Denise and her blog

Being Professional

Today, in what is bound to be a controversial discussion, Denise comments on the numerous worrying posts on social media from aromatherapy and reflexology groups which have caused her to reflect on professionalism in the complementary therapy disciplines.

She says:

I see dozens of posts on social media about complementary therapies and have become increasingly concerned about their professional calibre. Blanket suggestions on using aromatherapy in pregnancy come with no warnings about precautions. Some posts advocate aromatherapy for babies and toddlers, yet it should never be used on or near newborns and rarely, if ever, for toddlers. I've also seen posts on aromatherapy for animals despite the fact that many of the oils can be toxic to household pets.

Even more worryingly, I frequently see pictures of client's feet in reflexology groups posing questions to members on what the possible "diagnosis" might be and asking for suggestions for treatment. No indication is given as to whether client consent has been obtained, and making a diagnosis is impossible without a history and full examination. That's without the fact that reflexologists are taught that they should not "diagnose".

Whilst there are many highly professional complementary therapy practitioners including many who have additional training to treat people with specific clinical conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and - of course - pregnancy, this sort of posting does the complementary therapy disciplines no favours in terms of credibility, both with the public and with colleagues who are registered healthcare professionalsOf course, you could argue that these ideas are on social - rather than professional -media which has hundreds of inappropriate and dangerous suggestions on all sorts of topics. However when inaccurate and potentially harmful advice is offered by so-called professional practitioners it causes me real.concern. I worry not only about the level of knowledge, understanding and experienc; of the individuals posting, but also, vicariously, about the impact on the wider disciplines of complementary therapies.

Having worked in midwifery complementary therapies for almost 40 years, I have been part of the movement to professionalise complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that was particularly active in the 1990s when the then Foundation for Integrated Medicine, with the patronage of HRH Prince of Wales, campaigned for increased standards of education and research to facilitate greater integration of complementary therapies with conventional.medicine.

Since then CAM has lost much of its impetus although disciplines such as osteopathy and chiropractic are now firmly included, by law, in the allied health professions and acupuncture and medical herbalism are self-regulated and have high levels of training and professional Codes of Practice to monitor standards. Sadly, however I have to question whether aromatherapy and reflexology have slipped backwards into simply being relaxation therapies with no real professional or clinical credibility.