Q: What does this course offer that is different to similar ones?

A: This course was not based upon urban myths or the content of aromatherapy books. Please refer to aromamedical.org for reviews of some of those. The vast majority of courses are based upon the work of such authors. Even the big validating organisations - to this day - base their tuition on wrong information found in these books.

Q. So where does your information come from?

A. The information on what essential oils are, and can do, is based on verifiable scientific, medical and similar research. It includes numerous references so that students can check things for themselves. In addition, a significant part of the suggested uses is based on historical medical sources. Many aromatherapy teachers do not have the knowledge that essential oils were used by the medical profession in the UK and USA long before aromatherapy was thought about. We also indicate where "suggested uses" is what we suggest based on long experience of both authors, as well as traditional uses that seem to offer solutions to problems.

Q. What do you not give information on?

1) We do not provide much information on the internal use of essential oils due to the factors in Martin's article found here . Although as mentioned above, essential oils were used in the past as internal medicines, the problem now is we cannot be certain what suppliers our students get their oils from. As adulteration of oils is commonplace throughout aromatherapy, we are not prepared to gamble on the health of our students or their clients.

2) We do not give huge amounts of therapeutic use based on the chemical constituents of the oils as is common in other courses. This kind of chemistry is fundamentally flawed see Chemistry - errors.

3) We do not give extensive information on Anatomy or Physiology. We believe this is far better covered by a sound medical textbook that students must get - unless they have similar books from previous studies.

Q. If you do not give much tuition on Anatomy or Physiology, how does the student understand the processes of the body that they need to know about before using essential oils to treat health problems?

This aspect is covered extensively in 4 separate 'therapeutics' sections. We believe that these subjects are far more important than knowing which muscle works which bone, which it is common to find in other courses. What is worse, is that the A/P is often taught by people who have no training in the subject. Martin had 4 years full time as a herbalist studying A/P and considers a lot of it of very low relevance to aromatherapy. Anatomy is of far more relevance in massage. Physiology is of far more relevance to herbal medicine where substances are being given internally. Our students get a lot of information on subjects such as olfaction, functions and structure of the skin, and what oils can treat skin conditions,etc.

Q. What is taught on safety issues and how?

Martin Watt was the first person in the aromatherapy trade to study and publish information on the major importance of the safe use of essential oils on the skin. Therefore, you will be drawing on many years of knowledge of this subject, and his understanding of the complex aspects of essential oil safety. What is included in this course is the basic information on the specific oils studied, plus in-depth the issues of skin sensitisation, irritation, photosensitisation and toxicity. After qualification students can purchase the additional information in Martin's full oil monographs for half the normal price.

Martin has also contributed information on safety to others in the trade who need such information in their battles with regulators.

Q. After this course can I become a registered aromatherapist?

Very few of the aromatherapy organisations will accept someone as a full member unless they have taken in-class live tuition, particularly on the practical aspects such as massage. Several similar course providers run schools where students can take these practical classes. However, if you live in Japan, and the school is in America, that may not be very practical. The majority of our students have already taken other courses and can get registration in their respective countries. If not, then our course alone will rarely be accepted by most registrars. In such cases we can offer practical training in Canada, or we sometimes suggest students take a massage course from a local provider and then our aromatherapy course will often be sufficient to get registration.

In most countries aromatherapy is not a therapy requiring formal State registration. The key issue is insurance which most of the organisations provide as part of their membership. We have often found that nurses and other therapists can get an 'extension' on their existing insurance to cover their use of aromatherapy.

The vast majority of our students just want the truth about what essential oils can do. Often they have taken very expensive courses and been disillusioned with the value for money and lack of accurate information given.

Q. How long does this course take and how is the study undertaken?

We recommend students try to complete within about 6 months. However, as most of our students have other commitments such as family and work, we are very flexible on this. The 6 month recommendation is because at the final exam, people who have taken a year, tend to get lower marks. This is a memory problem in that it is easy to forget information studied months previously. So far no students have failed even after a year or longer. We have had many who have 'suspended' their studies for a period of time due to family or other problems. Suspension means they can resume their studies at any time, but we may have to insist they do some extra revision to refresh their memory when they start again.

You can study within reason at your leisure; without the distractions of in-class study, and without the need to make copious notes which can often be inaccurate. In live lessons it is easy to miss something and not fully grasp a subject as the result. We supply the notes, but if a student does not understand something, all they have to do is ask us and we are happy to help them with additional information.

The download version can only be read on your computer, but the mailed CD also contains the older 'Word' files that some people like to print out for study away from the computer.

If there is anything else you want to know about this course do please ask.