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Colleges
Aromatherapy
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Aromatherapy
Organisations Council |
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Education & Training
in Clinical Aromatherapy
The popularity of aromatherapy as a
complementary therapy has led to the provision of numerous training
courses, ranging from a couple of weekends to university validated
courses. Courses in aromatherapy are available at many colleges of Further
Education where qualifications have included a NVQ/SVQ level 3 in Beauty
Therapy Aromatherapy Massage. Clinical aromatherapy is not taught as part
of the NVQ/SVQ provision. Essential oils have the potential for powerful
therapeutic effects and it is therefore essential that correct training
and qualifications are achieved before setting up in practice.
It was exactly issues such as these that led to
the formation of the Aromatherapy Organisations Council in 1991, the UK
governing body for aromatherapy. Having unified the profession by bringing
together the 12 professional associations under one umbrella, the first
priority was to develop and agree training standards.
A positive and flexible approach for the
development and implementation of training standards in aromatherapy has
been at the heart of educational policy from a very early stage in the AOC’s
development with all routes being developed in parallel.
The AOC’s Mandatory
Threshold Training Standards
The Core
Curriculum, defining 200 class contact hours, was implemented in 1994 and
has recently been revised to 220 class hours to take into account the
needs of the profession and the National Occupational Standards (NOS).
Extensive home study is required in addition to this and it is open to
professional associations to teach to standards above the threshold
standards.
The AOC’s Competence
Framework for Aromatherapy
This was developed from the Core Curriculum,
along National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) guidelines to help training
establishments develop their training programmes and to standardise their
assessment procedures.
A
BSc Degree Course in Aromatherapy
This programme is
a joint development with Middlesex University. The AOC’s Competence
Framework has been accredited at a high level of academic credit and with
the current Middlesex Herbal Degree programme, will form the basis of the
Aromatherapy Degree.
National
Occupational Standards (NOS) in Aromatherapy
Practitioner
members of AOC member professional associations took the lead in the
Government-funded three-year project to develop NOS for Aromatherapy,
which were published in 1998. They have Government recognition.
The AOC’s Common
Accreditation Inspection Report & Guidelines
These were
adopted in 1996 and set out the criteria for member associations when
accrediting training establishments.
Statutory
Regulation of Title
This route is
currently being explored with a view to taking aromatherapy forward under
the new proposals within the Health Act for statutory registration to be
obtained without primary legislation. It will remove the confusion as to
who is qualified and will protect the public from inadequately trained
aromatherapists.
AOC Register
of Aromatherapists
The public can be
assured that all AOC registered therapists are
trained to the standards defined in the AOC Core Curriculum;
are fully insured to
practise; andabide by a common Code of Conduct/Disciplinary Procedures.
For a General Information Booklet and details of
training, please send an A5 sae to
The Aromatherapy Organisations Council Secretary,
PO Box 19834,
London
SE25 6WF,
Tel: 020 8251 7912,
Fax: 020 8251 7942,
Website : www.aromatherapy-uk.org
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This page was last updated on 28 March 2001 11:26:18
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