Membership Criteria
If you are a practising therapist you can join Complementary Health Professionals as long as you trained with a school that met the National Occupational Standards and Core Curriculum of each therapy and have up to date CPD. If your course was before the current standards were published, we can still accept you if you can evidence CPD in that therapy to keep yourself updated and current. We do have some bridging courses if you need to upgrade.
If you have trained with one of our accredited training providers, we will be able to accept you straight into membership as we have already checked their syllabus for quality assurance against the required standards for the therapies they teach. Some therapies may not have NOS, but they will be checked for their curriculum and quality and all therapists need to have an anatomy and physiology diploma at level 3.
The current national core curricula are held by our voluntary self-regulatory body - the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). If you would like to view these then here is the link: https://www.cnhc.org.uk/cnhc-core-curricula
01
I have trained to a recognised standard
You can apply to join immediately and need to complete the application form. We will need you to email a copy of your diploma(s), which you can scan in or photograph as long as the details are clear, along with your application form. By submitting the application, you confirm that you will abide by our Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Procedures and will undertake the required CPD each year. You can send in the appropriate fee via Paypal. Go to the membership page and click on the category of membership you decide to have.
02
I trained many years ago
You may still be able to join as long as you have kept records of your Continuing Professional Development. We accept anyone's CPD and not just our own. Please complete the application form and email in your scanned certificates and list of CPD undertaken.
03
My training was not at the recognised standard
We will be able to help you. If you can send us details of the course you have studied and we will identify any gaps in your knowledge from the current core curricula for you and be able to support you in deciding the best course of action, and what to do next. You can do the extra training you need to bring you up to the required industry standard and do a refresher practical workshop. Please email us your details along with the application form and we won't take any membership fee from you until you can join us.
04
I trained abroad
Again, we will be able to help you. We can assess the training you have done and cross-reference it with the appropriate UK standards. If there are any shortfalls, we can direct you on how to obtain training to gain additional evidence Please complete the application form and we won't take any membership fee from you until you can register.
05
I have been practicing without being a member of any association
If you have been trained at the appropriate standards originally but have been practising without being a member of a professional association for a number of years, having sorted your own insurance and now want to be a part of Complementary Health Professionals, this is still possible. You may not have done any formal CPD but we can interview you on the phone to see how your knowledge has improved as you will have done CPD as a practitioner in your practice. Please complete the application form and we will be in touch. It is possible that we may ask you to do some coursework in the way of case studies so that we can assess your currency and give you support (which will also count as CPD).
06
My training was online only
We can sometimes accept courses completed online where there has been a personal tutor that you have interacted with and your course did not require any bodywork training. All courses must include assessments and case studies, which are individually marked and quality assessed. A good example is our essential oil diploma. We cannot accept any new bodywork diploma that has been completed online only. This is becuase our profession has agreed that these courses need to be done in-class under tutor supervision. The CNHC holds the current core curriculum for 18 therapies, including massage, aromatherapy, sports massage, reflexology, reiki, bowen therapy etc. and the in-class hours requirement can be viewed there. See https://www.cnhc.org.uk/cnhc-core-curricula#gsc.tab=0
For CPD, online courses are often accepted. Only where you are learning a new bodywork technique would we insist on the training being done in person. In-class learning is always so useful as not only can a tutor correct and improve your technical skills, but the interaction with others enhaances your learning experience. Ultimately, it is all about being able to provide the best possible service to your clients.