The Fresh Needle Podcast

Sean graduated from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading, UK in 1997. After seven years of private practice in London, he travelled the world helping tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka and trafficking victims in Mysore, India. On his return to the UK, he founded E5 acupuncture, a multibed clinic in London.

Joanna Ellner is a former beauty editor, having worked at some of the biggest magazines in the world. She has written for The Sunday Times, Hong Kong Tatler, and spent seven years as the beauty director at Stylist Magazine and has consulted for the likes of L'Oreal, Clarins, Kiehl's and Yves Saint Laurent beauty. In 2016, Joanna decided to juggle her work and a three year degree in Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture at the University of Westminster in London, and she spent most of her second year of studies pregnant with her first baby. COVID-19 has thrown a spanner in the works during her last year of studies and like so many of us, she is trying to navigate these turbulent times with as much grace as possible.

Peter Deadman has been in the field of health and wellbeing for over 50 years; he co-founded the cooperative Infinity Foods and the charity Brighton Natural Health Centre. He co-wrote "A Manual of acupuncture". He founded the Journal of Chinese Medicine. He set up the Chinese Medicine Forestry Trust to protect forests throughout the world. He has recently written "Live well, live long: teachings from the chinese nourishment of life tradition" and released a wildly popular online course in taichi shibashi qigong.

Caitlin Donovan is an acupuncturist who is also a burnout expert helping people get over their burnout and create strategies to avoid finding themselves there again. Caitlin achieved her masters degree in Chinese medicine in 2007 and since then she has run her own clinics in Warsaw, Prague and currently Manhattan. Caitlin runs a podcast called "Fried. The burnout podcast" and has a new book coming out called "The bounncebackability factor: end burnout, gain resilience, and change the world".

Mel Hopper Koppelman has a Licentiate in Acupuncture from the Northern College in Acupuncture and an MSc in Acupuncture from the  University of Central Lancashire, both in the UK. She then went on to found her own clinic and soon after that she became interested in nutrition, which led her to complete a Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine at the University of Western States. Mel is also the executive director of Evidence Based Acupuncture,  a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving public health through better information about acupuncture's considerable evidence base. She is also a research supervisor and guest lecturer at the Northern College of Acupuncture Masters programme in York, UK.

Awais has a Bsc in Biological chemistry and cell biology, and traditional Chinese medicine; moxibustion and acupuncture. He  specialises  holistic and Integrated Medicine. From 2010-2017 he was a Senior Lecturer at London Southbank University, and the Confucious Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine on the Integrated Acupuncture Masters course. Here he was the Biomedical lead on the acupuncture course, responsible for teaching all aspects of the course.  Awais has also worked for St Joseph's hospice in hackney, where he has supported the Complimentary therapies team and delivered tai chi and qigong classes to vulnerable service users. Awais has led on development and delivery of a RCT trial; using Tai Chi to patients with Cystic Fibrosis.  Awais is currently involved in the future development of trails building the evidence for using tai chi in the community.  Awais has had the pleasure of being a student of some of the worlds leading practioners and teacher of both tai chi and qigong, as well as traditional Chinese medicine.   Awais is a qualified in first aid, and is a member of the British acupuncture council, is a  fellow at the academy of higher education, and registered with the British council for Chinese martial arts. Awais is the vice chairman of the Wu Shi Taiji & Qigong association. 

Liam Pace graduated from the University of Westminster in 2015 and has a practice in Orpington, UK. Liam is also launching an educational project on YouTube called "A better pace", dedicated to helping you make positive change in you self-care routine for a healthier, happier & longer life.

Ben Carrigan has a First Class BSc Honours degree in acupuncture from the International College of Oriental Medicine and has an acupuncture clinic in Southfields, South West London. He also has an upcoming podcast soon to be released, called "Acupuncture West London - the Podcast".

Sally graduated from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading and has a practice in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. She has also been practicing acupuncture in Gujarat, India with World Medicine. Sally's website is www.sallyconnellyacupuncture.co.uk and her IG sallyconnellyacupuncture.

Naava Carman is a Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncturist and herbalist who has specialised in treating female and male fertility, gynaecology and obstetrics for over 20 years. Her London practice is focused on women who are 38-45 years old with complex, multifaceted fertility issues, such as autoimmune disorders, unexplained infertility, failed IVF, recurrent miscarriage, hypermobility, PCOS, endometriosis and other inflammatory conditions.     Naava is also a committed educator, having run training courses and given lectures across the UK and internationally for a number of years. Last year she launched her own online training platform for practitioners wishing to gain an Advanced Level Diploma in Fertility Acupuncture. Naava is a member of the RCHM, a registered Supervisor for the British Acupuncture Council and a Mentor for Doula UK.

Fiona Swinburne practices in Newcastle Upon Tyne and is also a GAPS (Gut And Psychology Syndrome & Gut And Physiology Syndrome) practitioner and Health and Wellness Coach.

Andrea is a second year student at CCA, London, UK and the creator of @thechannelproject on IG, The Channel Project on FB and The Channel Project Case files also on FB.

Jenna Valentine and Nicole Fillion-Robin run the "How the heck babes" videos on YouTube, where they teach you from how the heck acupuncture works to how the heck look after your gua sha marks. Find them on bit.ly/howtheheckbabes

@tongues.of.tinder is a hilarious Instagram account where the tongues of Tinder profiles are analysed through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In this episode, the brain behind TOT tells me about her passion for TCM, her experiences about dating while analysing tongues, how we as acupuncturists can choose how much or how little to integrate with the world of Western medicine, and the culture shock of dating in China.

Pete Bemmer is a graphic designer in Brighton, currently on a break from his four year degree as Acupuncturist and Naturopath at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London, UK. 

Zoey Gong is a TCM nutritional chef, meridian yoga teacher, and Traditional Oriental Medicine student at PCOM. Her website is https://www.zoeyxinyigong.com and her Instagram account @zoeyxinyigong

Fresh Needle is a podcast for newly qualified acupuncturists and acupuncture students. We aim to create a community by talking about our experiences in school, setting up our own clinic and these turbulent times of COVID-19.