QUESTIONS ARE LISTED AS THEY COME IN, THE MOST RECENT FIRST. If
when you have read through this page you still cannot find that answer, then please do
click the email link at the end. We will answer you personally and then publish it
right here, so you will have helped everyone who might have a similar question.
Are shiatsu qualifications internationally
recognized?...We have graduates practising overseas in Australia, Canada, France,
Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and
USA. At present each nation (and in USA and EU each state) has its own
criteria. Efforts are in process to harmonise accreditation throughout Europe where,
in certain states, complementary therapists are still required to work under
supervision of a medical practitioner. (more info click)
Can I change my learning-days? and when can I
enrol? Enrol 20 minutes
before the start of any class. And yes, you can switch days and times. click to
see the options We are here for
your convenience, not the other way round.
I have completed a year or more at another school and would
like to transfer. Do I have to start again from scratch with you? No. Here
at the Zen School we accredit your prior learning. You can join direct on our Shiatsu Practitioner (Advanced)
Professional Licence Course. With the Continuous Enrolment system you
can join at any time of the year. The Advanced Course is unique among Shiatsu
Schools: you can review, refresh and reinforce any subject you like at Intermediate Level,
by attending the Intermediate
Tutorials, doing the Intermediate Assignments and joing in with the Intermediate Practice
sessions, and none of this costs you a single penny extra. Its all included in the
Shiatsu Practitioner (Advanced) Professional Licence Course fee (see below).
The one thing we do ask of 'transfer students' is to complete our
Practical Certificate
Course. Why? for three very good reasons:
1: for you to be sure you can get along with us and
our very different way of providing your learning-and-teaching experience,
2: for us to be sure that you are not carrying so
much conditioning from the more mechanical styles that it gets in the way of your learning
by intuition,
3: to refresh the concept of Mu-Shin, "Beginners
Mind".
When you make the move to transfer, you pay only the Practical
Certificate Course fee. Then, when we have found that we can get along just fine -
which is nearly always the case - you pay the balance of the Shiatsu Practitioner
(Advanced) Professional Licence Course fee, less what you paid for the Practical
Certificate Course.
And even before making that first move you are most welcome to
come along and check us out. We offer Open Evenings several times a
year, Supervised Practice
evenings almost every month, and you can even sit in on one of our Intermediate or
Advanced learning-sessions and pay only for that. This applies to everyone thinking
of joining our school, both absoluite beginners and transfer students alike.
I am from a country outside the EU. Can I get a
student visa to study shiatsu? Yes, but since the rules change in January
2005 the school has to be a recognised learning-provider. Overseas students from outside
the EU planning to apply for a student visa to study at the Zen School of Shiatsu
(we are a registered learning provider) should check out the latest student visa
requirements click.
We look forward to welcoming you to our school and joining our tradition of offering
flexible training to students from across the globe.
What sort of living could I expect to make doing Shiatsu?
Many of our students, by the time they reach the final year of training, have already
begun to make their living from Shiatsu.
Our School Administrator shares his thirty years experience of
business development and management education in public and private sector schools and
colleges.
Throughout your training at the Zen School we help you meet and
treat potential clients, on school clinic days, at Exhibitions and Festivals, at
your Out-Clinics and your Work-placements
As soon as you have the basic qualification of CPS (Certificate
in Practical Shiatsu) and are continuing in training, we include you in our internet listings of teachers,
practitioners and students and circulate job opportunities to you.
Practice Development is part of the training. The
Professional Licence course includes specialist expert advice and training in Practice
Development - how to find and make contacts, how to build you client-base, how to keep
clients, how to find new ones...what business records and accounts to keep, and how to
maintain them.
By applying all this learning to developing your own practice you
can make a good living.
How much time/ study commitment does it take to qualify?
For the Practical
Certificate - you come in to School for 3 hours once a week for 12 weeks, or one
Saturday a month for 6 months, (or you can do the 5-day Special Intensive). You also
need to do 20 practice-treatments and write them up.
You need to commit on average about 12 hours a week
- 3 hours for home-studying - maximum.
- 3 hours to do 2 or 3 learning-treatments in
your own time
- 3 hours tutorial time at School
- 3 hours practical time at School
For the Professional
Licence you come into School one weekend a month for 12 months and as many
afternoons, evenings or weekends as you need to refresh Intermediate Diploma material,
attend Supervised Practice, repeat and assist on other courses, work in the Student
Clinic, attend private tutorial and assessment.
If combining Professional with Intermediate Courses, your school-time would be
either
*two weekends and one evening a month
OR
*one monthly Professional Course weekend, plus weekly Diploma Course attendance.
Exhibitions, Festivals, Outside Clinic-, Work- placement, and Case-study treatments and
preparation are done in your own time with plenty of help and support.
Can you tell me what final qualification I
will receive when I complete the full training? Your qualification on
completion of the full training is LicZS - Licence to practise Zen Shiatsu.
Is the qualification recognized by a shiatsu professional body? LicZS admits you to the Practitioner Register of the Zen Shiatsu Society and enables you to
register without further assessment with the British Register of Complementary
Practitioners, part of the Institute for Complementary Medicine.
Is there a minimum qualification to practice shiatsu? Under
English Law at present there is no minimum legal requirement for any qualification to
practise shiatsu (nor acupuncture, herbs, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy etc etc). The
practical requirement is that to practise shiatsu in, say, a clinic, the clinic
management will generally want to see evidence of insurance, and most insurers want to see
evidence of a qualification.
How do I obtain insurance? There are different levels of insurance
for each level of qualification, CPS, Int.Dip and LicZS. The Zen Shiatsu Society has
arranged insurance at competitive rates for our students, practitioners and
teachers. You can apply for membership and insurance coverage as soon as you have
passed your CPS... and its worth knowing that the
insurance deal we have negotiated also covers you for all other massage therapies, plus
aromatherapy, reflexology - even hypnotherapy. And of course the Taoist Healing
practices of Cosmic healing and Chi Nei Tsang.
How long
would it take to complete the full qualification training? With serious
application you can complete the training in just
under two years.
However, the programme is flexible so, if life-events happen to
interfere with your plans, you can take longer.
Our courses are not time-based but module-based - at each level
you complete a number of modules, at your own pace.
How much do I need to invest to achieve the full qualification? your
investment varies according to whether you want to
pay for all three courses (Certificate, Intermediate Diploma, Professional
Licence) in advance,
each course individually in advance,
combine payment for all courses on a monthly bankers order,
or each course individually by bankers order.
Certificate
Course £397 - on this course (except the special intensives) you can pay per
session, £39 (remember if you choose the weekend option, Saturday has two sessions, so it
would be £78). Its worth bearing in mind that the cost of the Certificate Course is
included if you pay for the Diploma or Combined (Diploma+Professional) Course.
Intermediate Level
Diploma Fee is £2468 in advance, or you can spread the payments: 12 monthly
instalments of £197 by bankers order with an initial payment of £597.
Professional
Licence Course Fee is £2987 in advance, or you can spread payments over 15
months by bankers order for £197 a month with an initial payment of £597.
The most cost-effective option is to combine payments for the three levels
of training.
If you pay all in advance, the combined total comes to £4787.
If you spread the combined course payments by bankers order, the cost is £257 a
month for 18 months with initial £597
How much do I actually save by combining course payments?
You can save over £1,000 if you pay all in advance.
Must I do all three courses together if I pay them all in advance?
No. The discount is for the payment - you can complete the courses in your own
time, from Certificate to Intermediate Diploma to Professional Licence. You go at
your own pace and decide what's right for you