Frequently Asked Questions

 

Can I practise as a professional therapist after completing this course?
No, the purpose of this course is to give you the skills to help yourself, your family and friends. You will have an excellent knowledge of ten complementary therapies that will enable you to treat a variety of common health problems without any side effects. These therapies will also enable you to prevent many problems from occurring and will help you to maintain optimum health.

 

Is complementary medicine a substitute for orthodox medicine?
Many people find that when they use complementary therapies they become much healthier and hardly ever have to visit the doctor! Complementary therapies and orthodox medicine can work remarkably well together. In fact, they are an ideal combination and the medical profession now recognizes complementary medicine as the powerful tool that it is. I have worked with many doctors over the years and patients have often found that complementary medicine has enabled them to reduce their medication. However, it is important to work closely with the medical profession.
My advice would be that for minor problems you should first try one or a combination of the therapies outlined in the course. Then, if problems persist, do not hesitate to seek medical advice.
An important point about complementary therapists is that they should not diagnose an illness or condition (this is the prerogative of a doctor), promise a cure or give false hope.

 

What about becoming a professional therapist?
I’m delighted that this course has inspired you to think about undertaking professional training!
Beware of one-day or weekend courses that claim you will be able to practise as a professional therapist. Day and weekend courses will give you the skills to treat your friends and family. I personally run one-day workshops in various therapies and they are a great way to practise your new-found skills, learn new ones and also to find out if you would like to take it further. You meet some lovely like-minded people, too!
However, if you want to train as a professional therapist, expect much more intensive training. For example, at my college, training to be a professional aromatherapist takes a minimum of nine months. The part-time intensive training involves a sound knowledge of anatomy and physiology, business studies and professional conduct as well as massage and essential oils. Training also involves the completion of case studies. The training doesn’t stop there – after you have qualified it is necessary to undertake CPD (continuing professional development) to update your skills.

 

How do I know if a school of complementary medicine is a reputable establishment?
Ask lots of questions! For instance:

  1. How long has the school been established?
  2. Who is doing the teaching? The tutors should be qualified teachers (preferably recognized by the Department of Education and Science) and should have many years’ experience. You do not want learn from someone who has only just qualified or someone who has been qualified only a few years and has not treated a single client!
  3. Is the school accredited to a reputable organization?
  4. What are the exam results like at the college?
  5. Visit the college if you can. Check that the school has its own premises and that someone is not operating from their front room! No professional association would allow this!
  6. Ask to see samples of previous students’ work.
  7. If students are there on the day you visit, ask if you can talk to them. You will quickly get an idea about how good the college is.

 

Is it best to use ‘organic’ essential oils in aromatherapy?
‘Organic’ essential oils can be an unnecessarily expensive purchase.
If you have grown herbs you have probably seen that, in most conditions, herbs can grow healthy and strong without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers. In part, this is because herbs contain naturally high quantities of volatile chemicals that pests dislike. The rich aroma of an herb is the smell of these natural chemicals evaporating off of the plant. So, there is less reason to use chemicals when farming many herbs, because it would only raise the cost of producing them.
The overall value of ‘organic’ essential oils has been somewhat inflated. Many essential oil herbs are grown organically with no certification, and some are from sources that can’t readily be certified. For instance, Cedarwood oil is extracted from the heartwood of a tree that is many years old, so it is very difficult to prove that the land on which the tree is situated has not been chemically treated over a time span of several decades.
Knowing where an oil comes from may give insight into the product’s purity. The location in which crops are grown is considered and sometimes it’s not possible to provide a land history. A wild-crafted herb that was harvested from the roadside couldn’t be considered organic (because they can pick up the lead and pollution from the cars that pass by). In short, a farmed herb has a greater chance of having consistent growing conditions, and more consistent levels of the herb’s active components.