Your first treatment; what to expect.

After calling to book your appointment please try to arrive on time and comfortably dressed for sitting for up to an hour for treatment. Before we start I’ll ask you to read and complete a consent form for treatment so please bring any reading aids you may use.

Next comes a talk about what brings you to see me and what you are looking to achieve from the treatment. I will need to discuss symptoms in detail and ask some medical questions, but for those looking for relief from mental health symptoms we can treat without going into too much detail about past traumas or painful experiences. If at this point I feel that you might need to discuss any problems with your doctor I will discuss that with you before continuing further.

I will then examine your ears and take some notes, then we’ll discuss which method of treatment you’d like to try (needles, beads, electrotherapy or a combination) and then administer treatment. If needles are used, this will take up to 45 minutes and involve a one or number of needles applied to points in one or both ears. These will remain in place for 20-45 minutes depending on the situation after which I will remove them and provide any needed aftercare. We’ll then discuss any further treatments or when to get in touch and discuss progress. You may want to allow a few minutes to rest and assess before heading out, especially after a first treatment. Feel free to get in touch as needed after/between treatments.

F.A.Q.

Does it hurt? The electrotherapy and bead treaments I use are pain free. The needles I use are very small and fine, much smaller than a hypodermic needle, and most patients experience a very small pain at the moment of insertion which eases after a few seconds. Some feel almost nothing and others are more sensitive but the most common reaction from nervous patients is relief that it wasn’t as bad as they’d been anticipating. The needle site may release a drop of blood on removal which I will address but the majority of needle sites bleed very little or not at all. For the most sensitive patients a single needle in each ear may be a good starting point and build up from there if that first session feels useful.

Does it work? I think so, but then I would say that. I found it useful enough in my own life to commit to training and redirecting my practice, and have felt the benefits both physically and mentally. Having worked in healthcare for 25 years as a grumpy skeptic I came into Auricular Therapy with a less than open mind but immediately found it to be useful for myself and my patients with both physical and mental health problems. I don’t think any modality works on everyone for everything but Auricular Therapy has helped a lot of people in my personal experience and is used on hundreds of thousands of patients each year to assist in treating health, mental health, pain and substance abuse problems. You can find some of the evidence behind auricular therapy at and please get in touch with me if you’d like to know more.