Namaste and Salutations,:D
Writing from Toronto Canada and would love WHOLISTIC and Inspirational Feedback from those who know or who are familiar.
I will be relocating to the UK in about 1-1.5 years time to be with my fiance (hopefully husband by that time) in the West Yorkshire area.
I will begin my studies with the Shiatsu Academy of Tokyo, here in Toronto, come September 2004. The program was initially 2200 hrs over a two year period to match the same number of hours required by the College of Massage Therapy here in Ontario. However, as of this year, the program has been reduced to 1100 hours over 12 consecutive months.
I have written to the Shiatsu Society in the UK and although contact hours in the UK are 500 hours over 3 Year period, they have advised that I would still be required to do more training and/ or a challenge exam; only to be considered a student member even upon completion of essentially 600 more hours and 1 year of full practice….more money out I suppose...
As I am not too familiar with the all the UK organizations, I have searched ENDLESSLy on the Internet for information only to become more confused as time goes on.
Am I required by law to be under the Shiatsu Society or are there any other associations I may register with?
Am I required by law to refrain from practice of Shiatsu if not under an association or Society?
Are some associations recognized more than others should the direction of CAM come under some form of regulations in the long run?
An acquaintance advised me to take a VTCT sponsered course at a local college when I get to the UK so that I may fall under the umbrella of "Federation of Holistic Therapists" and still practice Shiatsu. Is this a recognized Organization?
I am quite confused as to the best path to follow.
Even with my Reiki II, which I practice voluntarily at a local clinic once a week, am I required to register with an association as well?
My intention is to work primarily in areas Rehab and cancer care/palliative care as I had previously, completely 2 of the 3 year nursing program.
Any Advice at this point is GREAT advice.
ThX in advance:)
Light and LV,
Femme Canadienne~]
RE: NEWBIE:Shiatsu qualifications, assocs &requirements
Hi Femme
Welcome to the forum 🙂
As the law stands at the moment you do not have to be a member of an association to practice complimentary therapy but you do need insurance which is readily available, you have a completely different way of training over there which is a lot more intense than here and I do not know why you should not be able to practice under your own organisation you will be under on qualifying over there.
Over here we do mainly a combination of classroom and home study which is why the UK training is over three years, from what I understand of the way you do things out there it is more like full time education, both methods work and as long as you are qualified then you should be able to practice ok.
RE: NEWBIE:Shiatsu qualifications, assocs &requirements
HI Femme,
A technical problem "gobbled up" my previous answer.
If you move to the UK before having finished your course in Canada, then I would suggest that you contact a few schools (the SHiatsu Society's web site has a list of them) and ask if they would take you as a third year student given the curriculum you have gone through already.
The Shiatsu Society is not the only organisation for Shiatsu in the UK, but it has the largest membership by far. There are 4 others, but I am not familiar with them.
If you would like more info or "off record" info about schools you can send me an e-mail me.
Artemis
RE: NEWBIE:Shiatsu qualifications, assocs &requirements
Hello femme
It has been awile since your post but here is a good answer for you. The standard for Shiatsupractor is still 2200 hours here in canada both in ontario and in British columbia. This is also the same standard used in japan but over 3 years. There are a few more schools in the world that also have this standard. With this in mind the one constant is that these schools all have a solid foundation of instruction in shiatsu as defined and taught in Japan. In the UK they have a confused idea of Shiatsu Therapy and its history and i would not be too concerned about what they have to say about your training. You have more education in Shiatsu therapy than their minimum standard so why should you have to water down what you know to be true, just do what you have learned and learn what you need too blend in it all works any way. Remember there is only one form of Shiatsu Therapy but many derivatives.
Shiatsupractor
RE: NEWBIE:Shiatsu qualifications, assocs &requirements
I am still going thru school and I recommend taking it one day at a time, the derivative I study has a lot to learn and my brain runneth over. Artemis probably has a good handle on the UK, but I'm sure you'll do fine if your heart is in it.