|
Nikki
Dake
talks to
two
highly
qualified
therapists
in
Paphos
about
the
phenomena
that's
becoming
prevalent
in the
area.
It is
constantly
amazing
how many
otherwise
quite
sensible
people
take
themselves
and
their
health
problems
off to
an
alternative
therapist
who may
have few
or no
qualifications
and/or
experience.
They
also
'therapy
flit',
seldom
seeing
one
discipline
through
till a
satisfactory
completion
is
reached.
But
perhaps
that's
because
the
therapists
themselves
are
insufficiently
trained
and
ineffectual.
You
wouldn't,
after
all,
take
your BMW
to a
village
garage
without
the
specialist
monitoring
equipment;
you
wouldn't
pull the
name of
a
computer
'boffin'
from a
free
directory
and pay
him to
exterminate
your
laptop
viruses
(although
I did
and
seriously
regret
it!); so
why
would
you
decide
to
consult
an
alternative
therapist
whose
only
qualification
is that
they
advertise
themselves
in a
free mag.
But
people
do! It
seems
quite
common
now to
hear of
someone
who has
just
'qualified'
locally
as a
Reiki
practitioner,
a
Reflexologist
or some
new
discipline
which
has
little
provenance,
few
clearly
stated
ethics
and no
governing
body.
Some
people
also
seem
inclined
to
reinvent
their
skills
in
Paphos
and,
whilst
that's
not in
itself
bad if
you're
talking
time-share
sales or
a
cosmetic
business
- 'Avon
calling!'
- it's
not good
news
when
applied
to
alternative
therapies
that
deal
with the
rebalancing
of
physical
and
mental
body
states.
Neurolinguistic
programming,
Bach
remedies,
Aromatherapy
and
Reflexology
all have
their
place in
the
encyclopaedia
of
complementary
or
alternative
healthcare,
but
surely
only
when the
practitioners
have
done
more
than a
weekend
course!
Lorna
Firth,
UK
qualified
Hypnotherapist,
Sekhem
and
Reiki
Master
explains:
'Reiki
is a
beautiful
energy
to work
with,
but
there is
no
formal
training
or
governing
body/code
of
ethics.
I've
become
aware,
from my
work
with
energy
that
there is
a lack
of
integrity
in the
teaching
of
Reiki:
I've
experienced
students
coming
to me
for
re-training
and
found
that
some
rudimentary
teachings
have
been
excluded
from
their
training.'
To
research
whether
a
therapist/practitioner
is fully
and
formally
qualified
means
checking
the
council
/
register
/
association
/
governing
body to
which
the
particular
therapist
belongs.
Most
registers
have
criteria
and
codes of
ethics
to which
their
members
must
adhere
to in
order to
maintain
membership.
For
example,
continual
personal
development
is
usually
mandatory.
Supervision,
'peervision'
and 'own
work' is
particularly
obligatory
for
qualification
in
Psychotherapy
and
Hypnotherapy.
Lorna
outlines
how one
of her
disciplines
-
Sekhem Complete
Energy
System
System -
has
followed
a
similar
route
when it
comes to
codes of
ethics:
:
'According
to the
aims of
The
Helen
Belot
Sekhem
association
an
endorsed
teacher
or
practitioner
will
have
copies
for the
client/student
to view.
To keep
the
teaching
of Sekhem pure and
of high
standard,
teachers
need to
be
re-endorsed
every
year by
Helen Belot.
Practitioners
of
Sekhem
are
recommended
to
belong
to the
Association
if they
wish to
use the Sekhem
word and
logo and
to keep
up to
date
with new
techniques
but
that's
not
mandatory
if they
just
wish to
practice Sekhem.
There
may be
people
claiming
to teach Sekhem
so it is
always
important
for the
student/client
to check
the
validity
of the
teacher
by
asking
to see
the
endorsement
certificate.'
And the
same
should
apply to
every
other
complementary
therapist.
Always
ask
BEFORE
you make
the
appointment
and do
the
necessary
research
on-line
if
there's
a
governing
body or
register
of
practitioners.
Lorna
completed
all her
training
for all
levels
of her
many
qualifications
in the
UK, but
this is
by no
means
the case
for many
others
advertising
expensive
'smoking
cessation'
workshops
and
nutritional
weight-loss
advice.
In fact
there
are some
DIRE
products
out in
the
marketplace
aimed at
the
slimming
culture,
a
veritable
minefield
of
herbal
potions
with
toxic
preservatives
advertised
as
'breakthrough',
'effortless'
and
'successful'.
And
although
multi-level
marketing
has yet
to get a
real
grip in
society
here,
there
are
already
too many
multi-level
companies
offering
'business
opportunities'
in the
sale of
over-priced
products.
Cyprus
is way
behind
other
countries
in the
EU when
it comes
to
honest
advertising
both of
product
and
services.
Back on
the
qualifications
tack:
some
therapy
disciplines
are even
more
formally
recognised
than
hypnotherapy.
Deborah
Bayley,
the
first UK
trained
and
registered
Osteopath
to set
up a
practice
in
Paphos,
explains:
'In
Cyprus,
at the
current
time,
osteopathy
is
recognised
if one
is a
member
of the
PanCyprian
Association
of
Complementary
Therapies,
which
encompasses
all
types of
therapy.
This is
recognised
by the
Ministry
of
Health,
and by
most
Cypriot
health
insurers.
'British
trained
osteopaths
are
regulated
by a
governing
body
called
the
General
Osteopathic
Council,
the only
government-recognised
validation
body for
osteopaths.
In the
UK it's
a
criminal
offence
to
describe
oneself,
in
verbal
or
written
form, as
an
osteopath,
if not a
member
of the
G. O.C.
This
protects
the
public,
and
ensures
that
only
osteopaths
who have
undergone
a
rigorous
high
standard
of
training,
and have
successfully
completed
a
lengthy
testing
profile
on
graduation,
are
accepted
onto the
register.
Members
are
required
to
follow a
strict
code of
ethics.'
Ethics:
this is
what it
all
therapy
comes
down to;
ethics
and
training.
Never be
afraid
to ask
your
therapists
how long
they
have
been
practising,
what
they did
before
relocating
to
Cyprus -
many
good
therapists
actually
start
out in
conventional
medicine
- and if
they
have
clients
who will
personally
recommend
them. Do
beware
of
'reinvented
in
Paphos'!
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