Not All Therapies Are Created Equal

When we got to the business planning section of massage school, I had to sit down and truly think about how I was going to market myself. In the world of “alternative medicine”, there are an innumerable amount of professions, modalities, certifications, licenses, and schools of thought- all of which can be combined in any number of ways to provide any of several different types of care. Frankly, it was exhausting to sort my own goals and ideas into their appropriate categories. Eventually, I settled on simple “complementary healthcare”… complementary women’s healthcare if you want to be really specific.

So why not just use the umbrella-term “alternative medicine” and be done with it? The industry seems to be thriving these days.

Honestly, it’s because “alternative medicine” isn’t all that broad of an umbrella. According to the National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health, “If a non-mainstream approach is used in place of conventional medicine, it’s considered ‘alternative.’” As a practitioner who doesn’t wish to replace anything, but rather supplement in a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical way, I simply don’t fit under this particular umbrella at all. My highest goal is to be an active part of my clients’ integrated healthcare through therapeutic bodywork and herbal medicine.

Why does it even matter?

It seems tedious to dive into the specifics of what therapies fall under which umbrella terms, I know, but I believe that it is of upmost importance that clients know what they’re getting into when they pursue natural therapies. Not all therapies are evidence-based, and not all natural practitioners hold value for contemporary medicine... some even actively advocate against contemporary treatments of any kind.

When searching for natural therapies to supplement your current healthcare or self care regimens, be sure to do your due diligence and ask all the questions! In an industry that can sometimes lack thorough regulation for its practitioners (i.e. there’s not a professional certification or licensure process for herbalists in the United States, anybody can claim to be an herbalist), a slight few have found ways to exploit those seeking help for profit and acclaim as medical professionals.

There are numerous “universities” and “colleges” of natural medicine that, while lacking regional accreditation and recognition by the Department of Education, provide diplomas and degrees ranging from the associate to doctorate levels. These independently owned schools are usually labeled “diploma mills”, and correctly so. At some, one could pay as little as $10,000 and work their way up the degree scale from an associates to a Ph.D in less than 6 years.

Be sure to do proper research on their educational history and their professional associations, as there are also bogus boards and associations that hand out expensive “board certifications” to those with minimal qualifications. I plan to do a full series of posts that detail the different government regulations, as well as the plethora of schools and associations that claim to educate and certify practitioners.

In the end…

My goal isn’t to place undue scrutiny on the industry, but rather to educate clients for their own safety, and to encourage those who have found regimens that work to keep pursuing them. Don’t let overzealous alternative practitioners fear-monger you into quitting the treatments that improve your quality of life. There is a place for everything, and plenty of space for contemporary and natural therapies to coexist.

As for myself, I’ll never advocate against vaccinations, pharmaceutical medications, radiation and chemotherapy for cancer treatments, or any of the other “controversial” contemporary therapies. I will also continue to turn out as much educational content as I can, as I’ve learned quite a bit in my pursuit of a quality holistic education at the university level, and feel that it’s immensely important to enable others to protect themselves with the information I’ve found.

My next few posts will cover the state and federal regulations for the different types of non-conventional healthcare practitioners, the legitimate schools and diploma mills alike that grant degrees to those practitioners, and the professional associations and boards that award designations to legitimize them.