Benefits Of NADA (Ear Acupuncture) Include Stress-Relief And Fewer Cravings
What is NADA and what does it treat?
In 1974, a psychiatrist Michael Smith in the South Bronx’s Lincoln Recovery Center began developing the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) protocol for the treatment of addiction by modifying a protocol used in China for pain relief and opiate withdrawal.
The NADA protocol is a non-verbal approach to healing that involves the placement of up to five small, sterilised disposable needles into specific sites on each ear. The recipients sit quietly in a group setting for 30-45 minutes.
In addition to addiction recovery, NADA is frequently used to support smoking cessation, weight loss, PTSD, and generalised stress and anxiety.
Benefits from NADA include:
• Reduced cravings,
• Increased calmness, better sleep, and less agitation,
• Relief from stress and emotional trauma,
• An easier connection with counseling,
• A discovery of inner quiet and strength, and
• Reduction in the need for pharmaceuticals
Why those 5 points?
The five points are:
(1) The Autonomic Point which calms the nervous system and helps with overall relaxation.
(2) the Shen Men or “spirit gate,” which reduces anxiety and nervousness,
(3) the Kidney Point, for calming fears and healing internal organs.
(4) the Liver Point for detoxification, blood purification, and to quell aggression.
(5) the Lung Point, which promotes aeration and helps clients let go of grief.
Starting in 1974, the staff and other professionals associated with the South Bronx’s Lincoln Recovery Center spent 10 years developing the basic five ear-points NADA protocol for the treatment of addiction, using the diagnostic tools of experience and trial and error. They determined a need for a national-level organization to expand training capacity and awareness of the value of acupuncture as a tool of recovery. Incorporated in 1985 in the state of New York, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association has helped spread acu detox far and wide, nationally and internationally.