10 things to consider when engaging the services of a complementary therapist in the UK

Complementary therapies are very popular in the UK. A nationally representative UK survey published in BMJ Open (evaluating traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine [TCIM] usage) shows that 65.9% of UK adults used at least one complementary therapy product or practice over a 12-month period. The problem for anyone considering engaging the services of a complementary therapist is that as we are an unregulated profession, how can you know if your therapist is properly qualified and can offer you a safe, effective and knowledge-based treatment.

As a professional association, we at Complementary Health Professionals (CHP) are passionate about high standards in our profession and have always strived to maintain high standards. We celebrated our 30-year anniversary in 2024, and we are managed by experienced complementary therapists and educators, all of whom have worked in the profession on Boards and Councils over 25+ years to develop national standards and promote our profession. You can be assured that any of our members (who use MCHP after their names) have been vetted to ensure that they have the right qualifications that meet nationally agreed standards. Also, all can prove their annual professional development and meet our strict requirements of membership when renewing their membership annually and will be able to show you their current membership certificate. However, as not all complementary therapists are members with us, here is a top ten checklist you can use to check that your therapist is worth booking in with.

1.      Their qualifications

A great thing to check on but how do you know that their certificate on the wall or letters after their name mean anything? After all, as there are no legal requirements for practising complementary therapies in the UK, which means that anyone can call themselves whatever they want and not even had to attend a course. Some people may have printed their own certificate or have a certificate that looks good, but they are offering you massage but only studied online and have never set foot in a classroom, been supervised, assessed or even completed formal qualifications. This is a real problem within our profession, and we do rely on members of the public to ask all the right questions; hence this article.

Therapists who are serious about our profession will invest a great deal of time and energy into their training to be the best they can be to serve their clients well. Some courses in massage, aromatherapy, nutrition, acupuncture, reflexology etc., can cost thousands of pounds and spread over 1-3 years. Oline courses in massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, nutrition, reiki etc., can start from as little as £20. It always amazes me that people who do these cheap courses and then start up in practise feel adequate to practise. The problem is that unscrupulous associations and insurance companies will accredit and cover these courses and therapists because it makes them a lot of easy money and they have no respect for our profession. As the saying goes, “Let the buyer beware” and this is why you need do your research before booking in with a therapist.

2.      Are they a member of a professional association?

This helps because they should be vetted by the association to check for qualifications, but the problem is that as we are an unregulated profession, there are professional associations that will accept into membership just about anyone, regardless of qualifications or quality of training because it is lucrative.

Any professional association worth joining should have strict membership criteria, insurance criteria, a code of conduct and ethics and a formal disciplinary procedure that their members uphold. They will also have a CPD Policy (more on this in item 6). This does give you somewhere to go should you need to make a complaint and that is always reassuring as a consumer. As a member of a reputable association, it means that you can have confidence in the therapist as they should be required to continually update their skills and knowledge annually, which is checked upon annual renewal of their membership. They should be able to provide you with a copy of their membership certificate, or you can contact the professional association direct to check that they are a current member. Check that the association is recognised by the London Boroughs Special Treatment Licence exemption or that it is also a member of the General Council for Manual Therapists (GCMT), if they represent manual therapist (bodywork therapies) or better yet, that the association is a Verifying Organisation (VO) for the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), as we are. What you need to avoid is anyone who has completed online only courses, FastTrack courses or anyone who has done no formal training or overseas training where there is no UK equivalence.

One of the advantages of choosing a therapist who is a member of a reputable professional association is that they also have to abide by a strict Code of Ethics for professional practice and the association will have a disciplinary policy in place. This means that should things go wrong, which although unlikely could always be the case, you have someone to make your complaint to. Under new GDPR rulings, your therapist will disclose this information to you as part of the GDPR statement they will ask you to sign on your first visit. All CHP therapists have a GDPR policy in place and we continually provide them with guidance on all aspects of this and any other regulations they need to have in place within their practice.

 3.      Voluntary Self-Regulation Register

In the UK, we do have a system of voluntary self-regulation that bona-fide professional associations work with and that is the aforementioned CNHC. This is a national register set up for public protection set up in 2008 was funded by the Department of Health and followed on from some 6 years of work where we tried to unify the various disciplines within complementary therapies following a Government White Paper in 2002. Its register is a quality kitemark that members of the public can be assured of and currently it represents 17 of the most widely used complementary therapies. The register is accredited by the Professions Standards Authority (PSA), which is answerable to Parliament, and this is the same body that accredits the statutory healthcare registers for doctors, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists etc. Being CNHC Registered does open doors for GP referral and to working within the NHS as it gives additional credibility. As it is a voluntary register, therapists choose whether to be on it and as a result, many are not – even good ones! That is where checking their professional association may be an option, but ideally, it will be one that the CNHC is aligned with.

4.      Professional Indemnity Insurance

Your therapist should be able to produce their current insurance document. This covers them for malpractice as well as accidents on their premises. If they are a member of a Bonafide professional association or on the CNHC register, then their insurance will have been checked annually.

5.      Do they have an enhanced DBS Check (England & Wales)

In England and Wales, if the therapist is working on children or with vulnerable adults, they will need to have an enhanced Disclosing and Barring Scheme check. An enhanced DBS check with barred list check confirms whether a person is included on a list of people barred from working with children, vulnerable adults or both. Therapists will have received a certificate that they can show you upon request so that you are reassured that there DBS is current. The DBS administers the DBS Update Service, an annual subscription costing £15 per year that allows a certificate to be kept current and shared with multiple clients without the need for a new application each time. The Update Service is specific to DBS certificates and does not apply to Scottish or Northern Irish disclosure certificates.

In Scotland, Disclosure Scotland is used. In Scotland, therapists will need to apply through the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme through Disclosure Scotland to work with children and vulnerable adults. The PVG scheme is unique to Scotland. Unlike a one-time DBS check, PVG scheme membership is continuous. Once someone joins the scheme, they hold a scheme record that is updated over time as new information is added.

AccessNI is the criminal record checking service for Northern Ireland, administered by the Department of Justice Northern Ireland.

6.      Are they required to continually update their skills annually through Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Reputable professional associations require that their members partake in Continuing Professional

Development (CPD) annually. To be CNHC Registered, therapist must also prove their CPD each year when renewing. CPD is essential in healthcare, and it is common practice for all statutory regulated healthcare providers.

CPD is important as it prevents stagnation and keeps the complementary therapist’s skills and knowledge current, bridges knowledge gaps and helps them to meet industry standards at the highest level. If you therapist trained 20 years ago in massage, and have not done any CPD since, they will not have developed their skills and moved with current professional knowledge. Granted that they can still perform the skills they were taught and will have had lots of experience, but they will not have kept updated with research that has changed opinions on massage or new techniques that could make their treatments so much more effective. Their knowledge on what can and cannot be said in marketing and advertising will also be outdated and potentially incorrect. Every passionate therapist who loves what they do should want to enhance their practical skills and theory knowledge so that they can evolve and offer best practice to you the client. If your therapist is a member of a reputable association who has a CPD policy such as us and they are CNHC Registered, you can have confidence in their level of current skills and ability as well as knowledge within the profession.

7.      Does the therapist require a medical history and consultation before the treatment starts? 

A well-qualified complementary therapist will need to take a detailed medical history before starting your first treatment. This is to check that what they are offering you is safe as well as effective. They will need to make a treatment plan specifically tailored to your individual needs. This is quite different from going for a relaxing massage with a beauty therapist at a spa session. They will also need to know about any medications you are taking and for overall wellness, they will ask you about your lifestyle so that they can help you look after yourself better and be able to maintain wellness post treatments. If the complementary therapist is an aromatherapist and or herbalist, they will also need to know about your medications to check for any interactions and all therapists should be able and willing to coordinate with your wider medical care team.

The consultation document will need to be signed by you and should also include a GDPR statement with information on how you can make a complaint about data protection. Your therapist should also be willing to give you a copy of the consultation document upon your request.

8.      Does your therapist have a specified treatment price list so you know exactly what the cost of your treatment will be?

Most therapists advertise their prices upfront. The first appointment will always be longer because of the need for the detailed consultation, and some may charge extra for this time or offer it for free. You can also ask how many sessions they think you will need following the initial consultation although you can always return as often as you wish for maintenance and general relaxation.

Always check for their cancellation policy or what they do should you turn up late for your appointment. Remember that your therapist is most likely self-employed and running their own business. If you do not show up, they should not be out of pocket for that lost time, especially as they may have clients on a waiting list for early appointments.

9.      Is the therapy room accessible?

 This may not be a consideration for everyone, but if you have mobility issues or are a wheelchair user, you may need to ask about accessibility. Some complementary therapists work from home and may be able to adapt if their usual clinic space is upstairs. Some clinics may be upstairs in old buildings where there is no possibility of installing a lift. Others, who work with people with mobility issues have ground floor rooms available. Always ask in advance if this is an issue to avoid problems on the day of the booking. Some therapists will send out details of their accessibility in advance, along with instructions on how to get to their clinic, where to park etc., which is always very helpful for the first visit.

10. If you want to use your private health insurer, check that your therapist’s credentials match the insurance company requirements prior to booking an appointment.

Many private health insurance companies now cover some complementary therapy treatments through supplementary outpatient policies or add-on packages. These policies usually have financial caps so will only go up to a certain amount and policies often exclude complementary healthcare for pre-existing medical conditions declared before the policy start date. The CNHC state on its website that “Aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki, hypnotherapy, and nutritional therapy are occasionally covered, though usually through low-cost Health Cash Plans rather than comprehensive private medical insurance (PMI)”. More typically, therapies such as acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic and reflexology are covered but in Health Cash Plans with companies such as Health Shield, Simplyhealth and Westfield Health, these work on a cashback basis where you pay your therapist directly and then claim a percentage or the full cost back from the insurance company up to the annual cap amount, which may be a cash limit or a strict limit on the number of sessions per year. Providers such as Vitality, Bupa, and AXA Health may include massage therapy as part of their physiotherapy or musculoskeletal treatment plans. In some cases, you might need a GP referral, and there may be limits on the number of sessions. In all cases, the insurance company will require that your therapist is a member of specific professional associations that they recognise and ideally that you are CNHC Registered.

If you would like to find a CHP member in your area, please send us an email letting us know your area and postcode and which therapy you are interested in, and we will do a search for you on our database and send you the details of our members who have requested to be on the public register.