Professional Development Courses

The Professional Reiki Treatment and Business Skills Course had a first run in February of 2009, and the evaluations of the course have been highly positive. Several experienced practitioners attended, as well as some who were commencing professional practice for the first time. Both groups were unanimous in their support of the course.

Facilitators' training within CARO member organisations has also taken place. This means that organisations now have trained facilitators to conduct training for their own members. Options for taking the course are possible for non-CARO member organisation individuals.

Read more about the course content below...

Professional Reiki Treatment Delivery and Business Skills Course

Due to feedback from within the member organisations of CARO that a Reiki-focussed treatment delivery/basic small business skills course of some kind was desired and needed by members, CARO  has developed an 16-18 hour intensive to provide such training.


Whether you are a complete beginner, or have been working professionally for some time, this module will help you develop/re-inforce good client treatment and service skills. The course is not a complete qualification in and of itself. Rather it should be regarded as a module of study that is stand-alone in terms of its Reiki focus. Other professional development activities that incorporate a number of units from the Health Training Package are recommended by CARO to complete a professional's skills set.


Some of the areas covered by the course include:

• How to start your practice, ensuring you comply with legal requirements at state and federal levels
• Pointers on administrative and book-keeping requirements
• Setting up and furnishing your practice premises
• Taking a thorough case history
• Maintaining client records and ensuring privacy and confidentiality
• Obtaining informed consent
• Communicating with your clients (being compassionate, objective, and realistic without getting personally involved)
• Treatment hygiene, for yourself and the client
• Occupational health and safety
• Explaining Reiki and giving a first treatment session
• Adapting treatment strategies to deal with client needs
• Scheduling subsequent sessions
• What to do if asked to liaise with other health professionals
• Post-treatment support - what is appropriate, and how much is too much
• How to deal with difficult clients
• When to refer a client
  

The focus is on the practical aspects with written resources provided for much of the business information.

The module is open to any person who has completed both levels I & II of CARO-recognised Usui System of Reiki, and will be delivered from within CARO member organisations. Open courses will be made available for non-CARO practitioners. For those who belong to a member organisation, your successful completion of the module entitles you to one year of CARO registration as a professional practitioner, in addition to a certificate of successful completion. Non-CARO members receive a certificate of successful completion.

Attendees will be assessed during the conduct of the module, so that consumers can be reassured that the certificate actually means a level of competence has been demonstrated, not simply that someone "paid the course fee and just turned up".

The course has been designed by a professional educator and Reiki practitioner, in consultation with representatives from a number of CARO member organisations. It is educationally sound and appropriate.

Distance education options are in development, and the intensives will be run in state capitals and possibly some regional centres where there is enough interest. The distance education option should be available in 2010. This option would also be suitable for those desiring a form of recognition of prior learning if they have been in practice for some time - sections of the distance learning course would be applied to RPL situations, as well as the submission of a Portfolio of Evidence.

Contact CARO info@caro.org.au for further information. See the Schedule of Events page for dates and costs.


Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Professional Training

I’ve been in practice for a long time and know what I’m doing - why should I do the Professional Practitioner Module? 

The main reason is that CARO wants professional practitioners to be "on the same page" when dealing with the public and providing a professional treatment. It means that potential clients are reassured that all CARO registered professionals have a similar background in terms of how they will deal with their clients, even if their original Reiki training might be quite varied. The course does not try to impose a "standardised" way of delivering a treatment - you will be able to use the treatment methods you have been trained in and familiar with. What it does do is provide pointers on Occupational Health and Safety, hygiene, ensuring your premises are appropriate, record keeping, communication skills etc, AND the practical components on handling client needs during a treatment session, as well as the before and after treatment considerations. In other words, providing professional treatment standards that can be consistent between practitioners even if their actual "hands-on" treatment methods may vary somewhat. What you may find when attending the module is that your treatment sessions were fine, but that there were areas of weakness elsewhere in terms of client interaction for example. You will end up re-inforcing the quality aspects of what you provide, and gaining experience and useful information in other areas where you may not even have been aware there was a lack.

The module covers business issues, health and safety, and various other subject areas as provided in the common units in a simplified way only. This is done so that you have "the basics" covered in terms of providing professional services - as Reiki is self-regulated it is important that you are provided some training to help you meet what is considered standard practice in these areas, even though you may not have received formal training in these areas before. Doing the common units means you complete nationally recognised studies in the general professional healthcare context. This gives you credibility when dealing with other healthcare organisations and professionals, not to mention your individual clients. As Reiki is a spiritual practice as well as a treatment modality, the Reiki component needs to remain outside the National Qualifications Framework, hence the Professional Practitioner Module was created to meet the public expectation for professional training in the Reiki specific aspects.

Absolutely - there is no requirement to repeat or re-train in any of the units as long as you successfully completed them and can provide evidence of having done so to your Member Organisation. Any units not done can be picked up as professional development.

It is very important to keep up to date in terms of your professional practice. A final decision has not been reached yet regarding how this is likely to be handled for those practitioners who have completed the module. It may be that a simple questionnaire is submitted to registered practitioners to complete every 2 or 3 years, or some other method employed such as a short refresher course.

Sue Lake-Harris drafted the course in consultation with the CARO Board and other experienced practitioners from Member Organisations. Sue was selected as she has a background in professional course writing and facilitation, formal tertiary qualifications in education, and many years experience in Reiki, a number of them in professional practice.

Sue donated her development time, and it took many months of hard work to create a succinct, practical, and valuable course, purely focussed on practitioner needs and consumer expectations.


Why does the course cost $550?

There are many costs associated with running a course, and these must be covered. There is the production of quality student manuals, insurance costs, venue hire, facilitators' fees, stationery, refreshments etc. $550 was determined as the minimum amount that would cover costs and generate a small profit to go towards future CARO expenses such as advertising, website fees, phone etc. Given this is an equivalent to a unit of study within a Certificate IV, this is very low cost in comparison - the average single unit price is frequently much more.


How much might I expect to pay for distance education/recognition of prior learning?

We are still in the development phase of this option, so pricing will be made available once development is complete. Most organisations that offer distance education/RPL, charge around 75% of the equivalent course fee.