Alumni
Sara Buttanshaw - Acupuncture Graduate
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Sara is an Acupuncturist practising in Dublin, Ireland. After graduating from CCA in 2022, she worked in multiple studios in East London before moving back to Ireland to open her own clinic. As of 2023, Sara is the owner of SB Acupuncture & Wellness, Dublin, and has become a member of the AFPA.
She has a special interest in working with menstrual health, fertility and pregnancy.
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Sara has an interest in skincare, and is also a qualified Holistic Facial Therapist. She has undergone additional training in Facial Microsystems & Cosmetic Acupuncture to take a more holistic approach to skin health.
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Website: www.sbacupuncturewellness.com
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Frances Norbury - Acupuncture Graduate
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Frances is an Acupuncturist and oboist based in Cholsey in south Oxfordshire. Her acupuncture work is as one of a team of practitioners working at the Cholsey Complementary Health Centre. Everyone is welcome in Frances’s clinic, and since graduating from CCA in 2022, she has been enjoying treating and helping men and women of all ages with a wide range of issues, including arthritic and muscular pain, pregnancy support and mental health concerns.
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Frances’s work as an orchestral musician means she also has a particular interest in supporting other musicians through acupuncture with the physical and mental-emotional challenges of the way of life.
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All practitioners at Cholsey Complementary Health Centre charge the same hourly rate, which is kept as low as possible to enable access to treatment for as many people as possible. Discounts can be negotiated for those with low incomes.
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Cassie Bali - Acupuncture Graduate
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Cassie is a Naturopathic Nutritionist and Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM Acupuncturist with a private practice in Queens Park, London NW6.
Cassie has particular interests in Women’s health, chronic illness, mental health, digestive issues and autoimmune conditions. She has completed postgraduate training in acupuncture for fertility and IVF, cosmetic acupuncture and muscular skeletal issues.
Cassie works with patients to implement simple diet and lifestyle changes to help alleviate any symptoms and boost overall health and wellbeing.
Naturopathy and TCM are both holistic practices which look at the person as a whole. Cassie looks at her patients’ complete medical history, as she believes that all the systems of the body work together, and when one is out of sync, it can cause issues elsewhere. She considers her patients’ diet, lifestyle, and emotions when creating a bespoke nutrition and treatment plan.
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Website: www.valehealth.co.uk
Instagram: vale.of.health
Tik Tok: vale.of.health
Lucrezia Zanin - Tui Na Graduate
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BSc (Hons), LicAc, dip.Tui Na, AAC member
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Lucrezia graduated from The City College of Acupuncture with her Licentiate Diploma in Tui Na Chinese medical massage. She graduated from The University of Westminster with a first class BSc Honours degree in Chinese Medicine Acupuncture.
Her passion for skin health and rejuvenation led her to study and practice Cosmetic Facial Acupuncture.
She decided to transmute her love for holistic wellbeing into her profession by providing high quality treatments for her patients’ health, treating the root cause of imbalance in the body, not only the specific symptom.
She is also a Yoga teacher and Reiki practitioner.
She is currently working in select clinics in London, located in Clerkenwell, Notting Hill, and Elephant & Castle.
Website: www.belladonnaacupuncture.com
Kate Levinson - Acupuncture Graduate
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BSc (Hons), LicAc, MBAcC
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Kate practices in Pinner, Harrow where she founded a multidisciplinary clinic called The Blossom Tree Clinic. She has a background in Psychology, and as such her area of special interest lies in complex mental-emotional cases and disease stemming from trauma. However, she enjoys treating a whole variety of internal conditions in the body, especially dietary and period dysfunction.
Kate volunteers as part of the Ukrainian Support Project providing trauma relief through ear acupuncture to refugees. She also has a Level 3 qualification in British Sign Language and feels passionately about making acupuncture more accessible to the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired community.
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Jasmin Reif - Acupuncture Graduate
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Jasmin is an acupuncturist and Heilpraktiker practicing in Düsseldorf, Germany.
She has a special interest in neuroimmunology - treating autoimmune and neurological conditions. Jasmin has undertaken postgraduate training in Scalp Acupuncture which is used to treat Polyneuropathy, strokes, multiple sclerosis, migraines and other neurological conditions. She also treats pain conditions, anxiety disorders and stress.
Parallel to her own clinic, she works at the Integrated Oncology ward at the Klinikum Essen Mitte, which is a centre for the treatment of tumours and metastatic cancer. Here, she focuses on pre, during, and after-care of cancer patients using acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.
Jasmin is currently studying Western Medicine in order to take part in running clinical trials for Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, which the University Duisburg-Essen is implementing.
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Private practice: www.jasminreif.com
Ilze Black - Acupuncture & Tui Na Graduate
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Ilze is a licenced Acupuncturist, Tui Na practitioner, a member of the British Acupuncture Council, Acupuncture Fertility Network UK, and the founder of TCM Practice. Ilze is a graduate of The City College of Acupuncture (CCA), and practices traditional Chinese medicine, combining acupuncture and Tui Na into her treatments, together with other auxiliary therapies. The holistic approach, which is at the core of TCM, enables her to provide her patients with the best possible, uniquely tailored, personalised treatment plan. Her mission is to support her patients on their journey back to their optimal physical health, and mental well-being. Since leaving CCA, Ilze has established her own practice in Islington, in addition to returning to CCA as a Clinical Assistant in our Tui Na and Acupuncture student clinics.
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Ella Nazar - Acupuncture Graduate
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Ella runs a general practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine in Clerkenwell, Central London. She is a Member of the British Acupuncture Council, as well as the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians, and she is on the NHS List of Approved Acupuncturists.
She is part of the acupuncturist team at the Ukraine Project, which provides free consultations and treatments to assist refugees and families with trauma recovery. She is an advocate of integrated medicine.
Ella also offers low cost acupuncture at The Stress Project in Holloway. She runs a free ear acupuncture group, in addition to offering full body acupuncture with GP referrals for people on low income, with mental health issues, and chronic conditions.
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Private practice: www.ellanazar.com
Community acupuncture: The Stress Project https://www.stressproject.org.uk/acupuncture.html
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Vanessa Evans - Acupuncture Graduate
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Vanessa is a Walthamstow-based Acupuncturist, specialising in women’s health, menstrual wellness, pregnancy, fertility and menopause.
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Website: www.vanessaevans.co.uk/
Leticia Nieto Acupuncture Graduate
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Leticia is an Acupuncturist member of the British Acupuncture Council. She uses Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat a variety of conditions, such us pain, women’s health, anxiety and emotional issues.
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She is the co-ordinator of ACMAC, the Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics, and also runs Brent Community Acupuncture, a low-cost multibed clinic in Willesden Green, London.
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Private practice: Leticia-nieto.com
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Community Acupuncture Clinic: brentcommunityacupuncture.com
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Truus Jansen - Acupuncture & Tui Na Graduate
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Truus studied at The college of Acupuncture in London under Paul Johnson, one of the leading point location lecturers and fertility specialists, and studied Tui Na (Chinese Medical Massage) under Sarah Pritchard, chief lecturer and author of two Tui Na books.
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Truus is also specialised in Paediatric Chinese Medicine, having studied with Rebecca Avern, who is the senior lecturer, clinical supervisor and teaching clinic director at The College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading.
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The combination of Acupuncture, Tui Na and Paediatrics, makes Truus able to work with all patients from infants to the elderly with any diagnosis using different techniques according to their needs and ailments.
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Having worked in various community settings, Truus has set up ELM (East London Multibed), a collective of practitioners providing affordable acupuncture in East London.
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As a qualified Acupuncturist and Tui Na practitioner, Truus is licensed and fully insured.
LicAc, dip.Tui Na, dip.Paed. Ac., Reiki 2
Website: www.tonify.systems
Email: truus@tonify.systems
07840 550 363
Vanessa Menendez-Covelo
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LicAc, MBAcC, BSc, MSc, MPhil
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Anatomical and Energetic Structures (AES) and Acupoints and Practical Skills (APS) Lecturer
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Acupuncture Clinician
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Acupuncturist in private practice
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Vanessa initially turned to acupuncture to cope with the demands of a career in financial technology and an intense Ashtanga yoga practice. Inspired by the improvements in her own well-being, she then enrolled in CCA’s acupuncture licentiate and started her own acupuncture clinic just a few months before the Covid pandemic. Her clinic is now thriving and she has joined the CCA teaching staff to share her passion for traditional Chinese medicine.
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“As a naturally curious person, practicing acupuncture provides me with the intellectual satisfaction of problem solving and the human factor of being able to help people”.
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Sarah Haddon-Grant
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Sarah is an acupuncturist practicing in Peckham and New Cross. She has a special interest in treating chronic conditions (including pain, anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia and IBS) as well as women’s health, fertility and IVF.
Sarah has undertaken postgraduate training in a number of areas including Acupuncture for Fertility and IVF, Classical Acupuncture, and Facial Acupuncture.
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As part of her mission to make acupuncture accessible to a wider community, Sarah also runs a low cost community multi-bed clinic in Telegraph Hill, for low-income individuals that still want to experience the benefits. She is also a regular volunteer at Saint Christopher’s Hospice in Sydenham where she supports patients in a palliative care setting.
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Private practice: sarahhaddongrant.com
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Community clinic website: hilltopacupuncture.co.uk
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James Woodward
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BA, LicAc, Dip Tui Na, MBAcC, VTCT
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Professional and Practitioner Development (PPD-PA) Lecturer
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Chinese Medicine 2 (CM2) Lecturer
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Professional and Reflective Practice (PRP) Lecturer
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Acupuncture Clinic (ACL) Supervisor
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Tui Na Lecturer
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Holistic Therapist
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James studied Acupuncture at The City College of Acupuncture, graduating in 2017. He then returned to us to study Tui Na, graduating in 2019, and has since become a very welcome member of the CCA teaching team.
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He studied Holistic Therapies at Canterbury College, completing a VTCT Diploma in 2009. This included Swedish massage, reflexology and aromatherapy.
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James first started practicing reiki in 2006 and has studied with a range of teachers with different styles. In 2009 James qualified as a reiki teacher, and in 2012 founded the South East Kent Reiki Hands on Healing School. James volunteered for the NHS practicing reiki in the Supportive Therapies Unit for cancer patients at Canterbury Hospital, where his curiosity for acupuncture lead to his training at The City College of Acupuncture. He practices the Japanese style of reiki, and has his own YouTube channel with instructional videos for reiki techniques.
He runs his own practice, The Tranquillity Space in Herne Bay.