Janine Cousins
Director and Co-founder ACT: BA(Hons), CQSW, DipAc, PGCE (Post Compulsory), Practice Teachers Award. Member of Institute of Further Learning (No. AB066557).Janine qualified as a Registered Acupuncturist and Acupressure Massage therapist eleven years ago and has continued to work in private practice. Janine has fourteen years of experience of providing training and supervision with adult learners in a range of educational and work-based settings. Janine worked as a Probation Officer for over eleven years and before that as a Social Worker and Youth Worker. She has continued to work within the community on a voluntary basis for over twenty years.
Most recently Janine was the Management Committee Chairperson for a Tier Two and Tier Three Drug and Alcohol Agency and Management Committee member for a residential rehabilitation unit.
All her work is founded in her commitment to facilitate those interventions that affirm the assertion that all individuals have the potential to change and that this is enhanced with the appropriate and timely interventions. Consequently Janine has combined her extensive range of academic, professional and personal life experiences to contribute to informing the ethos and professionalism of ACT.
Carole Bishop
Director and Co-founder ACT: BSc(Hons),GDAS, DipAc, ITEC MBAcC,
Carole has a degree in Psychology, qualified as a Registered Acupuncturist eleven years ago and is a member of the British Acupuncture Council. Carole is also trained in Counselling, Swedish and Acupressure Massage, Reiki, Electro-Stimulation Therapy and Bowen Technique. After working in private practice she applied her knowledge to the specialist field of substance misuse in a busy ‘street drugs’ agency where she treated clients on a drop-in basis.
Carole went on to become the manager of Tier 2 and Tier 3 services for problem drug users in York and North Yorkshire. These services included: needle exchange and drop-in; psychosocial interventions; criminal justice and outreach. Carole has worked in the field of substance misuse for ten years and has extensive experience as a caseworker and in supervising those working in this area. She consolidated key elements of this role in her work as a Regional Tutor for the accredited Northern College of Acupuncture in York.
Carole has continued in her acupuncture and drug and alcohol related studies and has recently completed the Graduate Diploma in Addiction Studies at Leeds University.
In order to focus on her work for ACT Carole has reduced her hours and works part time as a Senior Practitioner in a Tier 2 & 3 setting. Carole is still using acupuncture in her work with drug and alcohol users.
ACT Trainers:
Amy Best
Amy is a fully qualified Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncturist, member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) and registered nurse (BSn). She currently has a busy acupuncture practice at the Northern College of Acupuncture.
While Amy applies TCM principles when treating patients, her previous work experience as a nurse allows her a unique and in-depth understanding of Western medical ailments and their symptoms. Patients find this knowledge and understanding to be extremely reassuring and helpful.
In addition to 3 years of rigorous full-time study at the Northern College of Acupuncture Amy has completed further training and worked in a busy acupuncture clinic in China.
Amy’s diverse experience and training has provided her with a wealth of knowledge that she incorporates into her treatments and is keen to share with her patients. Besides running her acupuncture practice in York, Amy is currently undertaking an MSc in Acupuncture and how it can benefit menopausal symptoms.
Philip Haxby-Thompson
Philip has been interested in complementary medicine since he was a teenager, and taking up a career in Chinese Medicine seemed like an obvious choice. He tries to instil the passion he holds for the subject in all his patients, so they can feel better through treatment and through their own lifestyle and dietary changes.
He holds a Diploma of Acupuncture from the Northern College of Acupuncture and he is a full Member of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC). Whilst training at the Northern College he undertook research regarding the use of full body acupuncture within drug rehabilitation, with positive results.
He now teaches Points at the Northern College of Acupuncture as well as Regional Tutorials and Clinical Skills. He thoroughly enjoys this side of his work; as well as being able to teach others, it also enriches his own understanding of the subjec
Isobel Macdonald
Isobel developed an interest in Oriental medicine through studying shiatsu for 3 years. Around the same time Isobel went on to qualify in Social Work and looked into ways of combining these interests. This resulted in working to provide complementary therapies in community projects, involving supporting those with mental health and substance misuse issues in a holistic way. Whilst still working in this field Isobel studied to become an acupuncturist, qualifying in 2007. Since qualification she has worked for a non-statutory drugs service providing harm reduction and psychosocial interventions as well as acupuncture to people with drug and alcohol problems in North Yorkshire.