Acupuncture Treatment for Post-Deployment Soldiers with PTSD (09ACUP03)

Schedule:	March 27, 2010 Saturday 8 a.m. – noon	Sign Up Now
Credits:	4 contact hours
Audience:	This seminar is open to acupuncturists, acupuncture students, MDs
Prerequisites:	others by special permission from the instructor. Please contact us at continuinged@bastyr.edu.
Cost:	General $95

Description:

According to the RAND Corporation study, we can estimate the number of service members returning home with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will range from 75,000 to 225,000 men and women. Standard treatment programs for PTSD have included cognitive-behavioral and cathartic psychotherapies along with pharmacotherapy, but few of the treatment programs involve an integrative approach that includes various modalities and disciplines to treat an individual. In the Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center, acupuncture along with reiki, therapeutic massage, meditation, expressive art therapy and yoga have been integrated into treatment for PTSD.

In this seminar we will first discuss the causes of PTSD from a Western medical perspective: who it affects, symptoms, neurochemical alterations, physiological changes and current standard Western treatment. We will then focus on the causes of PTSD in Chinese medical terms, TCM pathology of PTSD (i.e. phlegm, dampness and heat), and the acute and chronic phases of PTSD in TCM. Treatment discussion will include tongue and pulse diagnosis, single herb formulation and acupoints according to each differentiation of syndrome (i.e. spleen and heart deficiency). We will also cover the integrative approach to PTSD with case study discussion. There will be a short discussion on the use of auriculotherapy with electroacupuncture and moving cupping into the treatment of PTSD, followed by an acupuncture treatment demonstration.

Course Notes:

Note: This class takes place at Bastyr’s Kenmore campus, room 186.

Instructor:

Joe C. Chang, MAOM, LAc, has worked as an acupuncturist at the Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. This program provides an integrative approach in the treatment of post-deployment soldiers who are diagnosed with PTSD. He is the first acupuncturist in the U.S. to be selected for this program. Additionally, he is the director of alternative medicine at Med-National, Inc, where he is working to implement government acupuncture service contracts throughout the VA hospitals and military medical centers.

Chang’s work as a volunteer includes offering assistance to physicians and nurses in hospitals and rural community clinics throughout Peru. He is also the founding director of The Foundation for Integrated Cancer Services, a non-profit organization. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and is currently a member of the Military Acupuncture Society for Military Physicians.

Course Sign Up: