Press Reviews

• Rani Ayal, Constitutional acupuncturist and teacher

  'Mind-Blowing', was my first impression of Joan's teachings, almost thirty years ago... 'Mind-Blowing' is my impression again - upon laying down this fascinating book. With love, compassion and humility Joan shares with us his knowledge; gained through decades of diligent study, clinical experience and personal development. This is a book about constitutional acupuncture and healing; but even more so, it is a book of Humanity and Humaneness, written by a master acupuncturist and a truly inspiring teacher. I believe it will be a corner-stone for deeper understanding and an inspiration for generations of acupuncturists to come.

• CT Holman, author of Treating Emotional Trauma with Chinese Medicine and Shamanism in Chinese Medicine

  Joan Duveen masterfully explains the complexities and subtleties of this ancient system that lies at the heart of Chinese medicine. He smartly unfolds the workings of the heavenly stems and earthy branches, allowing practitioners to utilize this effective information in their personal cultivation and clinical practice. I highly recommend this book to people looking for understanding of the universal qi flow.

• Yan Schroën, Practitioner, Lecturer and Researcher of Chinese medicine

  The theory and practice of the Stems and Branches belongs to the oldest, complex foundations of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Few acupuncturists know and master this ancient theory of "the rhythm of the laws of Qi" as Joan Duveen. In this book he has succeeded in explaining this difficult subject in a clear, structured, and pleasant readable way, so that it can also be applied in daily practice. It is a book that should be a standard part of every acupuncture course, in order to understand what Chinese medicine is all about.

• Heiner Fruehauf, PhD, LAc. Founding Professor, College of Classical Chinese Medicine, National University of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon

  Chinese medicine as defined by the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine embodies a holistic system of scientific knowledge that regards the human body as a microcosm in the context of an all-encompassing cosmic environment. It represents one of the world's most time-honored alchemical traditions examining the phenomenon of human existence in the process of its continuous fusion with Heaven and Earth. At a time when the limits of the monodimensional approach of materialist science and its repercussions in the field of modern medicine have become more apparent than ever, Joan Duveen's excellent introduction to the intricate macrocosmic background sciences of Chinese medicine is cause for celebration. His monograph on the Stems and Branch system of cyclical energy calculation not only honors the lineage of J.D. van Buren, one of the first European master teachers of this wisdom tradition, but also makes this once hermetic information approachable by enriching it with a lifetime of clinical insights from a senior practitioner of acupuncture. I highly recommend this book for every student and practitioner of Chinese medicine!

• Pauline van Buren, wife of Dr J.D. van Buren (deceased) and former Principal of the International College of Oriental Medicine (ICOM)

  I have read this book with pleasure and at times could not put it down, which is rare for a study book. Joan is able to grip the reader and explain the different aspects of the Stems and Branches Theory in a concise and understandable way, which will help many who read this book. Furthermore he forces the reader to look at their personal development, which to my mind is irrevocably linked to this theory. You cannot work with this material without looking at yourself. Then it will grow and you can make it your own. I believe that has always been the aim of Dr van Buren. It is wonderful to see little aspects of "the great Master" mirrored in Joan's words and attitude. Joan makes it also very clear that you have to read the pulses correctly and to the best of your ability to be able to apply the Stems and Branches. That was something Dr van Buren was a Master at. He would always listen to the pulses above all else and adapt his treatment accordingly. He always said "Stems and Branches mean nothing if it does not fit the pulses.

• Peter Firebrace FBAcC, acupuncturist, writer, lecturer, director of Guan ? Academy, past principal of the International College of Oriental Medicine (UK)

  In a subject where written works are few and the original texts in the Neijing Suwen give little guidance on their application to clinical practice, Joan Duveen's mature and thoughtful book is a welcome addition to the literature, backed as it is by years of clinical and teaching experience. If you have been curious about Stems and Branches acupuncture, but don't know where to begin, this book provides an excellent entry point into that world.

• Master Zhongxian Wu, lifelong Daoist practitioner and author of 15 books on Chinese wisdom traditions

  The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (GanZhi ??), a rich and multi-layered system with roots soundly embedded in the ancient Chinese cosmological sciences, has been used for thousands of years to codify the patterns of life. The GanZhi are the building blocks that allow us to dive ever more deeply into the arts of Chinese astrology, Chinese cosmology, classical Chinese medicine, and more. In this work, Joan Duveen shares decades' worth of study and clinical experience to guide practitioners in learning how to use the GanZhi to both gain insight into the constitutional patterns that shape a person's health and wellbeing throughout their life stages, and to guide effective treatment. Demonstrated through valuable case studies, this book is an important manual for Chinese medicine students and practitioners and all those who are interested in the practical application of the time-honored GanZhi arts.

• Lonny Jarrett, practitioner, scholar and author of Nourishing Destiny, Clinical Practice, and Deepening Perspectives on Chinese Medicine

  Joan Duveen is a leading practitioner and scholar of Chinese medicine. His new text, Applying Stems and Branches in Clinical Practice, takes us on a deep dive into an important, and often neglected. dimension of clinical practice. Joan presents Chinese medicine in an ecological context embracing a deeply compassionate and integral view of the self. This work should improve our grasp of the subtleties of physiology and the relationship between constitutional endowment and life experience in the evolution of the self. I have waited 20 years for Joan to complete this work and am delighted with its depth and humanity.