OUR TEAM
Nik Tilling
Acupuncture practitioner
I qualified as an acupuncturist in 1999 and completed a post-graduate clinical training in China which involved working full-time in a state hospital. This gave me my first experience of practicing acupuncture in a multi-bed setting. This was followed by a period working at the Gateway Clinic, an NHS-funded multi-bed acupuncture practice at Lambeth Hospital which specialises in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. I have further NHS experience working at the Pain Clinic in Cheltenham Hospital. I co-founded the Dragon Project in 2003 with Calum.
My clinical practice has evolved into something that is about working instinctively with each patient as an individual, assessing their physical and emotional state on a day to day basis and tailoring the structure of my treatment to the situation as I find it. For me the strength of acupuncture lies within the apparent simplicity of this approach: engaging with the individual moment by moment, and not relying too heavily on pre-conceived notions or ideas, allows for instant change.
Calum Thomson
Acupuncture Practitioner
Graduated from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in 2001. Founded the Dragon Project with Nik Tilling in 2003. Has been studying with a variety of acupuncture,meditation and chi kung and tai chi teachers since then including taoist lineage holders Bruce Frantzis, Jeffrey Yuen, and Roy Jenzen.
'My focus as a practitioner has been to integrate acupuncture with physical movement and base what I do in a good understanding of musculo-skeletal body structure. As a practitioner I work from this base to address the levels of the immune system and the way that emotional issues are held in the body. Acupuncture as study and practice is all about addressing the place where the mind meets the body. Maintaining contact with both mind and body in a patient is the key to good clinical results. '
Nicola Ritchie
Acupuncture Practitioner
Nicola qualified in Five Element acupuncture at the College of Traditional Acupuncture, near Leamington in 2010. She joined the Dragon Acupuncture Project as the Clinic Manager in 2008.
Before qualifying in acupuncture Nicola studied management and social psychology at university, and then worked in neurological rehabilitation and mental health for a number of years.
Nicola’s special interests are in women’s health, mental/emotional problems and the practise of Qi Gong.
Yvonne Abel
Acupuncture Practitioner
Yvonne has been practising as a Sports and Holistic Therapist for over 10 years. She is also qualified in TuiNa (Chinese Massage), On-site Massage, Aromatherapy, reflexology and a Foundation in Shiatsu.
Yvonne is passionate about working on a deeper level with the body combining massage and body awareness practices such as yoga and chi kung with acupuncture, fusing her background in theraputic massage with the world of chinese medicine.