Governing Board
The governing board of SCCH consists of four members, whose biographies are set out below. The governors are collectively responsible for the governance and overall strategic direction of the SCCH. They ensure that the SCCH meets its mission to generate competent safe and useful practitioners of jing fang classical herbalism in a relaxed and enjoyable clinical environment.
You are invited to read our Governance Framework Document.
As well as teaching and practicing acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, Frances has been involved throughout her professional life with Chinese medicine education and the accreditation of Chinese medicine colleges. She is passionate about achieving and maintaining high standards of practice in Chinese medicine education.
Frances sat on the BAAB (British Acupuncture Accreditation Board) accreditation committee for six years, as well as on the BAcC (British Acupuncture Council) education committee. She acted as external examiner for the acupuncture degree courses at Westminster University, and at the Northern College of Acupuncture.
Frances is currently a council member for the RCHM (Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine), and is working to get the SCCH Jing Fang Apprenticeship accredited by the EHTPA. She is happy to be working with others to help disseminate Jing Fang Classical Herbalism in the English speaking world.
Alexander’s first degree was in Electronic Engineering. He went on to forge a successful global career in the software industry, often working with Silicon Valley companies as International Executive Vice President. Here, he developed his skills and passion for working in companies with growth potentials, enabling that growth to be realised financially, geographically, along with the career growth of its people, often with the companies becoming market leaders. He worked in a wide variety of industries such as manufacturing, aerospace, telecommunications and finance, artificial intelligence, robotics and predictive technologies.
Later, Alexander trained in Acupuncture, Tui Na and Classical Herbs at the internationally renowned College of Integrated Chinese Medicine, where he now teaches. Alexander’s clinical experience encompasses private practice, community acupuncture, teaching clinics and working in hospitals. With his passion for learning more Chinese medicine, Alexander has travelled to China to study with Masters at their clinics, hospitals and universities in Shanghai and Beijing. Of note are Professor Feng Shi Lun for Jing Fang Classical Herbal medicine and with Dr Wang Ju-Yi for palpation skills. He regularly researches and attends courses to extend his knowledge, all with a focus on providing more effective patient outcomes.
As part of sharing his passion for Chinese Medicine, he is a mentor for other practitioners and teaches Chinese exercise (Qi Gong) at his local village hall. He volunteers for the charity My Cancer my Choices.
Alex says: ‘As Fran was instrumental with helping me navigate the world of Chinese Herbs, I wanted to see how I could use my knowledge in Chinese medicine combined with my business development skills and experience to support her and to have her School become the pre-eminent Classical Herb School outside of China.’
Dr Berny Sèbe holds a doctorate in Imperial and Commonwealth History from the University of Oxford. As a historian specialising in the ways in which the experience of imperialism has shaped cultural and political encounters between Western and non-Western cultures, the philosophy underpinning classical Chinese medicine, and its growing success among practitioners and patients in the UK, are of specific interest to him. Having discovered through direct experience the positive impact classical Chinese herbalism can make on people’s health and lives, he is committed to the idea of disseminating knowledge about Jing Fang as a way of enhancing personal wellbeing, and is supportive of Frances Turner’s efforts as a practitioner and as the driving force behind the School of Classical Chinese Herbalism.
In addition to many articles in peer-reviewed historical journals and book chapters, Dr Sèbe is the author or co-editor of several books, including Heroic Imperialists in Africa: The Making of British and French Colonial Heroes, 1870-1939(2013), Echoes of Empire: Identity, Memory and Colonial Legacies (2015), Decolonising Imperial Heroes: Cultural Legacies of the British and French Empires (2016) and Decolonising Europe? Popular Responses to the End of Empire (2020). Dr Sèbe is an Associate Professor in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Birmingham, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Higher Education Academy of the UK.
Testimonials from patients, students and graduates.
Dr Feng, you have turned my world upside-down with this wonderful Jing Fang system… reading your case histories is inspirational.
It has been the single most helpful thing I’ve done for my health – it’s been life changing.
Frances does a wonderful job of teaching Jing Fang to us in England, online and in person. It has transformed my herbal practice into being more effective, with quicker results, and being more curative.
It has been the most remarkable and fulfilling educational experience I have ever had.
It is such a privilege to be studying the Jing Fang Apprenticeship with Frances Turner, and I cannot wait to incorporate this incredible system into my practice to help patients.
Thank you for bringing Jing Fang into my life, it has done miracles for my health…I feel so privileged to have discovered this lineage.
Your depth of knowledge, as well as your warmth and willingness to share it, have made the last two years the most important and enjoyable of my career to date.
It has been rewarding and challenging to use this medicine. Every patient is a teacher!
Jing fang has given me a way of understanding herbal medicine that is both profound and effective. For that I am eternally grateful!
I have been very lucky to meet Frances Turner and study the Jing Fang tradition you have shared all over the world. It’s a truly wonderful medicine, which I absolutely love to continue learning and practicing. So many have benefited from these teachings.
It has been the most remarkable and fulfilling educational experience I have ever had, because the learning is done through observing real patients and seeing how Frances diagnoses and treats them. Every week I’m there, I learn something new whether it is about herbs or formulas or syndromes. And being at the clinic is always hugely interesting. Doing Frances’s course and learning the Jing Fang pattern diagnosis has changed the way I treat my own patients as an acupuncturist.
The Jing Fang introductory lectures are extremely useful. The information is explained in a very clear and structured manner, with case studies that illustrate all the different formula patterns. The audio is a bonus. These lectures provide a very solid base that complement the practical side of the apprenticeship and help consolidate your learning.