Rant, doggy style

Naively, I believed that all good-thinking people would approve of the setting up of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). But I should have known better. For every topic known to man, the internet provides someone who will rant indignantly about it. (Indignorants.) So it is with the setting up of the CNHC - someone called James Smith from an email provider 'ymail.com' with the user-name 'made2heal94' has been sending angry emails to many Alexander colleagues - and presumably people from other disciplines as well. He is urging recipients to write to government to ask them to cease supporting CNHC, and draws peoples' attention to places on the web where you can read about, in his words -

'some very doggy aspects of CNHC operations'

I think he meant 'dodgy' ('dishonest' 'risky') rather than 'doggy'. Anyway, his efforts have come to the attention of CNHC who are trying to identify him/her so that they can (a) correct any misrepresentations and (b) enter into debate with him/her.

Outbreak of Sweetness and Light

The leaders of our profession have now produced regulation documents, on the basis of which we (in ITM) are going to recommend that teachers join the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) when it opens up to Alexander Teachers in the Autumn. And the documents are here for you to read and respond to.

Historic moments

On March 4th, four members of ATVSRG (Alexander Technique Voluntary Self-Regulation Group) visited the offices of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council in Victoria Street London. It's an interesting part of London for those who know their Alexander history. We walked past the front of the Westminster Cathedral, where FM's 'Ashley Place' used to be - his buildings are now gone, but there remain very similar buildings still standing. The offices were also close to the Army and Navy mansions, now I think a House of Fraser building, where FM used to teach when he first came to London.

Enough of history.

The meeting went very well (it was remarkable for the cordiality between the representatives of the Alexander professional associations) and we agreed that the date for the register to open for Alexander Teachers will be in the Autumn.

This was the first of several key recent events which have resulted in a new spirit of energetic cooperation between the professional associations. The period of Shock and Awe is over, the period of Knock and Ignore is over. We are now in the period of 'Let's get on with it!' It's a refreshing change but somewhat disconcerting (Do I have to stop being paranoid?) after having to spend eight years defending our position.

Not March

Well, it looks as though we are not going to be ready for a March start date for Alexander teachers to go on the CNHC register. STAT are due to end their consultation, and probably have a vote, at their Annual General meeting in Leeds, Yorkshire ('Head Leeds Body Follows') in July. So although we are not dependent on their say-so, it makes political sense to start the process properly after STAT has made up its mind. It is worth saying again though - we (the other professional associations) can recommend the CNHC register to our members without STAT if they (STAT) decide not to participate.

Agreeing an Explanation of the Alexander Technique

One of the most interesting small (!) tasks that we have had to do on the regulatory front has been the agreement of a short explanation of what the Alexander Technique is. It has taken four people from 9th December to 3rd February to come up with the following. It will be used at the head of the discipline-specific section of the National Occupational Standards.

The Alexander Technique (AT) is a taught practical discipline with significant healthcare implications.

AT lessons help people to free themselves from unhelpful postural and movement habits and develop a more intelligent and skilled control of the manner in which they engage in activity.

An important part of teaching is the use of specialised hand contact which helps learners identify and reduce interference with the working of their innate mechanisms of balance and coordination.

Practice of the AT directly benefits the performance of both everyday and specialised activities; general health and well being benefit as the progressive decrease in poor habits leads to increasing improvement in the functioning of physiological systems.

The AT is also valued for its contribution to self-development: people learn to increase their attention level, gain poise, presence, and ease of movement and remain calm and rational under pressure.

Alexander Technique teachers work in many different areas such as the performing arts, education, sports and leisure, as well as in healthcare contexts.

CNHC is launched - Tim's a star

Today, the CNHC has opened its register for the first time, to the first disciplines that it will be operating as a regulator for - Massage Therapy and Nutritional Therapy. There's a BBC news item here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7828593.stm

Huge hugs and thanks are due to Tim Kjeldsen who did sterling work, nay, gold-standard work in 2007 on the national working group that designed the CNHC.

Being regulated with therapies

Here's a riddle: FM Alexander was born in the Australian Territory of Tasmania. But what was his province? Read on, you will find out.

I was at the ITM training course in January, sitting at the back of the room, trying to find one of my favourite quotes in the red edition of Alexander's books. I know my way around the single edition versions, but I am not so familiar with this volume of all the four books. The favourite quote (I eventually found it) was '... the first and greatest stumbling block to conscious self-control, namely 'rigidity of mind'. (IRDEAT, p. 38).

But while looking, I chuckled as I saw a paragraph which opened with the words 'Returning now to my own province of therapeutics ...'. (IRDEAT, p. 57, my emphasis)

I chuckled, because there is a continuing debate about whether or not we should be seeking regulation with therapies such as the Bowen Technique, and Reiki, and others*. (By the way thanks Veronica for raving about Reiki - there's another therapy that I have heard someone speak well of.)

It's important to remember that anything can be 'therapeutic': a cold shower, a smile, a warm handshake, a hand on the shoulder, even a kick up the backside. But not everything is a therapy: a therapy involves a treatment of some kind that a practitioner does to a patient to address a specific set of symptoms. The AT, on the other hand, is an education which involves a practitioner teaching learners to use what they already possess (intelligence, capacity for reasoning, well-madeness) on a general basis, for their own (the learners') benefit. So why should we be regulated with therapies?

Well many of our colleagues teach in multi-therapy clinics, where the Alexander Technique often appears on an alphabetical list between Acupuncture and Aromatherapy. And however much we think of the AT as Education-Not-Therapy, we position ourselves, and are thought of as a therapy.

And don't forget, the main point about regulation is PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC. And as far as protection of the public is concerned, we are just another group of practitioners who (like Massage and Bowen practitioners) put hands on people, get our clients to confide details of their personal health to us, and see people alone, on an individual basis. The public needs to be protected, whatever the philosophy of the practitioner: though we may see ourselves as in entirely different fields (Education vs Therapy) there are similarities - touching, confidential information, being alone with the practitioner - which the CNHC is best placed to regulate.


*The complete list is Aromatherapy, Bowen technique, Cranial Therapy, Homeopathy, Massage, Naturopathy, Nutritional Therapy, Yoga Therapy, Reflexology, Reiki and Shiatsu.