Five Element Jam 2027
The Five Element Jam is a brand new, embodied, interactive Five Element course with Charlotte Brydon and Rachel Peckham, over the space of 1 year, with 10 monthly sessions.
Five Element Jam is a playful, embodied and deeply practical journey into the Five Elements. It is primarily taught through the senses and through reflection. This in-person course for practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of the Five Elements through direct experience.
Over ten monthly Wednesdays, Charlotte Brydon and Rachel Peckham will guide participants through Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water using movement, music, taste, smell, partner work, group exercises, observation, treatment planning and clinical reflection.
This is not a course in which the Five Elements are studied only as theory. Participants will explore how each Element lives in the body, voice, face, senses, emotions, relationships and clinical field through felt sense and observation.
The course is designed to help practitioners become more sensitive, responsive and accurate Five Element clinicians by developing themselves as the instrument of diagnosis and treatment. It is also an opportunity to learn how to treat solely in the Five Element style.
Each day is designed as an immersive exploration of the Elements through the senses. Participants will work with Colour, Sound, Emotion and Odour, alongside taste, movement, music, partner exercises, group observation, point discussion, case material and supervised clinical thinking.
The course begins by building trust in the group and introducing all Five Elements through play and experiential learning. The next five sessions each focus on one Element in depth: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. Each Element day begins and ends with a sensory field, allowing participants to enter the world of that Element through colour, smell, sound, movement, taste and felt experience.
The final part of the course brings the learning into clinical application, with opportunities for patient encounters, observation, CF diagnosis, point selection, case studies, joint practice, supervision and exploration of the intersection with relational psychotherapeutic dynamic.
This is a course for practitioners who want to feel the Five Elements, not just think about them.
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Participants will learn to:
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deepen their understanding of the Five Elements through direct sensory and embodied experience
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observe Colour, Sound, Emotion and Odour with greater subtlety
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recognise how each Element appears in the body, voice, eyes, movement, relationship and clinical field
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use play, movement, music, taste and smell to develop diagnostic sensitivity and experience the Qi of specific elements
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explore their own relationship to Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood
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connect Elemental observation with treatment planning and point selection
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practise Five Element observation with peer work and patient day
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develop confidence in CF diagnosis
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work with case material through a Five Element lens
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understand how psychology, boundaries, transference, counter-transference and the therapeutic field intersect with Five Element practice, specifically the Five Elements
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take part in supervised clinical thinking and patient-based learning
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become more aware of themselves as the instrument of diagnosis and treatment.
What to Expect:
This is an experiential and participatory course. You will learn through music, movement, taste, smell, partner work, group exercises, observation, case discussion, patient day, peer treating and supervised clinical thinking.
Because this course is embodied, relational and experiential, we take great care with how the group is held. A dedicated wellbeing support person will be present throughout the course, helping to create a safe, steady and well-supported learning environment.
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Overview and dates:
The course runs at the college, on Wednesdays, over the space of a year, with 10 monthly sessions in total.
Wednesday 3rd March 2027 - Orientation, safety and the practitioner as instrument
Wednesday 7th April 2027 - Fire: the heart of me, the heart of you
Wednesday 12th May 2027 - Earth: making sense of what I am feeling, where is the ground in me?
Wednesday 9th June 2027 - Metal: awe, the sacred, the divine
Wednesday 7th July 2027 - Water: security, fear, wisdom and survival
Wednesday 4th August 2027 - Wood: direction, boundaries, force and flexibility
Wednesday 8th September 2027 - Group CF diagnosis, treatment planning and treating each other
Wednesday 6th October 2027 - Patients in Class Day
Wednesday 10th November 2027 - Psychology of the Patient–Practitioner Relationship
Wednesday 8th December 2027 - Consolidation, completion and ending
Download the full, detailed document outlining what will be covered on each day here.
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Fees:
The course fee is £1600.
This includes a £100 non-refundable application fee which secures a place on the course and is offset against the fees.
Full fees are due by the course start date, or fees can also be paid in instalments by monthly direct debit to spread out the investment.
How to apply:
Download an application form here and email the completed form to Jo Brown, our Registrar. To pay the £100 application fee please click here. The £100 non-refundable application fee secures your place on the course and is offset against the fees.
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Teachers
Charlotte Brydon
Charlotte Brydon is the Five Element Skills Programme Leader at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine and has taught acupuncture students for many years across observation, diagnostic skills, clinical awareness and practitioner development. She is also an integrative psychotherapist and clinical supervisor.
Her teaching brings together Five Element acupuncture, psychotherapy, embodied learning, humour, play and careful clinical thinking. She is particularly interested in how practitioners develop themselves as the instrument of diagnosis: how they see, hear, feel, relate, respond, contract, open, protect, reach, trust and connect.
Her work is warm, challenging, relational and clinically grounded, with a strong focus on helping practitioners become more awake to themselves and more precise in their treatment of others.
Rachel Peckham
Rachel Peckham is a highly experienced acupuncturist and Five Element practitioner, trained with J.R. Worsley in 1994. She is a Director and Trainer for NADA GB and has also been involved in World Medicine, bringing acupuncture into community and humanitarian settings.
Rachel brings depth, sensitivity, humour and a strong embodied understanding of the Five Elements. Her teaching supports practitioners in recognising the Elements not only as theory but as living qualities that can be sensed, invited, observed and treated.
Together, Charlotte and Rachel offer a course that is playful, precise, clinically useful and rooted in deep respect for the Five Element tradition.
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Registrar
Jo Brown
Jo joined the college in February 2020 and works as our registrar and is currently developing our VLE resources and capability. She is a qualified podiatrist and enjoys nature and being creative. Jo is the person to contact with any application and administrative questions about this course - registrar@cicm.org.uk
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"I love the teaching at CICM, it is varied, interesting and extremely inspiring and the teachers all have a wealth of experience to draw on.”
Keeley Farrington
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“CICM was suggested by an acupuncturist I know and recommended for its high-quality tuition and professional approach. I knew I wanted to explore a degree course and after my open day experience I knew it had to be CICM.”
Michelle Patrick
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"I recently joined CICM and there are so many things I love about the place. The teachers are genuinely helpful and want us to do well. The place has a calm, harmonic feel and studying has already had a tangible benefit to my lifestyle and health."
Erica Chen
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"I was an electrician before I started studying acupuncture. It might not seem like it but there are overlaps between them, you look at a circuit and work out where the problem is coming from and then rectify it. The difference is with acupuncture I’ll help people to get better!"
Jack Keeping
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"Since embarking on this course, I have been astounded every day by the passion that this subject has sparked in me. I realised very quickly that I was in the right place, doing the right thing. I can only describe it as finally finding my place in the universe and becoming part of something much bigger than myself."
Sally Connelly
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"I wanted to become an acupuncturist as I prefer to use natural remedies which are in line with my faith and cultural background. I have witnessed the profound effects treatment can have on patients. CICM has an excellent reputation and I love the whole package here, especially the staff and supportive teachers."
Bev Holder
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"I appreciated the integrated style of TCM and the five elements as being the most profound way to reach and help people. This was the best possible start to a long acupuncture career that I could possibly wish for."
Bethan Morgan
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"My years at CICM will always hold a special place in my mind. It was like entering Hogwarts. The subjects are mind-expanding, the teachers and tutors really passionate and always keen to answer questions and give guidance. It has transformed me as a person and changed the way I see people, emotions, relationships, disease and health."
Efthymios Fotenios
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The teachers are really supportive and make every effort to tailor how they teach to suit the different styles of students. I like to question things and look at things from different angles - and the teachers have always supported me by being there to answer things by email after class, recommend further reading, or even being there to support me when I set up a Chinese medicine society for the college.
Helen Reid
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The course covers a huge range of topics, angles and perspectives, and whilst so much of it is new, unfamiliar and challenging at times- especially the 'hands on practical aspects- I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing, or anywhere else I’d rather be doing it. CICM is a hub of connection, commitment and energy, and something I am honoured to be part of.
Ellie Farnfield
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All of my teachers are practicing therapists with a library of information and experience to reinforce their words and the lectures. I have gained a lot of insight into myself and I often find myself reflecting on what we learned in class and applying it to life. I am recommending the course to everyone I know!
Jacob Marley
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As I was in my late forties I was concerned that I was too old, however the Open Day dispelled any doubts that I had as the age range of students and staff spanned from 18 to 80. The beautiful building was a joy to explore and I felt immersed in the world of Chinese Medicine. It was a cocoon of learning in the heart of Reading and only ten minutes’ walk from the train station.
Samanthan Roderick
