Balance System Acupuncture

I discovered the Balance Method in 2017 with Dr Eileen Han and Dr Delphine Armand, then in 2019 I met Dr Sonia Tan in Montreal and decided to follow her mentorship program in 2022. Once I was certified in 2023, Shifu suggested I pursue a certification to become a teaching assistant, which I accepted. Today, I am part of the team of the Tan Academy of Balance.

Dr Shifu Sonia Tan is one of the 16 rare practitioners certified at the Gold level by the late Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan.

She created the name “Balance System Acupuncture” after the passing of Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan, to highlight the refinements she brought to the Balance Method, while honouring her predecessors and the practitioners who helped gain recognition for the clinical effectiveness of this approach.

It is a SYSTEM built on flexible and personalized strategies and approach, not on rigid protocols.

She is the only one of the 16 Gold-level practitioners certified by Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan who is authorized to teach Balance System Acupuncture (BSA), an evolution of Balance Method, in higher education institutions (Langara, Yo San University), and she has run her own school since 2022.

In recent years, Dr Sonia Tan has refined the way she teaches level 3, “Channel Conversion”, drawing on her studies of the 8 Extraordinary Vessels (8EVCC) with Dr Yvonne Farrell and Dr Jeffrey Yuan and on her understanding of the Luo and divergent meridians, integrating new applications for imbalances of a mental and emotional nature.

Drawing on his own lineage, his clinical experience, his charisma and his engineer's mind, Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan brought to light the forgotten treasures of the great classical texts of Chinese medicine and demystified the acupuncture of the I-Ching. He made the clinical work of his predecessors, Dr Chao Chen, Master Tung and Dr Wei Chi Young, accessible to all.

His dream was to share his knowledge and clinical experience with as many people as possible, to make the effectiveness of acupuncture known to the public.

Dr Sonia Tan carried on the dream of her master, Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan, by developing the first certificate program in Balance System Acupuncture (BSA) at an accredited public post-secondary institution in British Columbia. In 2022, she transferred this program to private management through the Tan Academy of Balance Inc, with the goal of continuing to maintain and offer high academic and teaching standards.

• Mentorship program with Dr Sonia Tan (Level 3 to 9, online and in person) – Tan Academy of Balance (Vancouver), January to November 2023
• Single Systems: Balance System Acupuncture – Balancing one channel at a time (Level 1) with Dr Sonia Tan – Net of Knowledge (online), fall 2022
• Multiple Systems: Balance System Acupuncture: Balancing multiple meridians at a time (Level 2) with Dr Sonia Tan – Net of Knowledge (online), fall 2022
• Balance System Acupuncture (BSA): Refinement: Head and Face/OBGYN 8/localization with Dr Shifu Sonia Tan (online), spring 2021
• Smart Combos: How to integrate various Balance Method strategies with Dr Eileen Han (The Academy of Acupuncture) (online), fall 2020
• “How to treat Upper neck and back pain with Master Tung and Balance Method” with Brad Whisnant (online), winter 2020
• Refinement and advanced training – level 5 “The system of the 5 movements”, level 6 “Seasonal balancing” and level 7 “Combinations and case studies” with Dr Sonia Tan (Montreal), fall 2019
• Master Tung's acupuncture points: “Tung’s upper & lower body points Dr Tan’s Application” (recorded seminar by Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan)
• Fundamental core and introduction to GongFa with Drs Delphine Armand & Paul Wang - Si Yuan (Paris), spring 2018
• Meridian Conversion; Balance through the Seasons; the 5 Elements Strategy; the 12 Magical Points with Dr Eileen Han Ac. (Montreal), September 2018
• “Dr. Tan’s Approach to treat Stress, Anxiety, Insomnia, Depression by Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan 譚特夫, O.M.D., L.Ac.” (seminar recorded by E-Lotus), fall 2017
• “Dr. Richard Tan’s Approach to treat Female Disorders by Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan 譚特夫, O.M.D., L.Ac.” (seminar recorded by E-Lotus), fall 2017
• Four-day seminar on the Balance Method of Dr Richard Teh-⁠Fu Tan, for the treatment of pain and internal conditions, with Eileen Han, Paul Wang and Delphine Armand (Ottawa), fall 2017