For thousands of years, the Chinese have recognized that the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water exist in everything, everyone, and are essential for life. Classical Five-Element Acupuncture asserts that every human being is born with, or develops early in life, an imbalance in the natural functioning of these Five Elements. This imbalance becomes the root cause of illness of the body, mind, and spirit. This system is set apart from other systems of acupuncture by its fundamental premise of diagnosing and treating a patient's Causative Factor: his/her root imbalance. Classical Five-Element Acupuncture is a complete system of healing, providing patients with a substantive and effective means of regaining balance on all levels.