courses

[?Irish Accents?]

all the courses i have seen for aromatherapy are a year long. i was wondering if you have to do such a long course in order to be insured to do any aromatherapy at all you have to do such a long course.

 

[Stignense]

There is a minimum requirement for aromatherapy. My course was 9 months split over one weekend a month which covered the necessary classroom time. In addition we had to have an anatomy and physiology certificate and a massage certificate and do 40 case studies, a three hour written paper and a one hour practical exam.

There is quite a lot to learn so a year is not long really.

 

[John Honor]

Hi there

I completed a distance learning course which should have taken about 9 months. At the end of it, if you pass you can get insurance to practice. Although the theory side was thorough and I understand it all well enoughm, the only drawback was getting practical experience (although I did attend some 2 day weekend workshops). At the moment, I'm doing a massage course at a college for hands on experience to boost my practical. In hindsight, I wish I'd done the face to face course but at the time of doing it, I had just had my first baby and thought this was the best way. I wouldn't think a year was too long - there's loads to take in.

Tracey

 

[The Dude Minds]

Just to add my two cents (definitely shrinking in value against the Euro or the Pound even as I type...)

In England, Aromatherapy is inextricably linked with massage - a result of the history of the development of the therapy and the ground-breaking work of people like Margaurite Maury. Almost all the English courses I've reviewed would briefly look at the other methods of applying aromatherapy, and then concentrate a lot on the massage.

In America, where massage is a regulated profession in most states, Aromatherapy is very much separated from massage. Most aromatherapists are trained by distance learning, some from accredited, some from unaccredited colleges. Massage is part of the course, but is treated as one of the means of administering the oils. In other words, the face to face element of the courses is downplayed, and what is stressed more is the learning side of things. There are many massage therapists who tag on aromatherapy as another string to their bow, but there are just as many aromatherapists here who do not provide massage as a means of administering the oils. In fact, unless they were state registered and licenced as a massage therapist, many would be breaking the law if they used massage as a medium of administration. So here, you do have a far wider range of products, oils, balms etc as means of administration.

(Some schools even teach ingestion of oils - something the British schools recoil over. However, ingestion of oils go back to the beginnings of modern aromatherapy.)

Is a year too long for a course? Don't think so - Truth of the matter is, the knowledge is very important in aromatherapy - I think those of us whether in Britain or the US can shudder with horror remembering all those latin names and attributes we had to learn. And like any other course of study, we forget a lot of it because we don't use it in real life. I doubt I'll ever use oils such as Melissa (so expensive) or some of the more obscure ones in my syllabus - I do believe we all concentrate on a personal selection of oils for day to day use.

However, it's as much the therapist as the therapy: and that really is key. I've known people who just radiate the calmness of a healer, but can't do a massage to save their lives, but just talking with them, and getting their balms - made the whole day. I've known massage therapists who graduate from 750 hour programs who leave you feeling like you've just wasted your money on a back rub!

Now - is it better to apply the oils with a massage? I personally think so - after all, you're getting two therapies at one go!

At the end of all that, I'd say, take the course - if you want something that is purely Aromatherapy, the course Traceym mentioned sounds possible. However, I think you'd want to take additional massage courses, as Traceym is doing! Worth the investment.

 

[The Beckster]

Hello! Just wanted to welcome you to these forums. It's nice to have your input and you talk a lot of sense! Welcome and stick around.

 

[Beavertailguy]

Just read you profile and see that you are MALE! Great. Enjoy your time with us girlies.

 

[a Dreamer]

hi all im a newbie here an aromatherapist for 6v years and still lovin it.Would like to mention that not all schools recoil from anything other than massage to administer their oils.I am currently undertaking a course in aromatology where the emphasis is on using oils to their maximum potential......in the form of capsules,pessaries,compresses etc.You need to have a complex chemistery knowledge and the course will prob take me 2 years....more with a dissitation(sp?).I believe when you are deali g with something as complex as plant oils then you need to put in the time.x

 

[Saaiaq]

Hello Candie! Yes, I thought life was solitary as a man in during my ITEC massage course.., then I find out it was even more solitary as a man in Aromatherapy! Then again, I'm used to it by now. Hmmm.. could start another thread somewhere about gender and complementary health.. though I thought we have already been through that..

 

[tracky]

Hello All,
I'm new too, hope all's well. I'm very interested in aromatherapy, I've been using the "Fragrant Pharmacy" book as a guide for the last 9 months and have found it very helpful, but I would like to do a course as well.

Do any of you know where I could find out about courses in London. I don't want to practice it on other people as a job, it would just be for my own use(and family and friends maybee).

Ideally I'd like to do an intensive course all in one go, eg. a 1 or 2 week course full time. I don't have many evening's free, but would be able to get the time off to do a full time course for a short time. I'm thinking of doing it maybee this coming summer 2005.

So if anyone has any suggestions as to where I can start looking, please let me know.

Thanks very much, all the best,

Caroline

 

[cellAmomo]

You need to contact your local colleges and see if they offer an 'aromatherapy for family and friends' course. Most private colleges do the full thing which would not be covered in such a short time. Aromatherapy is a pretty indepth subject and you need anatomy and physiology and massage before you can get on the courses and there is a lot of chemistry etc involved. As you wouldn't want this in your circumstances you might be able to find something similar to what I suggest above.

 

[Colofooniah]

the first course i did was at my local college as an evening class... intro to aromatherapy and reflexology. 9 weeks, 4 weeks on reflex and 5 weeks on aroma. we learnt a bit of a massage routine, a little bit about oils, mainly lavender but i do remember a smelling seesion as a bit of a fun thing... blind smelling to see what we thought of the aroma. very interesting what we all find pleasing and how it differs!

the course i run is an introduction to holistic massage and is very suitable to folk just wanting to know how to do a massage on friends and family... our college also do indian head intros and reflex intros... guess they dont have anyone to do aroma! (hmm... methinx).

check out the local adult aducation centres... there certainly are courses around, not in a 2 week time frame mind you.

 

[Megan!91]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick replies Candie and Rosie (can't find the funny S). I'll have a go at looking up them sort of courses, looks like I might have to shift evening things around for a bit. The Chemistry's the main bit I'm interested in learning as I hope to have a massage qualification by the end of February '05. Well, best get on to looking up local colleges, Cheers me Dears,

Caroline