Continuing education
Every practitioner encounters the “therapeutic plateau.” You have diagnosed the pattern correctly, your point selection is accurate, and you fully trust your treatment plan, yet the patient’s chronic pain persists. In those cases, mostly the culprit is not energetic disbalance, but a physical obstruction: dense scar tissue, fascial adhesions, or a “muscle energy crisis“ in contractile tissue that standard filiform needles simply cannot resolve.
For the first time in the Netherlands, Brian Bowen presents the Dāo Needle Therapy Certification Course, a distinct system for these “stubborn” musculoskeletal cases. This intensive 3-day course bridges the gap between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and modern biomechanics, giving you a definitive tool to treat the physical structures that refuse to heal.
What makes Dão Needle Therapy unique?
Unlike standard acupuncture or dry needling, this technique utilizes a specialized instrument: the Dão Needle (Knife Needle). This needle will be available in the Netherlands soon. It is a refined tool with a specialized flat tip designed to gently separate and release adhesions without the trauma of surgery.
Our Norwegian partner Akupunkturutstyr AS will provide the needles free of charge during the course.
Where other modalities focus on signaling the body to heal, Dão Needle Therapy focuses on removing the physical barrier to that healing—whether that is inert scar tissue or a locked, dysfunctional muscle. The function will be restored; the pain is stopped.
How this differs from other methods
Vs. Dry Needling: Dry needling typically uses standard filiform needles to elicit a twitch response in trigger points. Dão Needle Therapy uses a specialized, non-filiform tool to physically release scar tissue and restore function to contractile tissue that standard needles are too flexible to affect.
Vs. Distal Needling: Distal needling relies heavily on powerful distal imaging and channel correspondence. Dão Needle Therapy on the other hand is a local, structural intervention. It works directly on the Ashi points, treating the “hardware” problem (tissue structure) so that your “software” treatments (distal points/meridians) can finally work.
Vs. Neuro Meridian Acupuncture: Both systems are highly effective but target different layers. Where Neuro Meridian Acupuncture excels at precise nerve entrapment and neuromodulation, Dāo Needle Therapy focuses specifically on the fascial, mechanical, and contractile layers. It addresses the inert tissue and muscle disfuntion that often compresses those nerves, offering a structural solution that perfectly complements a neurological approach.
Course Content
This comprehensive 3-day certification combines the complete Foundations curriculum (Day 1 & 2) with the advanced Master Class modules (Day 3). You will progress from core safety and palpation skills directly into advanced protocols for sports injuries, complex pain, and scar tissue. This course empowers you to leave simple “pain chasing” behind and use Ashi points as precise diagnostic meters.
You will learn to:
Primary Patient Groups for Dão Needle Therapy
Prerequisites
Acupuncturists and TCM practitioners with a solid foundation in anatomy.
Brian Bowen, Dipl.Ac.(NCCAOM)®, LAc., CMT, LMT, PAS, CES, CPT, CHPC, Power MBA