We’re honored to welcome you to the official home of Dr. Richard Tan’s Balance Method Acupuncture. This website serves as the central resource for everything related to the Balance Method. Whether you’re a patient seeking effective, holistic care or a practitioner looking to elevate your clinical results, you’ve come to the right place.
The Balance Method Acupuncture is a powerful, time-tested system developed by the late Dr. Richard Teh-Fu Tan a master acupuncturist renowned for transforming the way acupuncture is practiced around the world. Rooted in classical Chinese medicine yet streamlined through decades of clinical refinement, the Balance Method offers immediate, effective pain relief and internal medicine support using a precise, logical system of meridian diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Richard Tan was born and trained in Taiwan, steeped in the wisdom of ancient Chinese medicine and Taoist philosophy. After immigrating to the United States, he built a successful acupuncture practice and began teaching a simplified but highly effective system derived from Classical Chinese texts such as Yi Jing. His system, known today as the Balance Method, emerged from years of clinical practice, cross-disciplinary studies, and a deep desire to share a replicable method that delivered consistent results.
Over time, Dr. Tan refined this method which provided practitioners with a roadmap for selecting distal acupuncture points that harmonize the body’s energy in real-time. His legacy is built on clarity, precision, and a commitment to helping practitioners achieve instant and effective clinical outcomes.
The Balance Method is grounded in three essential principles:
Compared to Classical TCM, which typically emphasizes organ syndromes and local needling, the Balance Method uses meridian theory and distal point selection to achieve faster, more targeted results.
In contrast to other modern approaches that blend intuition or biomedical models, the Balance Method is structured, repeatable, and grounded in energetic relationships, making it highly effective for both pain and internal conditions.
In contrast to other modern approaches that blend intuition or biomedical models, the Balance Method is structured, repeatable, and grounded in energetic relationships, making it highly effective for both pain and internal conditions.
Although rooted in classical Chinese medicine, the Balance Method is not frozen in time. It continues to evolve through a living lineage of practitioners dedicated to preserving its core while adapting it to modern clinical realities.
Before his passing in 2015, Dr. Tan personally chose Dr. Eileen Yue-Ling Han as the torch bearer of Balance Method Acupuncture. Dr. Han was not only Dr. Tan’s closest teaching partner and senior apprentice for many years, but she also shared his vision of spreading this method with integrity and clarity.
Today, Dr. Han leads Dr Han School of Acupuncture, (formerly Academy of Acupuncture), the official training body preserving and expanding this remarkable legacy. Beyond teaching, Dr. Han has created a vibrant Balance Method community that offers total support for practitioners at every stage. This includes:
This network ensures that students don’t just learn techniques—they become part of a worldwide movement of skilled, compassionate, and confident acupuncturists carrying the Balance Method forward.
Practitioners around the world—trained directly under Dr. Tan and now under Dr. Han—apply the Balance Method daily to help patients with chronic pain, neurological issues, digestive concerns, emotional health, hormonal imbalances, and more. Students of the Balance Method continue to grow under Dr. Han’s guidance, maintaining the authenticity and clinical excellence Dr. Tan envisioned.
As the official site for Balance Method Acupuncture, we host a global directory of certified practitioners who have trained under Dr. Tan’s original system and/or Dr. Han’s current teaching system. If you’re looking for fast and effective care, you can find a trusted practitioner near you using our searchable directory.
For licensed acupuncturists, students of Chinese medicine, or seasoned practitioners looking to sharpen their clinical edge, this site provides access to authentic Balance Method training through Dr Han School of Acupuncture.
Dr. Richard Tan believed that great acupuncture should be fast, logical, and effective. His Balance Method lives on through the continued work of Dr. Eileen Han and a growing global network of practitioners who uphold this tradition with passion, integrity, and excellence.
