Tag Archives: complementary therapy

Salus Wellness Clinics – One Year of Successes

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Building a business from scratch can be challenging and, at the same time, very rewarding when results are outstanding.

Salus Wellness Clinics celebrated this week its first anniversary; the complementary health centre is now a well established business that fits well in the local community, offering a rich variety of top quality complementary health services to a broad range of members of the public.

Luca Senatore (in the picture on the right) is the sales director and co-founder, who initially planned this venture. He says, “We spotted a gap in the market and then we found this building with amazing potential and we knew it would have been a success given the innovative approach we had in mind for the clinic”.

The extra value added offered by Salus Wellness is to assist all practitioners with hands-on business coaching, consultancy and training, in areas such as sales, marketing and customer service.

Massimo Gaetani (in the picture on the left), is the marketing director and also co-founder of Salus Wellness. He says, “the majority of practitioners decide to qualify in hypnotherapy, massage or acupuncture because they have a passion for helping people which is very rewarding indeed; many of them do it without any previous experience in running a business and they fail to realise the need of entrepreneurial spirit that is necessary to succeed.”

Massimo continued by saying, “when they start offering their services to the general public, they realise that clients are not queuing outside their door and the phone is not ringing constantly; that’s a normal but de-motivating way of starting”.

People who are not used to run small businesses are simply not ready or trained to deal with the new challenges and many struggle to make a decent living for months or even years. In many occasions they give up and go back to full time occupation which, now more than ever, is not always an easy thing to do.

"cambridge", "complementary health", "salus"Salus Wellness offers, apart from the newly decorated and well maintained therapy rooms and full time reception, a comprehensive range of business development and practice management services for all practitioners working at their premises; this increases the chances for everybody’s success and creates the win-win-win situation which Salus Wellness is known for. For more information visit the Salus Wellness website.

Getting Started in Complementary Health

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An increasing number of people decide at some point in their life to get the necessary qualifications and become a complementary health practitioner.  The recession and job losses of the recent years have somehow inspired many people to make the big step and, sometimes without other choices, start their own private practice. The challenges which can be found when working in private practice affects both professionals with university degrees like psychotherapists and psychologists, as well as other recognised qualifications.

Starting a complementary health business is similar to opening a shop, an office based service supplier or any other traditional commercial business.  Like in any other business, sales and cash flow are essential to guarantee positive results and so one of the most important things you need to do is to ensure that you  have plenty of clients  to pay your overheads  and  guarantee yourself a decent income.  Depending on the country where the complementary health business is based, it is also necessary to be familiar with legal, professional and business requirements.

What is a Complementary Health Business?

Complementary health treatments include a broad range of disciplines. It is important to learn about the particular form of holistic health practice and  complete the necessary training before committing to opening a practice. . Examples of complementary health businesses include:

  • Hypnotherapy
  • Massage
  • Reflexology
  • Reiki
  • Acupuncture
  • Homeopathy
  • NLP

Setting Up a Private Practice in Complementary Health

Some complementary health practitioners work from home whereas others set up a separate office/studio in which to work from.  There are both advantages and disadvantages in working  from home  as there are in working from a private studio; initial set up for a home practice may be cheaper but there will need to be enough space to work professionally and take into account:

  • equipment/furniture needed
  • health and safety
  • legal requirements
  • scheduling and managing appointments
  • associated costs
  • personal privacy and security

Insurance, Legal and Professional Requirements for a Complementary Health Practice

There are different insurance, legal and professional requirements in the UK. It may be necessary to obtain a business license (even if working from home) from the local authorities and comply with certain local and national laws. In addition, it may be necessary to obtain professional memberships in order to apply for an adequate professional insurance cover; different types of insurance cover may be needed.

Maintaining Tax Records and Banking for a Complementary Health Practice

It is important to keep a record of all purchases and expenses and receipt of income for tax purposes; at the end of the tax year, a complimentary health business will be expected to file a tax return either as a sole trader or an incorporated limited company (partnerships may be applicable if two or more practitioners work together).  Opening a business’ bank account is also essential in order to keep business transactions separate from personal ones.

Marketing a Holistic Health Business

I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise when I say that in the 21st century, every business should have a web presence in addition to other direct and indirect marketing operations.   A complementary health business can be marketed through a combination of web site, blogs, forums and social networking. Depending on the skills level of the holistic health practitioner, it may be necessary to employ someone to both set up and maintain the various web marketing tools required.

Some complementary health practices, both in the UK and abroad , are not tightly regulated, making it simple for almost anyone to set up and call themselves a holistic health practitioner or practice. However, in order to maintain high standards and increase the chances  for success, it is advisable to take all accredited training in the chosen discipline, obtain insurance,  memberships to the relevant governing body and comply with the relevant legal requirements.

Working Within a Professional Health Centre

While working from home can be a simple and cost-effective way to get started, it can limit the opportunities of expansion as well as the amount of money that can be charged.  An effective alternative is to work from a complementary health centre which, among other basic things can offer:

  • good quality therapy rooms that are suitable for your  therapy/discipline
  • a central and easily accessible location reception and phone answering service to ensure that your phone calls are answered and your clients or prospects are well looked after
  • a place where you always feel  safe  when working with clients

The main advantages of working from a professional complementary health centre are:

  • better image
  • possibility of justifying higher fees
  • building up a stronger brand

Conclusion

Getting Started in Complementary Health can be a very rewarding and life changing decision.  When well-managed, it can bring financial accomplishments, the opportunity of making a difference in many people’s lives and achieving a great level of satisfaction.

However, it should be considered for what it really is: a business venture which as such requires accurate planning and adequate business skills in marketing and sales.

Meridian Psychology: Emotional and Mental Wellbeing – Part 2

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London Life Coach & Wellbeing Consultant Sloan Sheridan-Williams talks about Meridian Psychology in the second of her two part series. Follow Sloan on Twitter @SloanSW_London and check out Sloan’s website www.sloansw.com

Continuing on from Part 1 on meridian psychology the following article looks at emotion and mental well being and neurovascular holding points for the reduction of anxiety. If you are interested in Meridian Psychology, do check out the first article in this series which looks at what meridians are and how meridian tracing works.

Emotional and Mental Balancing

Emotional and Mental balancing is best controlled or influenced by the acupressure point for psychological reversal, as such neuro-vascular point stimulation is a valuable treatment for emotional stress.

As we have seen in my previous articles psychological reversal is when the subconscious mind does not perform as the conscious mind requires. For example a client who says they want to lose weight or stop smoking but no matter how hard they try they continue failing in the attainment of their goal. Such a client who says they want to lose weight is likely to have a secondary gain embedded in their subconscious that prevents them from carrying out their conscious will. This could be all manner of unhelpful belief systems from the love of food to the belief that losing weight will harm them in some way.

Psychological reversal is foremost on my mind when a client comes to me presenting with stories of repeated failure in achieving a goal. I often use further counselling or ‘Asking the Body’ to reveal the cause, but the correction technique is both quick and simple. There are many different forms, some energy psychologies such as EFT (as I have addressed in other articles on City Connect) use the “Set-Up Protocol” which refers to the process by which the psychological reversal is solved. It consists of finding one’s sore spot (most likely found on the right or left side of the chest). This point is a pressure point/reflex on the lymphatic system. The sorer the spot is an indication of how strong the PR. Once found we make an opening statement that resonates such as ‘I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself’ Once the set up point has been calibrated the 12 step tapping routing can commence. Then completing with the 9 step Gamut Routine. For more information please see my other articles on Energy Therapies.

Other forms of energy psychology such as kinesiology remedies as seen in more detail that emotional and mental well being lie in the tapping the acupuncture point SI3 (Small Intestine 3) on the outside edge of the hand near the crease as can be seen when you make a fist. Just as in EFT, The practitioner taps the point in question very rapidly i.e on both of the subject’s hands;  a good gauge for speed is approximately 3 times per second for 20 seconds. While doing this the subject repeats a positive statement  “I completely love and accept myself the way I am”.  The idea here is to change energy patterns in the meridian thereby releasing negativity.  Re-testing should then show a strong IM muscle to the stated goal.

However the meridian psychology subject of neuro-vascular points is the one I would like to address as what I find as one of the most helpful procedures in reducing anxiety levels, so much so a lot of us do it naturally.


Neuro-Vascular Holding Points

In the 1930’s Dr. Terrance Bennett, a chiropracter, discovered points on the head which seem to influence blood flow to the organs and tissues.  He found that he was able to watch the internal effects of holding these points using radio-opaque dye and a moving x-ray machine called a fluoroscope.  The points observed  became known as neuro-vascular reflexes and later the location and function of these points was discovered.

It has been shown that neuro-vascular points are activated by a very light touch with the pads of the fingers which only need to lightly make contact with the points, slightly stretch the skin and be held there.

Holding these neurovascular points has been shown to relieve stress and anxiety, and can be used to reprogram our emotional responses to stress and trauma. When we get overwhelmed, we commonly put our hands to our forehead, when we do this we are using the electromagnetic energy in our hand to pull the blood back into the frontal lobes of our brain, taking it from the more primal area that is activated when you are stressed out or overwhelmed. We often keep our hands there until we feel better. The longer you hold her points the more the stress will fade. Some people often repeat the story of concern in their head while holding the neurovascular points to change their emotional habits or responses and thereby training the mind not to react stressfully to the situation.

Overall hopefully this 2 part series has opened you up to a world of meridian psychology and inspired you to read around the subject. A few articles can not do this subject justice. I have only highlighted a small part in essence to show you, the reader, a deeper understanding of meridians, their tracing, the effect of certain treatments on it and the ability to get balance in the form of mind and body. I look forward to any of your comments, alternatively do use the Q+A page for further questions.

Image reproduced from cynthiarevesz.com and backintoit.com

Meridian Energy Therapies

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London Life Coach & Wellbeing Consultant Sloan Sheridan-Williams talks about Meridian Energy Therapies. Follow Sloan on Twitter @SloanSW_London and check out Sloan’s website www.sloansw.com

Most people know me as a hypnotherapist or life coach, but my studies also took me through Energy Therapies. I am often asked what is an energy therapy, to which I ask if the client has ever heard of EFT as it seems a popular branch in the media. For those who are interested in a more detailed understanding of energy psychology I have detailed below the transformation of the use of energy psychology throughout the years. I have included how the internal energy pathways which run through our physical body (connecting energetically, the body’s organs and their sub systems) have been analysed and the results adapted to produce therapies that aid in creating balance and harmony within the system thereby reducing pain, symptoms and any other distress.

Beginning in Detroit… Applied Kinesiology was born

Dr George Goodheart, a Detroit chiropractor, was interested in the relationship between apparent muscle strength, organs, glands and the meridians. Over the years he worked with many remarkable therapists from rehabilitation therapists to scientists involved in the neuro-lymphatic reflexes and other researchers who looked into acupuncture meridians. With this wealth of research and acquired knowledge, Dr George Goodheart went on to be the founder and developer of Applied Kinesiology.

Behavioural Kinesiology grew from Applied Kinesiology

Now one of the foremost senior holistic healers, John Diamond’s remarkable body of work - which began to get scientific recognition back in the 1970’s when he discovered the link between acupuncture meridians and emotions – enabled Applied Kinesiology to be adapted for even better results. Like myself, John Diamond began his career in Medicine (though his speciality was psychiatry). He later expanded into holistic medicine, concentrating on the totality of the sufferer. This led him to develop a unique method of healing adapting the work of George Goodheart to practice what we now refer to as Behavioural Kinesiology which assesses and evaluates the effects of all stimuli on the body, internal and external, in order to arrive at a new understanding of the body energy system. The degree of stress under which a patient is functioning is assessed and a rebalancing of the body energy is facilitated by showing the patient how to reduce stress and how to correct emotional attitudes.

John Diamond continues his work to this day and his research has led him to concentrate on the enhancement of the sufferer’s Life Energy so as to actuate his own innate Healing Power. However, as a cog in the ever advancing energy psychology, John Diamond’s contribution was a key component which allowed further developments.

Thought Field Therapy emerged

Dr Roger Callahan, a Beverly Hills Psychologist, also studied Applied Kinesiology and spent time studying with John Diamond. He then emerged with his own branch of energy psychology and termed his treatment “Thought Field Therapy”. Callahan theorised that when a person thinks about an experience or thought associated with an emotional problem, they are tuning into a “thought field.” And hence a concept was born. He describes this field as “the most fundamental concept in the TFT system”, stating that it “creates an imaginary, though quite real scaffold, upon which we may erect our explanatory notions”.

He believed that perturbations are said to be precisely encoded information contained in the thought field; each deformation of a person’s thought field is connected to a particular problem. It is believed that such can be activated by thinking about that problem and therefore Callahan maintains that these perturbations are the root cause of negative emotions. If this is true then each perturbation corresponds to a meridian point on the body so he theorised that in order to eliminate the emotional upset, a precise sequence of meridian points must be tapped in a set order to unblock energy and release the flow. Callahan developed such a method of tapping but it uses an extensive number of potential meridian points and needed simplification.

Callahan stated when he developed TFT that the process can relieve a wide variety of psychological issues including PTSD, depression, anxieties, addictions and phobias to name but a few. It is a very effective treatment once a practitioner has learnt how to do it and a typical treatment session lasts up to fifteen minutes and is not repeated.  Callahan has made substantial claims that TFT can treat or prevent physical problems and also made a ground breaking assertion that some phobias could be cured in as little as five minutes. This would be remarkable if we had enough practitioners qualified enough to learn such a complex process which is when one of Callahan’s students thought to simplify the process which, although does not have as miraculous results, still gives other therapies good competition in successful treatment.

Gary Craig adapted TFT creating EFT

Gary Craig (who trained with Dr Callahan) reduced TFT to make a simpler approach more accessible and applicable. Craig reduced the 361 meridian points down to 13 which are used in EFT with the first 12 being percussed no matter what the emotional upset followed by a 9 step Gamut on the 13th point.

As Gary Craig, originally a NLP practitioner, has no medical or psychological background critics have described EFT as “probably nonsense and outside the realms of science as it is an unfalseifiable treatment”. A controlled study concluded that any benefit is due to traditional cognitive components and perhaps even the placebo effect. In the simplest of forms, it is a distraction from negative thoughts and the therapeutic benefits come from having someone actually listen, rather than from manipulation of meridians. However the non-sceptics among us have had success with this treatment and although a simplified version of Callahan’s it does still retain respect in the holistic communities.

Other energy psychologies continue to emerge

Other energy psychologies including TAT and BSFF to name a couple, emerged over time from the numerous previous meridian psychologies. The former was Tapas Fleming’s contribution to energy therapies in its unabbreviated form called Tapas Acupressure Technique. This was developed in 1983 by the American acupuncturist Tapas Fleming and is often described as a process orientated energy psychology treatment. It is comprised of 7 steps and can be taught in a 2 day workshop. Its roots are from Chinese Medicine and yoga.

Other energy psychologies are still emerging and are extremely effective in treating emotional unbalances. I am pleased to be able to use them in my treatments where necessary and when the client is interested in a different approach to the issue before them.

Images reproduced from red-spirit-energy-healing.com and sahej.com

Complementary Therapies Explained – Applied Kinesiology and Allergy Testing

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London Life Coach & Wellbeing Consultant Sloan Sheridan-Williams talks about complementary therapy. Follow Sloan on Twitter @SloanSW_London and check out Sloan’s website www.sloansw.com

As we have seen in my previous article, Applied Kinesiology is a form of diagnosis using muscle testing as a primary feedback mechanism to examine the body and it’s functioning. As addressed in my description as to what Kinesiology is and how can we use the information gained from Applied Kinesiology techniques. The following article describes one of the numerous applications of Applied Kinesiology’s which is that of Allergy Testing.

How is it used and what for?

Applied Kinesiology works by using an indicator muscle (a single muscle) to obtain responses about the structural, chemical, nutritional and emotional basis of the subject in question. The normal positions of the body for muscle testing are sitting, standing or lying face up on a massage couch and are therefore very easy to carry out on a number of clients without being invasive to both personal space and privacy. One of the great things about the practicability of Applied Kinesiology is that it is possible to use a surrogate for testing when it is impractical to use muscle testing on the subject. I.e. they are frail, have a broken limb, or perhaps a baby or small child. This opens the arena of Applied Kinesiology to a wider array of subjects allowing treatment to help a broader spectrum of people.

As for what can Kinesiology treat, the spectrum there is also wide. It is often used in allergies but is not confined to this one area. However I have chosen to look at the area of allergies as this is something that affects nearly the majority of the population.

An allergy is an abnormal response to a food, drug or something in our environment which does not usually cause symptoms in people. When faced with an allergen the immune system mistakenly identifies the harmless substances as dangerous invaders and activates antibodies to defend them and protect the system and internal environment. Most of the mechanisms involve expulsion be it in sweating, eyes and nose running, vomiting, upset stomach etc… Allergens are found in everyday life; they could be pollens, dairy products, eggs, wheat, and animal hair to name just a few.

Allergy testing is more important than just adapting diet and avoiding bloating and the more common but less severe symptoms as mentioned above but it can have a role in a multitude of disorders from Arthritis to Multiple Sclerosis to Adrenal Fatigue to IBS. For example, Multiple Sclerosis has been linked to a severe intolerance to wheat and it is also believed by some that citrus fruit food intolerance is thought to play a part in cases of arthritis. Therefore knowledge about what one’s body is unable to tolerate can perhaps reduce the prevalence of the more serious conditions.

Testing is normally carried out in a practitioner’s office although there is no reason why home visits cannot be arranged. Half a glass of pure water is drunk before testing because it is important for the client to not be dehydrated before testing begins as this affects the muscle readings.

The subject is then told to relax and more often than not the practitioner helps the client relax before testing by getting them to imagine a calm place, deep breathing and allowing their mind to drift off into a quiet state of relaxation. This feeling of relaxation can be enhanced with the tone and content of the practitioner’s language. For added relaxation some Applied Kinesiologist’s  also apply pressure on the two acupressure holding points or to the two indentations of the sternum which further enhances stress release and relaxation. Once full relaxation is achieved for those undergoing allergy testing, the substance is then applied to the navel, contained in a glass vial or in cling-film. The substance is only approximately a thumb nail size, yet this is enough to elicit a response when the testing begins.

A usual form of testing is the Straight Arm Pull. The Arm Pull Down test or “Delta test,” is where the patient resists as the practitioner exerts a downward force on an extended arm. The tester instructs the client to resist as they press down the arm and notice of the amount of resistance able to be given. Proper positioning is paramount to ensure that the muscle in question is the prime mover, minimizing interference from adjacent muscle groups. The resultant response from the muscle during this test will give an indication of the body’s response to the potential allergen in question and enables the practitioner to inform the client what he is or is not sensitive too.

Most people know me as a hypnotherapist or life coach, but those who have been reading my current articles on energy therapies will know that my studies also took me through Complementary Therapies amongst other things. I am pleased to be able to use this procedure in my treatments where necessary and when the client is interested in a different approach to the issue before them. If you have any further questions contact me through City Connect, leave a comment or ask a question through our Q+A page.

Images reproduced from amicay.com and dockaren.com

Complementary Therapies Explained – What is Applied Kinesiology?

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Most people know me as a hypnotherapist or life coach, but those who have been reading my current articles on energy therapies will know that my studies also took me through Complementary Therapies amongst other things. In this article I would like to focus on Applied Kinesiology as I have been asked quite a few questions on it lately. It is not something I use often in everyday practice but I do think it has value in the Complementary Therapist’s repertoire.

What is Applied Kinesiology?

Kinesiology comes from the two words Kinesis and Logos meaning motion and discourse respectively. It was discovered by accident when George Goodheart was rubbing a patient’s outer thigh while trying to come up with a solution to relieve severe leg pain symptoms in his client. Remarkably the patient’s pain subsided reminding Dr. Goodheart about Chapman’s work on pressure points leading to further investigations ultimately creating his theories of kinesiology.  Dr Goodheart explains that weak muscles on one side of the body can cause normal opposing muscle to become tight.  From his research believers and practitioners in Applied Kinesiology would expect to find weakness in the opposing muscle to a muscle in spasm and consider the muscle in spasm as the result of a problem not the cause.

Applied Kinesiology works on a similar premise but takes Dr. Goodheart’s work to a different level. It is a form of diagnosis using muscle testing as a primary feedback mechanism to examine the body and it’s functioning. When properly applied, the outcome of an a diagnosis from this school of Applied Kinesiology will determine an alternative form of therapy for the patient, it does this because it draws together the core elements of many complementary therapies and is therefore a main provider of an interdisciplinary approach to health care.

Hypnotherapists, Life Coaches, even Doctors who use applied kinesiology have a distinct advantage over other practitioners as they have specific diagnostic tools to determine the best therapy for the patient be they someone who is sensitive to allergens, someone who needs to break a repeating pattern of psychological reversal or even an injured athlete.

Yes, it is true that Applied Kinesiology tools range from specific muscle treatments designed to normalize muscle activity to treatments designed to aid other damaged tissues like skin, ligaments, tendons and joints. However, this school of complementary medicine is well versed in receiving bad press from some of the scientific community.

According to Wikipedia – “Applied kinesiology (AK) is an alternative medicine method used for diagnosis and determination of therapy. According to practitioners using Applied Kinesiology techniques, it provides feedback on the functional status of the body. Applied Kinesiology is a practice within the realm o alternative medicine and is different from kinesiology which is the scientific study of human movement. AK has been criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds, and characterized as pseudoscience”

More often than not scientists criticise that which they do not know or cannot prove, so it comes as no surprise to me that Applied Kinesiology has had a bad reputation in the scientific community, however there are a strong group of people who believe in its practice and it is arguable, be it a placebo effect or not if something works should we not use it?

It is useful to note here, that Applied kinesiology procedures were never intended to be used as a single method of diagnosis, they are there to aid and enhance standard diagnosis, not replace it. So yes, although a scientist at heart I am pro using anything that can aid the patient get answers that help them on teh journey to a successful and fulfilling life.

So how can we use the information gained from Applied Kinesiology techniques? The applications are numerous however if you are interested please see my upcoming article on Applied Kinesiology’s use in Allergy Testing.

Image reproduced from naturalhealthwellbeing.co.uk