Elaine Wood (BSC) - Qualified Acupuncturist & Holistic therapist based in Durham, North East of the UK.

"My focus is to provide a unique, individualised, and comprehensive treatment for patients by combining acupuncture with craniosacral therapy techniques, as and when required. Thus enabling me to treat a variety of conditions."

How it all began.

I was very interested in Holistic/Complementary Therapy from a young age. In 1991, at the age of 20yrs old, I trained in Therapeutic/Holistic Massage. As there was no professional massage training available in the N.E. of the UK, I attended an ITEC Diploma course in a Healing centre in London. I then went on to train in Deep Tissue Massage & Rolfing techniques, taught by International Therapists/Authors who were both renowned in their specialist field. I considered at this point to train in Acupuncture but it would have meant moving to London, so reconsidered and decided to leave such training till later in life.

So from there I went on to use my skills to work as a Self-employed Masseur and continued doing so for many years part-time whilst doing an Honours degree in Environmental Biology and then pursuing a career as Freelance Community Health Tutor for the Health Authority and a Project Manager for Local Government, to do with Sustainability and Health.   

My discovery of craniosacral therapy.

I discovered Craniosacral therapy some years later, by receiving it for a trauma. I was enthralled with the whole concept of it and how effective it was, so I decided to do some training with the Upledger Institute in 2006. 

Craniosacral therapy gave me a whole new perspective on how to treat my patients. I found that working with 'minimal' touch was every bit as effective if not more effective than physical manipulation of the body. The results and feedback I got from patients were extremely positive. In addition I found this type of therapy works beautifully with massage.

To find more about craniosacral therapy, go to the Upledger Institute, UK.

My return to thoughts of acupuncture.

During my work on patients over the years, I gradually began to become more and more aware of areas of tension, which appeared to follow channels throughout the body. Through investigation it became apparent to me that I was working with the meridians in the body. At this point I felt compelled to study acupuncture, like I had intended to over 20 years previous. I had in fact received acupuncture on several occasions myself for almost 30 years and had found it extremely effective for health problems I suffered from, in situations where conventional treatment had failed. So I went ahead, studying a degree in Acupuncture at the Northern College of Acupuncture in York and graduated in 2017.