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Welcome
to The UK Complementary Therapist & Therapy
Guide. A
Directory and Guide providing information about
Alternative Therapies & Therapists.
If you are looking for a complementary therapist
near you, or to find out more about complementary
therapies or alternative therapy and holistic
medicine, or what therapists can offer, our Therapist
Guide has all that and more:-
Course
and Training guides.
A
wide range of advertising options
for therapists who want to promote their business,
product or service,
A
comprehensive guide to Therapies currently available
(both popular and less well known).
Herbal
and Natural Medicine guides.
A
Therapist Shop.
Complementary
or Alternative Therapy / Medicine
(CAM)
Although
Complementary or Alternative Therapies
(CAM) and Natural Medicines are
relatively new to Western Culture
they have been accepted, developed
and in use for thousands of years
in many other cultures.
CAM has existed for many centuries
in Chinese, Indian and some Middle
Eastern and Greek civilisations.They
include different approaches and
techniques for treating the whole
person, often described as Natural
Health treatment or Holistic Medicine.
CAM
has evolved to be used in conjunction
with and not instead of modern conventional
western medicine (allopathic medicine)
Defining
CAM is difficult, because the field is very
broad and constantly changing and developing.
The terms Complementary and Alternative are
often used interchangeably and despite the terms
Therapy and Medicine being different concepts
(described below) many of these treatments are
becoming more popularly referred to as CAM therapies
“Alternative medicine” will often
refer to the use of CAM as an alternative
to conventional medicine (eg Acupuncture)
“Complementary
medicine” is seen as a medicine that
complements conventional medicine (eg Aromatherapy)
Millions
of people now subscribe to Complementary Health
and the use of alternative & complementary therapies
is worldwide, with demand for these therapies still
growing.
About half of all GPs, in the UK, now provide some
kind of access to these forms of therapy and despite
Britain coming late to the use of these therapies
it is estimated by practitioners that demand for
these therapies has increased by up to 30% in the
last ten years.
It is currently estimated that 3 in 10 local health
authorities in Britain now offer some form of alternative
therapy to patients and that as many as one third
of people in the United Kingdom have tried at least
one form of alternative therapy, usually for the
treatment of various problems such as backache,
arthritis, or headaches migraine.
Some of the more popular complementary therapies
include;
• Aromatherapy, Acupuncture, Herbal medicine,
Reflexology, Chiropractic, Hypnotherapy, Indian
Head massage, Tai Chi and Qigong
Some of the more popular alternative therapies include;
• Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Aromatherapy, Crystal
Therapies, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Naturopathy,
Energy Therapies, Magnetic Therapy, Co lour Therapy,
Music Therapy, Healing with Crystals, Hot Stone
Therapy, Cupping, Craniosacral Therapy and Meditation
It
is highly recommended that you use a qualified practitioner
who is a member of a regulatory body. By law, chiropractic
and osteopathy practitioners must be registered
with the appropriate professional bodies
In the United Kingdom, there is an organisation
that monitors CAM therapists known as British Register
of Complementary Practitioners. On their site, they
say "The British Register of Complementary
Practitioners (BRCP) is a professional register
of practitioners who have proved their competence
to practice by either completing an approved course
or through an assessment made by the Registration
Panel. They also agree to observe a Code of Ethics
and Practice and have full practitioner insurance."
This helps monitor the quality of CAM in the UK
and reduces the risk of quackery
Previously
Featured Therapies include:-
Aromatherapy,
Craniosacral Therapy (CST),
Psycotherapy, Hopi
Ear Candling, Bowen Therapy, Kinesiology,
Indian Head Massage, Shiatsu, Qigong,
Acupuncture,
Acupressure, Alexander
Technique,
Ayuverda, Naturopathy, Bach Flower Therapy,
Chelation Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy, Hydrotherapy, Reflexology, Reiki,
Shamanism, Somatics, Osteopathy
Naturopathy
The
concept of Naturopathy was developed in
Ancient Greece by what has become known
as the Hippocratic School of Medicine
in about 400B.C. The Greek philosopher
Hippocrates had the belief that by first
viewing the whole person to find the cause
of disease, and then using the laws of
nature to determine a cure. From this
original school of thought Naturopathy
took its principles.
The healing power of nature-
Naturopathy is a system of natural healthcare,
it recognises that the body has the ability
to heal itself and naturopathic practitioners
act to bring about this natural process.
Naturopaths believe that the right kind
of conditions must be in place to allow
any healing process to begin and these
conditions require getting rest, relaxation
and enough sleep combined with exercise,
feeding the body nutritional food and
removing toxins from the system.
Identify and Treat the Causes-
Naturopaths try to identify and remove
the underlying causes of illness, rather
than merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.
The underlying root causes of disease
must be removed for complete healing to
take place . These root causes can exist
at many levels: physical, mental, emotional,
and spiritual. It is the naturopathic
doctor's ostensible role to identify this
root cause, in addition to alleviate suffering
by treating symptoms.
Avoid doing any harm-
Naturopaths never use treatments that
may create other conditions
which could harm the patient, they only
employ methods and medicinal substances
which minimise the risk of harmful side
effects and use the least force necessary
to diagnose and treat.
Any therapy used must not interfere with
the natural healing process by masking
symptoms this is considered suppressive
and should be avoided .
Therapists will acknowledge, respect and
work with the individual's self-healing
process and the natural life force of
the individual should be supported to
encourage healing.
Treat the whole person-
A persons health must go beyond treatment
of immediate symptoms, and should treat
the entire person's well being. That means
treating the entire body, as well as the
spirit and mind thus any treatment plan
should consider all aspects of a person’s
being,
taking into account individual physical,
mental, emotional, genetic, environmental,
social, and other factors.
Since total health also includes spiritual
health, naturopaths encourage individuals
to pursue their personal spiritual development.
The physician as teacher-
A Naturopath empowers the patient to take
responsibility for his/her own health
by teaching self-care
Naturopath educate individuals in their
lifestyles and encourage them to "take
responsibility for their own health".
This cooperative relationship between
doctor and patient is essential to healing.
Prevention-
Naturopathic practitioners emphasise the
prevention of disease, assessing risk
factors, and susceptibility to disease
then make necessary interventions, in
partnership with their patients, to prevent
illness. They may remove toxic substances
and situations from a patient’s
lifestyle to prevent the onset of further
disease
The ultimate goal of the naturopaths is
prevention. The emphasis will be on building
health, not fighting illness. This is
done by fostering healthy lifestyles,
healthy beliefs, and healthy relationships.
Traditional
Naturopaths
The healing power of nature, is the central
tenet of Traditional Naturopathy. Bacteria
and viruses, which are always present,
seldom cause problems in a healthy body.
According to naturopathic practice, disease
occurs when toxins that have accumulated
internally – often due to incorrect
lifestyle, a poor diet, and improper care
of the body - weaken a person. While conventional
medical treatments may rid the body of
symptoms, these treatments alone do not
bring about true healing. Rather than
trying to attack specific symptoms and
diseases, Traditional Naturopathy offers
a holistic approach to the individual
that supports the body in finding its
way back to homeostasis.
Traditional
Naturopathy is not a medical practice.
While prescribing drugs and pharmaceuticals,
performing surgery, and other invasive
procedures clearly have their place in
the hands of properly trained medical
doctors, these practices are outside the
scope of Traditional Naturopathy and are
at odds with its fundamental principles.
Instead Traditional Naturopaths focus
on educating clients to lead healthier
lives and on the use of naturopathic modalities
such as light, water, herbs, healthy foods,
and exercise to cleanse and strengthen
the body and support its natural healing
process.
Our
guide to Complementary Therapy in the UK was
set up to provide information about these therapies,
how they function and how they may help you.
The site also provides a comprehensive list
of Alternative nd Complementary Therapy Providers
in all areas of the UK.
Currently we list Therapists and Alternative
Medicine Providers in the following areas :-
We
are not denying the existence of Town names
starting with J, Q, V, X, Z but so far no-one
has submitted a listing for one
The
Creation of a Complementary Therapies Guide.
With
the growth in demand for Complementary Therapies
estimated to be in excess of 30% within the
last ten years and with 3 in 10 local health
authorities in Britain now offering some form
of alternative therapy to their patients I
began to look into how therapists and potential
clients for the various therapies were being
serviced by the internet
Research
revealed that Guides and Directories on the
web tended to provide information either about
therapies or just list therapists, so in an
effort to combine these two areas resulted
in the birth of the Complementary Therapies
Guide
Good
easy to understand information about the various
therapies available, some well known and some
not so, was one of the prime aims of the guide.
People, sometimes disillusioned with what
“conventional” medicine offered
them, could explore the options and alternatives
this growing field of complementary healthcare
could offer them.
What
to expect and what to look for when choosing
a therapist , is often a confusing and tricky
choice to make, especially as it concerns
your health and wellbeing.
Therapists
need the opportunity to advertise their businesses
to a wide range of the public. Many of these
therapy providers offer their services to
local areas and others to all of the UK and
even worldwide Quite often smaller more “local”
therapy providers felt their details were
being lost in a long list of, randomly presented
therapists for the whole UK. To ensure that
both large and smaller therapist businesses
reached their target markets, the directory
was constructed to list businesses in towns
for all counties of the UK.
When
the Directory was eventually established I
believe we had achieved our two main goals:-
• Satisfying the therapists need to
advertise in areas of their choice.
• Providing the public with useful information
about therapies available and an easy to use
directory of therapists to choose from
