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Ping Ho

acupuncturist & Tui NA Massage therapist

Lic.Ac., MBAcC, BSc (Hons) Oriental Medicine Acupuncture

Ping was born in a small rural village in the south east of mainland China. She grew up in Hong Kong where Chinese Medicine has been an integral part of people’s lives. As a child, she observed her grandfather using herbs, acupressure and gua sha techniques in treating ailments of his own and his family.

Ping moved to the UK in 2003 and later studied at the International College of Oriental Medicine (ICOM). She practises traditional Acupuncture and Chinese tui na massage in Forest Row, East Grinstead and Crawley.  Apart from her private clinics, she also treats cancer patients on their recovery journeys for Macmillan (Queen Victoria Hospital) and The Olive Tree (Crawley Hospital). 

Since graduation, she has been supporting patients from all walks of life, with a wide range of conditions such as cancers, auto-immune diseases, gynaecolological issues, anxiety, menopause, infertility, depression, acute and chronic pain such as low back pain, acute sprains and sports injuries, etc.  She often combines various therapies such as tui na massage, cupping, moxibustion, acupressure, gua sha etc., with or without needles, in treatments to achieve better therapeutic results.

For her, Acupuncture treatments are not just mere tools to resolve illnesses. More importantly, Acupuncture helps our body and mind to achieve a more harmonious state, so that it can strengthen our immunity and promotes better health. This falls within a very old traditional Chinese concept, Yang Sheng (養生) –  nourishing one’s life by being mindful of what one does in one’s life (actions/thoughts/diet/exercise etc.).

Visit Ping’s website

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Sarah Major

Clinic Director, Practitioner, Lecturer

Lic.Ac., MBAcC, PGCert

Sarah began studying Acupuncture in 1991 and graduated from the International College of Oriental Medicine (ICOM) in 1995, Since then she has practiced continually and grown a strong reputation as a general practitioner in the field of women’s health. She has carried out in excess of 30,000 individual Acupuncture treatments and gained further qualifications in Massage and Herbal Medicine from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (CICM) in 2000, and as a Teacher in 2009 (from Brighton University).

Sarah has led, and lectured on various undergraduate courses at ICOM, including Point Location, Applied Chinese Medicine and Practical Clinic modules, across all three years of the training course since 2008. She has hosted numerous CPD training programmes for postgraduates qualified in Acupuncture to support their practice of treating issues related to gynaecology, fertility and pregnancy.

In her academic capacity she has assisted in editing the college’s Points Manual and been instrumental in the development of a new (weekend course) curriculum. She continues to be involved in the evolution of the courses and the assessment criteria.

Sarah has gained a reputation for treating couples experiencing problems in conceiving naturally, as well as supporting IVF treatment. She has helped hundreds of couples achieve a healthy and successful pregnancy and birth. Using adjunctive acupuncture techniques such as cupping and moxibustion, Sarah is experienced in considering each case at an individual level, addressing not only the physical issues but working with other aspects of her patients’ nutritional, muscular, psychological and emotional health.

Sarah also specialises in Facial Acupuncture including Micro Needle Therapy (MNT), an extraordinary facial rejuvenation technique which boosts the skins production of collagen for noticeable results.

Since 2018 she has undertaken the role of Clinic Director at ICOM with the aim to promote the clinic to the wider community and raise the profile of the College’s Clinic.

Sarah has been involved in a training program for traditional doctors in Myanmar (Burma) and travelled there in 2018 and 2019 to educate and support the development of an Acupuncture training college where she worked and trained doctors within the Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital in Sagang, seeing up to 130 patients per day receiving Acupuncture treatment. This exciting program will be expanded to offer an exchange opportunity, whereby graduates of ICOM will be able to work within the hospital and at the Archariya Metta Acupuncture Training Centre in Mandalay.

As an original member of Zita West’s national network of affiliated fertility support Acupuncturists, Sarah has completed extensive postgraduate training to enhance her practice and has trained under the renowned Facial Acupuncturist, Paul Adkins.

Visit Sarah’s website

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Elio Basagni

acupuncturist, Lecturer

Lic.Ac., MBAcC, BSc (Hons) Oriental Medicine Acupuncture, FHEA

Elio’s mission is to disseminate the idea that Acupuncture can be the answer to the crisis affecting all evolved health systems globally: a modern answer with old roots; a medicine that puts patients at the centre of the clinical stage again, treating them as individuals and consequently guiding them towards taking responsibility for their own health needs. To this purpose, Elio has spent the last 15 years deepening his clinical skills and understanding of the Classics. He feels part of the movement known as “Classical Chinese Medicine”, led by scholars like Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée, Jeffrey C. Yuen and Dr Li Liuhong.

Since 2010 he has worked in the ICOM clinic as a senior Practitioner and Clinic Supervisor. In 2010 he also founded the I-community project – a multibed clinical setting – in order to address the need of the local community for more frequent and affordable treatments, whilst maintaining the accuracy, care and attention to the patient, which are the trademark of ICOM.

Besides his busy clinical practice, Elio has been a teacher of Chinese Medicine, Point Location, Personal and Professional Development, as well as a member of the Clinic Supervision Team at ICOM. Elio served as the Principal of ICOM between 2019 and 2023 and was the College Assistant Programme Leader/Director of Studies from 2012 to 2018.

In the last decade, he has contributed to the design and development of the academic and clinical curriculum of the ICOM Acupuncture programme, working together with the University of Greenwich and the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board.

He was awarded a BSc honours with a first-class degree in Oriental Medicine – Acupuncture by the University of Brighton, having completed a four-year full-time course at the International College of Oriental Medicine where he also gained a Therapeutic Massage diploma. In June 2013 he achieved a Master in higher education at the University of Greenwich and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). In 2019 Elio was one of the international peer reviewers of the draft document produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Standardisation of the Terminology used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Elio practises and teaches liuhebafa tai chi style which he started studying in 1993 under the guide of Daoist Master J. W. Shadow.

Patients attending Elio’s clinic require most commonly treatment for:

  • musculo-skeletal problems (sciatica, back, shoulder and neck pain as well as all sort of joints problems – including tennis or golfer’s elbow, knee problems);
  • digestive problems (IBS, constipation, reflux, chronic loose stools, food intolerances, bloating etc.)
  • headaches (migraines, headaches related to hormones, weather, fatigue etc.);
  • menstrual and fertility related issues (painful periods, PMT, infertility IVF support, menopausal symptoms like hot flushes etc)
  • emotional issues (depression and anxiety related problems, including palpitations, panic attacks etc);
  • chronic fatigue,
  • fibromyalgia,
  • sleep disturbances
  • respiratory disturbances (allergic rhinitis, Asthma etc),
  • immunity or autoimmune related issues
  • general balance.

He is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC). 

Visit Elio’s website