seminar, or a guaranteed minimum per teaching hour, whichever is greater. Both sides (host and ATS) pay all their own expenses, and neither side deducts or asks to be compensated for any expenses that may unexpectedly appear. These considerations only apply to ATS. For rates and courses taught by its Senior Practitioners, please contact them directly.

• ATS minimum guarantee per teaching hour:
– domestic United States, Canada and Mexico: $500 per teaching hour minimum guarantee
– international locations: $600 per teaching hour minimum guarantee

• The hosting organization must pay $1,500 non refundable deposit for booking a seminar at the time of agreement. No seminar is considered booked until this fee is paid. This deposit is deducted from the final honorarium earned by ATS.

• The hosting organization may cancel the seminar, only forfeiting the non refundable deposit up to 60 days before the first day of the seminar.

• The hosting organization agrees to pay 50% of the total teaching hours if they cancel the seminar within 60 days of the first day of the seminar.

• Neither host nor presenter are held financially responsible for a seminar that cannot be held due to acts of nature, catastrophic events, or other influences beyond the power of the host or presenter.

• Please note that all bank transfer, currency conversion and any other fees associated with payment of the honorarium to ATS are the responsibility of the host and will be paid for in full by the host.

Audio & Video of Seminar
• All seminars featuring ATS presenters are filmed by ATS. Live seminar footage will be made available to all attendees of the seminar who are active ATS Website Members for free, and will be available to them for review as long as they are active website members. All rights to the footage from the seminar belong to ATS.

• The host and participants are not allowed to audio or video the seminar themselves, and the presenter reserves the right to stop the seminar and/or ask a participant to leave who is found recording the seminar.