Mind-Body Medicine

Licensing, Certifying and Training Standards for Alternate Modalities

Licensing, Certification and Training Standards

• No license is required to practice, but therapists are generally licensed in another health care field and practice according to those guidelines. Note: When seeking a therapist it is advisable to look for a practitioner who holds a professional license in a field appropriate to the condition for which treatment is sought.
• Therapists can become certified through the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA), www.BCIA.org, which is the only certifying agency in the United States. BCIA is only a certifying agency and does not regularly monitor therapists. About 2,000 health care professionals are BCIA-certified.
• Certification requirements include:
  
  
  1. At least a bachelor's degree in a BCIA-approved health care field;
  2. Professional license or it's equivalent (those who do not hold a license must prove that they are working under the supervision of someone who does hold such a license);
  3. 200 hours of formal training from a BCIA-approved institution in three areas: didactic education in biofeedback, personal experience in biofeedback, and supervised clinical biofeedback experience;
  4. 30 clinical hours supervised by a certified therapist;
  5. Successful completion of the BCIA certification exam;
  6. Re-certification at four-year intervals.
     
     (Note: The title conferred is: BCIA-certified.)
  
  
• Benefits of certification include recognition of: competence in the use of biofeedback, demonstration of professionalism and adherence to BCIA standards, procedures consistent with Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines, maintenance of knowledge and skill levels, and adherence to Ethical Principles established by BCIA.
• Certificants are subject to review and sanction by the BCIA.
• The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB), www.aapb.org, also maintains an oversight committee, provides peer reviews and holds annual meetings and conferences. Each state has a biofeedback society that is a member of AAPB.

Note on Licensing and Certification: A practitioner who is certified is not automatically licensed. As with many other alternative therapies, biofeedback does not have its own state licensing boards or standards. Therefore licensed practitioners of biofeedback are individuals licensed by the state licensing board of another health profession (e.g. doctors, psychologists). These individuals practice under the rules and regulations and within the scope of their profession as defined by the state licensing board. Those found practicing outside the defined scope of practice may be subject to disciplinary and legal action.

Licensing, Certification and Training Standards

• No license is required to practice hypnosis in the United States. As a result there is no effective way to censure unlicensed individuals other than through greater consumer awareness.
• Because hypnosis is not considered an effective treatment modality in and of itself, it should always be used in conjunction with some other form of therapy, (e.g. medical, dental or psychological). Therefore those trained to use hypnotic therapy in their clinical practice should be licensed professionals in psychology, medicine, dentistry or other health-related profession.
• Several organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), www.asch.net, and Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, have developed codes of ethics that define and limit persons who can be taught hypnosis.
• The ASCH has developed a voluntary certification program in an effort to implement a standard into the training of practitioners. The ASCH offers two levels of certification to qualified practitioners: Certification in Clinical Hypnosis and Approved Consultant in Clinical Hypnosis.
• Certification requirements for the first level certification include:
  
  
  1. MD, DDS, DMD, DO, DPM, PhD, PsyD, or equivalent doctoral degree with psychology as the major field of study or a Master's Degree in Nursing, Social Work, Psychology, or Marriage and Family Therapy;
  2. Membership in a professional society consistent with the degree;
  3. Professional Licensure or certification by State of practice;
  4. Minimum of 40 hours of ASCH approved workshop training;
  5. Minimum of 20 hours of individual training with an ASCH Approved Consultant;
  6. Minimum of 2 years practice utilizing clinical hypnosis.
     
     (Note: The ASCH posts a disclaimer that "Certification does not automatically imply competence or guarantee the quality of a practitioner's work.")
  
  
• The benefits of ASCH certification include: distinguishing the professional hypnotist from the lay hypnotist, ensures proper education and licensure, indicates that ASCH training standards have been met and implies a commitment to professionalism.
• Three American Boards of Hypnosis (Medical, Dental and Psychological) were established to recognize clinicians with advanced competence in medical, dental and psychological hypnosis. The ASCH encourages certified professionals to obtain Diplomate Status, the highest level of advanced specialty certification available, from their respective board.

Note on Licensing and Certification: A practitioner who is certified is not automatically licensed. As with many other alternative therapies, hypnotherapy/hypnosis does not have its own state licensing boards or standards. Therefore licensed practitioners of hypnotherapy/hypnosis are individuals licensed by the state licensing board of another health profession (e.g. doctors, psychologists, dentists). These individuals practice under the rules and regulations and within the scope of their profession as defined by the state licensing board. Those found practicing outside the defined scope of practice may be subject to disciplinary and legal action.

Licensing and Training Standards

• There is currently no formal licensure or certification process for meditation instructors due to the large body of meditation traditions as well as differing opinions in training requirements.
• Traditional religions and organizations, such as Buddhism and Transcendental Meditation, have specific requirements for formal training and credentialing for new teachers. (Note: These teachers have extensive training, but generally little experience in teaching meditation as medical therapy.)
• Several academic centers, (e.g. University of Massachusetts, www.umassmed.edu/behavmed/, and University of Pennsylvania Medical Centers), provide guidelines and training programs, but do not offer certification.

Training Standards

• Many different schools of yoga exist and each has its own curriculum for training new teachers. Therefore there are no formal training standards.
• Training generally includes: yoga techniques, teaching methodology, anatomy and physiology, proper yogic diet, philosophy, methodology and ethics, teaching practice and personal practice.
• Specialized Yoga Therapy training, for working with students with health challenges, is available at a limited number of schools, (e.g. Integrative Yoga Therapy, www.iytyogatherapy.com).

Licensing and Certification Standards

• No license is required to teach yoga and each school has its certification process.
• In effort to bring some standardization to the training of yoga teachers, The Yoga Alliance, www.yogaalliance.org, a collaboration of Yoga schools and independent Yoga teachers, has developed minimum standards for Yoga teacher training. Teachers may register to become Registered Yoga Alliance Teachers (RYT) at the 200 or 500-level. The 200-level requirements are:
  
  
  • 100 hours of techniques;
  • 20 hours of teaching methodology;
  • 20 hours of anatomy and physiology;
  • 30 hours philosophy, ethics, and lifestyle;
  • 10 hours of practicum;
  • 30 hours of electives;
  • and 160 contact hours.
  
  
• Pros and cons of certification: There are some definite benefits of certification, especially for the consumer. It provides recognition of meeting basic criteria for education as well as indicating a commitment to the profession through association with the Yoga Alliance. However, there are also some drawbacks in that some schools of yogic practice do not subscribe to the beliefs of the Yoga Alliance and do not agree with their standards. As with many of the alternative modalities there is some debate as to the benefits versus constraints of certification. There are many yoga organizations and many views.