Anna McLaren from the Association for Classical Manipulation reports:

Manipulating feet

"The BCTC Continuing Professional Development requirements are a great way to encourage members to increase their knowledge and update their skills (and maybe have some fun at the same time).

For the last couple of years the ACM has run a series of CPD events for its members. They provide an opportunity for everyone to get together, share experiences and have a good natter, as well as learning new skills, which is really important for a widely dispersed group such as ours.

The highlight of this year has been a weekend workshop on Podiatric Mobilisations by podiatrist Ian Linane. Classical Manipulation is a whole-body treatment which recognises the importance of the feet and ankles in maintaining structural integrity throughout the body. Ian’s approach fitted perfectly with our own philosophy.  His teaching took our ability to treat the feet to a whole new level and we came away with a set of techniques that fit easily into our existing way of working. 

CHRE Announce...

New Professional Standards Authority for VSR Register-holders

BCTC Council members attended 3 workshops held in August, September and October to participate in discussions hosted by the CHRE about a new accreditation scheme for Voluntary Registers in the UK.

The CHRE has been commissioned by the government to establish a Professional Standards Authority for health and social care professionals.

The purpose of the workshops was to conduct an extensive consultation process with existing voluntary register holders (open to all) to develop a quality assurance scheme for all voluntary registers in the UK.  The CHRE recognizes the considerable time and effort already invested by organizations in developing professional standards and therefore has no interest in ‘re-inventing the wheel’. 

BCTC AGM – 7th September 2011

We held our second AGM at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank and reviewed our progress to date.  Despite our small number of registrants we are keenly interested in maintaining our register independently of the CNHC, which has benefitted from significant government funding.

We discussed pertinent issues such as promoting ourselves to smaller, single professional association therapies who are keen to raise standards within their therapy, despite the limited number of therapists currently practicing in the UK.

We also discussed the subject of the new CHRE accreditation scheme for voluntary registers and agreed to continue participating in these workshops to keep informed of how the new regulatory body would take shape.

Complementary Therapy in the UK - Effective Regulation

I have been watching with considerable interest the intrigue surrounding Regulation of Complementary Therapies over recent years and thought it timely to put pen to paper on the issue.   

Now as a Practitioner, in my case Polarity Therapy (but quite honestly it really could be any therapy) I have been involved in teasing out how best to be regulated in a way that satisfies the authorities, whilst at the same time ensuring it is a light touch that I find doesn’t compromise my holistic sensibilities.