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