Who We Are
Practicing Auricular Acupuncture since 1997
At Prick Up Your Ears CIC, we're passionate about providing effective acutherapy and mental health support tailored to the needs of our community.
We bring the benefits of auriculotherapy to community venues and events and collaborate with local partners to make it freely available in health services and other wellbeing and recovery settings.
Our Directors
Nick Shough
Nick volunteered and then worked at a homeless night shelter in Birmingham for three years before university, becoming a qualified social worker in 1995, he first worked in the drug and alcohol field in 1994 in a drug rehab in Birmingham.
Nick became a NADA practitioner in 1997 and an advanced (Liver Wellness) Yuan Practitioner in 2007. He first assessed points of trainees after a course at the Homeless Alcohol Recovery Project (HARP) in 2000, and then went on to provide annual assessments with Anna Venables, at the mental health trust between 2010 -2013. Nick became a NADA GB Trainer in 2023 and has since completed an Auricular Acupuncture Diploma.
Nick provides NADA GB auricular acupuncture training and annual supervision for registration and/or re-assessment, he leads on the development of partnerships with community organisations, and delivers Acu-seeding Workshops.
Nick is also our lead trainer in substance misuse, alcohol treatment, harm reduction, recovery capital, neurodiversity and safeguarding.
Catherine Addy
Cate is an RGN registered specialist nurse with over thirty years' experience in several front-line NHS teams including A&E, palliative care, and community nursing, she is now a Clinical Advisor and Coach for NHS 111.
Cate completed NADA training in 2000, and studied body acupuncture from 2014-2015. She worked for a charity giving reflexology and Swedish massage treatments to patients with life limiting illnesses for 7 years.
Darius Wheel
Darius is a musician, sound engineer, and entrepreneur, he completed a BSc in Audio Engineering at Manchester University in 1991. After working at the Imperial War Museum for a decade he ran his own business until 2020.
Established 2025
Our Partners
Working together since 2005
Anna Venables is the owner of Microsystems Therapies and Training at the Woodbrooke Clinic Bournville, where she offers nervous system hacking through a triad of ears, feet and face touchpoints, enabling precision access to regulate brain, body and mood through deep neuromodulation.
Anna and Nick first worked together at a Young Person's service in Birmingham called HIAH in 2005. She is also a NADA GB registered trainer and has been providing Auricular Acupuncture supervision in partnership with Nick since 2010.
Satisfied Customers
BSMHFT Services
Since 2023 working with Anna Venables, we have been training and supervising BSMHFT staff from various teams across the trust who are supporting people with mental health difficulties, in the NADA protocol.
Cranstoun Sandwell
Training & Supervision
Nick trained ten workers at Cranstoun Sandwell in June 2024, returning in June 2025 to provide annual supervision for reregistration with NADA GB.
August 2025
Headway Black Country
Two 4-hour training sessions over two days covering drug and alcohol awareness, alcohol harms and guidelines, harm reduction, treatment services, therapeutic interventions, mutual aid, recovery capital, and alcohol related brain injury (ARBI).
"Expertly delivered. Nick has a very approachable manner and is extremely knowledgeable."
"Nick was extremely knowledgable and engaging throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed both sessions!"
04/09/25
Just Straight Talk
Auricular Acu-seeding workshops for two groups of service users.
24/09/25
The Kaleidoscope+ Group
An Auricular Acu-seeding workshop for the Menopause Group.
