Auriculotherapy

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Paul Nogier, Michael O. Smith · 1956 · France

What it is

Auriculotherapy (ear acupuncture) treats points on the outer ear with needles, seeds or pellets, pressure, electrical stimulation or laser. The European school traces its ear map to the French physician Paul Nogier, who proposed a somatotopic map of the auricle, presented at an acupuncture congress…

Format

• NADA is a service-level protocol, not a phased psychotherapy. There are no psychotherapeutic phases, and sources give no fixed course length; what follows is the delivery cycle the sources describe, with the psychotherapist's tasks marked.
• Stage C. Regular treatment sessions (needling provider). Format as published: bilateral needling of one to five ear points, participants then sitting quietly in a group for 30-45 minutes; one ADS may treat 15-20 people in an hour. Frequency in published programmes ranges from several groups a week…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Stage A. Programme set-up (service lead). Goal: legal, safe delivery. Confirm who may needle in the jurisdiction: US rules vary widely, from states with no guidance, to those restricting the protocol to physicians or licensed acupuncturists (California and Oregon), to direct acupuncturist supervision (Georgia), to Colorado (2013), where licensed behavioural-health professionals, psychologists, LPCs, LMFTs and LCSWs…
• The NADA protocol is a fixed five-point ear-needling protocol developed by Michael O. Smith at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx in the 1970s (the "Lincoln Model"), building on a 1973 report by Wen (Hong Kong) of opiate-withdrawal relief from stimulating the ear Lung point. Four points were added to the Lung point: Sympathetic, Shen Men, Kidney and Liver. The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association was…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (as reviews give it). The Cochrane review of auricular acupuncture for cocaine dependence (Gates, Smith & Foxcroft 2006; 7 RCTs, 1,433 participants, low quality) found no difference from sham or no treatment and concluded there is "no evidence that auricular acupuncture is…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• clients not reporting effects to keep access; dizziness on standing after the group. Working when effects are reported promptly and handled.
• dual-relationship strain; clients feeling unable to refuse their own therapist. Working when the client chooses freely and both roles stay clear.
• the client feeling they are "failing" by doing less; signs of reaction even with few points. Working when tolerance and willingness grow at the client's pace.
• the client hoping it will replace MOUD, medication or therapy; pressure from staff enthusiasm. Working when the choice is the client's and expectations are realistic.
• unlicensed providers; providers making disease or cure claims; the client feeling handed off. Working when the client attends, feels safe, and both providers communicate.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.