Certification

Although many of our courses are for your development and study we do offer a selection of courses, therapies and training programmes that are fully certified. These courses, once complete, will allow you to obtain Professional Indemnity and Therapy Insurance through our scheme provider, which in turn, will then allow you to practice your new skills on the general public. Please note that our courses, where shown, are Certified and Accredited with our Governing Body.

We are extremely pleased to be working with the wonderful team over at the IPHM. All of our courses that show the Certified logo are governed and accredited with them. This means that once you complete and pass the class, your certificate will allow you to gain membership with the IPHM. For more information on the IPHM please head over to their website.

Certified, Insurable and Accredited - The Differences

You will find on pretty much every training site out there (not just within the holistic or spiritual sector - but other fields of interest too) these three terms thrown around and interchanged with each other - when the reality is, these things are VERY different. Here we will break down the differences for you so that you not only understand our courses certificates more, but those found on other websites too.

CERTIFIED

Certified means that a course has been certified or given to approval by someone or somebody. It means that they are almost putting their 'seal of approval' on it. It usually refers to the fact that you get a certificate at the end of the class or course - but whether that certificate actually means anything is a very different matter. When you see the term certified used, the first question you should be asking yourself is 'By Who?'. There is absolutely nothing wrong with undertaking a certified course, chances are it means you will, or should, receive a certificate upon completion.

And who doesn't want a certificate to show that they've taken time and effort in completing something? Afterall, our courses which are not insurable, like Candle Magic and By The Magic of the Moon are certified classes. Who has certified them? We have. Hence you receiving a Certificate of Completion when you've finished. (The main difference between us and some other training providers is that even our certified classes are Accredited with the IPHM).

ACCREDITED

That then brings us nicely on to our next term. Accredited or Accreditation. 

In recent years the use of this term has become synonomous with the term certified, and to a lesser degree, insurable.

To break it down, having an accreditation basically means that you practice under a governing body that has specifically said they will offer this accreditation for the way you practice or the way you have been taught. Many governing bodies will have their own set of rules and regulations that you 'sign up' to adhere to when you take out an accreditation with them. These rules should also be followed ALONG with the law and legislation regarding safe, ethical and professional working, not instead of.

A training provider (like ourselves) or a single therapist may have an accreditation from a company - such as the IPHM - which says to the client that the governing body has approved either the way the training is undertaken or the way the therapist practices. It's kind of like backing up what it is you are saying you can do. If you have a massage qualification, and on your website or even your business card, you have the logo of an accrediting body, it says to the client that you have been accepted by anothers guide lines, rules and code of ethics - which gives credability to what it is you do and the training you have had.

The most important thing about accreditations, and probably the most controversal thing we say about it, is that you do NOT need an accreditation to be able to practice professionally. There are many therapists who, on the bottom of their flyers or business cards, have 4-5 logos of various governing bodies saying that they are a member of these organisations. This can sometimes look extremely professional, however, it is not a requirement to be able to practice on the public. In order to do this, you will need to obtain Indemnity Insurance through a valid insurance provider. 

There are some accrediting bodies and organisations that offer you both together. The FHT (The Federation of Holistic Therapists) are one example of this. They offer an accreditation while also offering indemnity insurance too.

If is EXTREMELY important that you make sure, as a practicing therapist, you have insurance. But isn't necessarily a requirement to have an accreditation.

The final thing we will say about accreditations, is that you may have trained under a provider who has an accreditation and a governing body, but that does not mean you can say you are accredited with the organisation until you also take out membership with them. For example, all of our courses are accredited with the IPHM so when you complete your class, your certificate will have that it is an IPHM approved course on it, but in order for you to advertise a therapy as IPHM approved, you would need to take out your own accreditation with them too.

So why do we have an accreditation? 

It's something we toyed with the idea of for a long time. It isn't something that has really ever fuelled us before as there are a huge amounts of therapists out there, with numerous accreditations, who in our opinion, aren't particularly good practising therapists. This is something we have experienced first hand. Having an accreditation doesn't mean you are automatically amazing at what you do. Putting your heart and soul and doing what you love with passion and authenticity makes a great therapist. And it will show from a million miles away.

We took the decision to not only get our courses accredited with the IPHM but also insured with various companies so that you, the student, has peace of mind that the certificate they receive at the end of their class is genuine, means something, and will allow them to obtain the necessary cover to work professionally.

INSURABLE

Our last term, Insurable, is probably the most important and as a training provider, the most annoying for us in terms of how other providers advertise their classes and courses.

There are many well known online training schools who say that you will receive a certified diploma, certification or the class is accredited on their advertising. However, they mention nothing about gaining insurance afterwards. If you are looking to take your new skills forward as a profession and practice on the public, the training will NEED to be insurable. 

We have had so many conversations with students who have trained online elsewhere, received their certificates, and then cannot find an insurance company who will insure the class. Mainly because the insurance company will probably have never heard of the training provider and so will not offer you insurance if they have no way of guaranteeing the quality of the training that the student has received.

With us, you don't have to worry about this. All of our Insurable class (physical and energy therapies) have already been approved and accepted by both Towergate and Westminster Insurance. If you are already a practicing therapist and have insurance elsewhere, we always advise to speak to your insurance company to ensure you will be able to add our classes into your existing policy. Some may, and some may not, want to see a copy of the training material but most will probably just want to know a few details. If we can help you with this in any way, please feel free to drop us a message via our Contact Form.

Our biggest piece of advice, going forward, is if you are undertaking training anywhere, and its something you wish to do professionally afterwards. Question everything. Ask who the insurer is, ask if the provider has any accreditations and ask if the training is purely for their self-development or whether it is practitioner training.