PsychCentral.com Blog on NADA, by Richard Zwolinski

Below is a clip from a blog posted on Psych Central by therapist and addictions specialist Richard Zwolinski. 

"I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I mention one of the treatment modalities I use. But auricular (ear) acupuncture works. Especially in the treatment of addiction where it is used for detox and relapse prevention.

It isn’t very well known because it is not generally reimbursed by insurance, so essentially I (and other practitioners) are performing a free service.

Ear acupuncture complements other therapies, but isn’t a main treatment, itself. It is a hard-sell to addiction programs. Not many programs want their staff doing treatments that they cannot bill for. I was initially skeptical that such a simple treatment modality (compared to regular acupuncture, much simpler) could be effective but several years ago I enrolled in a program when my then boss said that he had heard good things about it...." For the full blog click here:  http://blogs.psychcentral.com/therapy-soup/2011/04/ear-acupuncture-for-stress-anxiety-and-addiction/

(Some corrections:  Richard also mentions that Lincoln Recovery Center is a place where counselors can get NADA training, but as of last December, unfortunately Lincoln is no longer a training center.  Please see the May 2011 issue of Guidepoints to learn more about NADA's efforts to create new training centers like Lincoln's, or visit the NADA advocacy page:  http://acudetox.com/nada-protocol/nada-advocacy.html  

Also, Richard refers to Acu Detox Specialists as "ear acupuncturists" but NADA does not hold that an ADS is the equivalent of an "acupuncturist" or an "ear acupuncturist.")