Archive for February 11th, 2009
Aromatherapy & Massage
11 February 2009Aromatherapy is one of the first or most added modality that Massage Therapist place in their tool belt after graduation. I was talking with my good friend who was my instructor at school. She taught the Spa class (I did not attend) and Kinesiology when I was their but now is in charge of Spa and Cancer Clinic. I asked her what I would need to get certified in aromatherapy and I found out many interesting things.
Aromatherapy does not have a certification, it is a Registration. When you have a certificate of Aromatherapy it is saying you have completed a class of this amount of hours. The certificate is basically to prove to Massage Boards or Insurance that you have completed CE hours. She has been studying aromatherapy ever sense she was 16, has over 200 hours of instruction and has given instruction for over eight years. It was mentioned that the exam to become a Registered Aromatherapist is very extensive and rigorous.
So basically, this information given tells me that when therapists say they are certified in Aromatherapy it could mean they have 16 hours to under 200 hours of instruction. I had no idea that it was that many more hours to be proficient in essential oils.
The things we find out. I am signed up for her 16 hour class in April, I look forward to learning the basics and see if I will pursue further to the Registration.