Tuesday, August 4, 2009

How to start a career in holistic/ naturopathic health?

I am interested in getting into holistic or nautropathic healthcare in the future, i have recieved some brochures from the schools around the country... but how do i start? advice from pratitioners would be apreciated.
Answer:
I'm not a practitioner, but I only see Naturopathic Doctors. Most of my doctors have gone to Bastyr which seems to be an amazing school. Lucky for me, this state liscenses ND's and requires health insurance to cover them.
Go to one of the "diploma mills" on the Internet and buy a degree.
I'm a practitioner in California.
My advice to you is to check with your state first to find out the laws of holistic recognition. Laws very from state to state.
Sometimes is a good thing to start with something simple like Massage Therapy then work your way up.
Start with Kari's advice first about laws and regulations in your state. I am a Holistic Health Counselor and Kundalini Yoga Instructor. I studied at Institute for Integrative Nutrition. They have now partnered with Columbia University to offer CEUs. I did not submit an application for the CEUs, nor did I pay the membership fee for the American Association of Drugless Practitioners that would give me 'Certified' status. It's been two years, and I still haven't decided if I will.Currently, I offer group programs in Vegetarian Health/Plant-Based Nutrition. I'm not an expert, but I've helped a lot of people figure it out. I've found that most people aren't so much interested in the science, but want practical applications to be healthy and happy. A lot of people just feel so very alone on their journeys and are looking for practitioners who understand what they're going through. Practitioners who will not suggest drug therapy or invasive treatments that don't get to the root of the problem. Consider what you want to do. Are you interested in Naturopathy, Nutrition, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Massage Therapy...the list goes on and on. Once you have that narrowed down, decide if 'official' recognition or accreditation is important to you. Bastyr University is an accredited, degree-granting institution. Australian College of Health Sciences is an accredited distance-learning certificate-granting institution. Both are recognized by the US Dept of Education's official accrediting agencies. Clayton College of Natural Health, a degree-granting institution and Integrative Nutrition are not recognized by the US Dept of Ed. Both of these have produced very successful grads. (Morgan Spurlock and Alex Jamieson are IIN Grads. Ann Louise Gittelman, author of Get the Sugar Out is a Clayton Grad)The traditional medical orgs are trying to have Holistic/Alternative therapies regulated, so, you may want to consider an accredited program now instead of having to deal with the oncoming madness. Think about your budget, and contact the schools directly and ask to speak with alumni. Most schools have their own pool of selected alumni they ask to speak only good things, but schools like Integrative Nutrition have an alumni directory that helps interested clients find practitioners to work with, so you could use that to ask for feedback about the school. Bastyr and IIN have amazing reputations across the country. And both are on opposite coasts. Good Luck!
I have spent over 16 years in the field of alternative (I prefer the term 'complementary') health studying all kinds of therapies. To date the best one I have found by a l-o-n-g shot is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).EFT is based on a new discovery that has provided thousands with relief from pain, diseases and emotional issues. Simply stated, it is an emotional version of acupuncture except needles aren't necessary. Instead, you stimulate well established energy meridian points on your body by tapping on them with your fingertips. The process is easy to memorize and is portable so you can do it anywhere. It launches off the EFT Discovery Statement which says..."The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system."And because our physical pains and diseases are so obviously connected with our emotions the following statement has also proven to be true..."Our unresolved negative emotions are major contributors to most physical pains and diseases."This common sense approach draws its power from (1) time-honored Eastern discoveries that have been around for over 5,000 years and (2) Albert Einstein, who told us back in the 1920's that everything (including our bodies) is composed of energy. These ideas have been largely ignored by Western Healing Practices and that is why EFT often works where nothing else will.If this sounds like something you'd like to pursue or find out more about, then please visit the links below.

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