Frequently Asked Questions: What are the training and certification requirements for professional reflexology practice?Where can I receive training?

Tricky questions
Questions about training and certification are simply answered for most professional fields. There are, however, no simple answers to these questions for aspiring professional reflexologists in the United States. No training or certification standards have been universally accepted by the profession as a whole. What is the aspiring reflexologist to do?

There are three perspectives: one, massage licensing requirements for reflexology practice exist in ten states and several cities, two, what should the appropriately educated reflexologist know and three, how should the reflexologist prepare himself or herself to meet future possible changes in reflexology practice and laws?

Legal Requirements
Massage licensing is required of reflexologists in nine states and six large cities: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego. If you are licensed for nursing, physical therapy, cosmetology or barbering, you are probably not required to meet massage standards to practice reflexology.

(No reflexology training is required.)

Judging reflexology training
For those seeking reflexology training or certification, some research is suggested. At issue is employability. Technique application, legal practice, research methods, and a theoretical basis for the work are the types of things that make a difference. The following guidelines are suggested:

1. A recent Reflexology Association of America survey reported that the basic standards for the certification of competency within the bodywork professions includes:

  1. 1. completion of a course of study
  2. 2. over an approved curriculum or from an approved school
  3. 3. in a specific number of hours
  4. 4. with testing.

There is no agency to determine the parameters of an approved curriculum or approved school. Prospective students should examine the curriculum of the prospective school to determine what material is being presented.

  • 1. Does the training system offer a completed course of study in reflexology of 100 hours or more? What is the title on the certificate offered upon completion?
  • 2. Does the curriculum include study in reflexology as the application to the feet and hands of pressure techniques which do not utilize oil, cream or lotion assessed on the basis of zones and areas with a premise that such work effects a physical change? This basic definition comprises the American tradition of reflexology.
  • 3. Does the curriculum include instruction in anatomy, physiology, and the legal parameters of reflexology practice?
  • 4. Does the curriculum include instruction in a model of how reflexology works within the nervous system? Within an energy model?
  • 5. Do all training hours take place at the school? Is all practicum supervised?
  • 6. Does the curriculum include instruction in other body works or ingestible materials such as herbs or vitamins?
  • 7. Are the instructors educated and experienced in reflexology?

"It's confusing," the reporter noted in the phone interview. "I just asked what a Board certified reflexologist is. And, I asked what were the educational requirements were. I couldn't get a straight answer from any of the eleven reflexologists I interviewed."

"I'm frustrated," the Canadian reflexologist said. "The churches around here are preaching against reflexology, calling it a New Age practice. Other reflexologists and associations seem to be encouraging the development of reflexology as a New Age idea. I believe reflexology works in the physical realm of things. Is there an association that is working with reflexology as a physical manifestation?"

"My sister received reflexology services in Ohio and the practitioner told her the sore area in her heel was a "grief point. Can you tell me if this is a standard part of reflexology services?"

"An ARCB pamphlet newsletter notes the need to bring professional standards up to those of massage therapists and cosmetologists."

Push has come to shove for reflexology professional. As the popularity of the practice increases, the questions about the credibility of the profession build. At issue is whether or not obtaining the credentials of the field mean you're a credible, professional practitioner.

Try to explain the reflexology community and its actions to others, such as the press, consumers, other professionals and reflexologists themselves.

Consensual politics have been used in lieu of research to make decisions for the profession. Outside the ring of politicians, there seems to be a consensus about what is reflexology and what is a reflexologist. What is lacking is the will to create a real profession. Real professions require education over the standard, defined practice and require ongoing practice within that definition.

If reflexology is not brought into conformity with other professions, any paper issued is meaningless. Papers mills churn in the reflexology fields at an incredible rate. Certification of competency is merely a piece of paper. Reflexology will be an adjunct to some other profession by default.

Reflexologists should be demanding certification programs that require a completed course of study over a defined curriculum. Certified practitioners who practice as defined by the certifying organization. Additions to the field that are defined, discussed, peer reviewed for safety and consistency of theory. Real ongoing oversight of certified practitioners. Impartial grandfathering-in criteria. Honest forums to discuss issues of importance &emdash; Should energy-work reflexology be defined as separate from physical-work reflexology? Should a full and fair disclosure system be implemented in the profession so consumers and other professional could tell who is practicing what, who is teaching what, and who is educated in what.

If you're going to a school you have a right to be informed what the program consists of, what the diploma granted upon completion states, what the legal status of the practice is.

In the world of body work,

Reflexologists talk about it becoming a science. Science, however, is definable with appropriate steps. The profession has created definition but has failed to back it up with actual implementation The issue is quality control and peer review.

The reporter did not get an assurance that there was quality control in the reflexology profession. None of the reflexologists interviewed reported any safety concerns associated with reflexology.