What to read to learn more about Reflexology

[Im a girl]

Hi everyone/anyone
Really need some help, I did my reflexology training at college and really feel it was very basic and did not cover anywhere near enough for me to feel confident to treat clients.
I have had treatments where the mapping of the feet was mentioned, this was not trained to me, so I need to know this. I also had a treatment where reflexolgist told me I gritted my teeth, now my traning certainly did not show me how to recognise things like this. Help I really need more info on the emotions etc related to feet and so many more things that I can't even think of them.
I am fully qualified in Swedish Massage & Remedial and Sports Massage, which I trained at a Grampian School of Massage, the training there was so much more indepth and feel confident at this.
Don't want to go and totally retrain in Reflexology hoping by reading and practising I can get myself to where I need to be to offer a beneficial treatment to clients. Help!!!!!!

 

[Shaner]

Hi ya Suzanne

What type of reflexology did you do? Which examination board?

It sounds very strange to me. What did you learn from it?

Do you realise that reflexology diploma training is equivalent to a massage diploma.

Foot charts/mapping is a fundamental aspect of reflexology. If you haven't been taught this and by the sound of it other stuff, you will probably have to retrain. So please tell us what you did and we can give you advice.

Cheers

RP

 

[MiJA]

Forgotten to say welcome to healthy pages!!!!!!

 

[rgustovich]

Hi Suzanne
It seems very strange to have a reflexology course which did not mention the mapping of the feet! How long was your course, and did you do Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology? How many hours of treatment did you have to do for your case studies? As Reiki Pixie says, what was the examining board? I'm afraid some places offer reflexology courses which are not much more than workshops, lasting maybe three months. The best thing to do would be to contact either the Association of Reflexologists, or a similar body to find out what you need to do from here.
Good luck
x

 

[Om Nom Nom]

Hi there ... I did my reflexology training with VTCT and I came out of it thinking that I just hadn't learnt enough. I did my other qualifications with VTCT and they were fantastic so I put it down to the tutor.

So I have to say that I did retrain - I got in contact with the AOR and applied for the bridging course. In the end I did the whole course again as the tutor was great and I learnt so much more. So perhaps you had a poor tutor. It does sound though as if you have missed out some stuff - although some of it does come with practice.

 

[James M]

I did my training at Aberdeen College, which lasted 8 months and we did case studies etc but it really didn't go into emotional side or mapping of feet, I did do an anatomy course before starting Reflexology.
I do think it is down to the teacher not being experienced enough to teach inReflexology, I believe she had only done her training at college not long before she started teaching it, so she obviously had no real experience.

The other course I have done in massage etc were much more indepth and I really felt teachers were very experienced and added lots of tips & experience knowlegde in to the courses.
Fact is now that I have a lot of experience in anatomy and also know what every part of the foot relates to in the body also how to work across each area but just need to keep learning and get some of things I missed on course.
I know some things will come with practice but still would really like to know what books would give me a better indepth and more holistic knowledge about reflexology.

Please any suggestions.
Retraining at this moment is not an option as local course is another 8 months and another £880. Have 3 young children so childcare a problem and also cost out of my league right now.

 

[click66441]

Hi ya Suzanne

One thing you haven't mentioned is what examination board was used for your reflexology course. Was it S/NVQ, ITEC, VTCT, ITEC, C&G, ABC (AoR) etc?

I think the term foot mapping refers to foot charts and positioning of the reflexes of the foot. Was it put to you in conversation as something different?

As for the emotional side of reflexology, this is more up to the tutor. Some may go in-depth, and others may not bother or simply not into that side of therapy.

If you have a good grounding in the basis of reflexology, may be post-grad/CPD short courses would be better. I would recommend all reflexologists to do this as there is always more to learn! A standard diploma course is the start of a reflexology career, not the completion.

As for books, there's 100's of them. Try:

*A Guide to Precision Reflexology by Jan Williamson
*Colour Reflexology for Health & Healing by Pauline Wills
*Reflexology: 5 Elements & 12 Meridians by Inge Dougans
*Any reflexology books by Chris Stormer.

This will help you to develop a more holistic approach to your reflexology.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[Bob Bone]

It is unusual to go into any depth regarding emotions on a standard reflexlogy diploma. The syllabus does not require this, although some tutors will mention it briefly.

Which books do you have, which book was the recommended text? The qualification you gained, the number of case studies and the hours you trained will enable us to give you more advice / guidance, as the different bodies focus on different things, although the core should remain the same.

You may have been on a complete level 3 diploma but perhaps the focus wasn't right. If there are particular elements that interest you, you may find CPD courses more interesting and beneficial.

Some questions for you, as well as those above:

1) When you trained did you mark imbalances found on a foot chart or other picture of the feet?
2) Which foot chart did you use to represent the reflexes?
These two alone can be classed as mapping of the feet. It is likely you have done this.

3) Did you link imbalances found to symptoms and conditions from which the client suffered?
4) Did you use thumbwalking and other techniques, such as hooking and pivoting during your treatment?

Shall leave it there. Don't be discouraged, I imagine you have learnt what you needed to learn, but perhaps need some more experience to embed it, you are perhaps worried about things which didn't need to be covered on your course and may just need a few extra days training to cover the parts you want to do.

 

[priyanka]

Hiya Suzanne


It is great that you are intersted in the emotional aspects of Reflexology. It is the wonderful area to get involved in.

There is a Gentle Touch Reflexology technique that may help you to identify the point you mentioned about gritting their teeth.

The temporo mandibular Joint (TMJ) is the area where to mandible connects to the skull (temporal region). Some refer to the whole area as the jaw. The actual joint is a key area when relating to both skeletal and energetic tension. When a person is tense they may automatically tense this area and be unaware of what they are doing. As the saying goes “grit your teeth and get on with it”.

In Gentle Touch™ Reflexology the reflex area for the temporo mandibular joint (TMJ) can be found on both the hands and feet. On the hand the reflex point it is midway along the thumb and on the feet it is midway down the big toe (hallux).

On the hand it is located at the middle joint of the thumb. This joint (metacarp-phalangael joint) represents the reflex point for the TMJ and when massaged can relieve facial and jaw tension. You can practice this for yourself. Slightly bend your thumb and with the other hand, place your thumb on one side of the joint and your first finger on the other and gently massage both sides the actual joint. The pressure should be light enough to be very comfortable (no pain) and enough to be slightly moving the area around the joint (rather than just the skin). Use a gentle rotational movement.

On the foot it is accessed using two fingers placed either side of the big toe/hallux at the joint. Use a gentle, yet positive touch to massage the actual joint and this can help to release facial tension and free up the energy in around the jaw.

An imbalance here will have a knock on effect to the whole of the skeletal and energetic systems. When tension can be released from here, it can help to improve many other signs and symptoms ranging from anxiety and sinus problems to shoulder and neck pain. It is not unusual for people to discover that someone who has skeletal i.e. back pain or sinus pain also grinds their teeth. Working this area can make a big difference to people.

People may experience an improvement in:Facial comfortHearing improvesBalance is restoredTeeth and gums repair and heal fasterReduction on severity or number of headachesFacial numbness lessensReduction of tension across their faceCirculation and skin tone throughout the faceSinuses clearShoulder and neck tension lessensBack problems improveHip and knee pain reductionEnergy levels rise.In terms of Foot Reading you can gain information from imbalances with the TJM reflex areas. The Big toe and thumb relate to our thinking. If there is tension in the TMJ then the person will have many thoughts going round in their head that are making them feel tense. There are different aspects to this according to whether it is the clients' right or left foot. You may find that you really enjoy Foot reading as a way of gaining more information on what is going on in the person's life and where their natural strengths and talents are.
I hope that gets you underway with finding out more on your fabulous reflexology journey. Good luck.

 

[@l!$h@]

HI there again Suzanne. I just wondered whether you have had any clients yet? You will probably be surprised at how much you really do know.

Like Gussie said you can do CPD courses to enhance your knowledge and they aren't always that expensive.

And books - if you are after the emotional stuff then try Chris Stormer or Renee Tanner. I used these in my case studies when training but to be honest I don't always refer to them now with clients.

Once you have a few clients your confidence will grow and then once that happens you'll pick up things more from the feet that you see. Well that's how it seemed to work for me anyway. I think on other threads people have written about working intuitively and I think that is often the case with reflexology. E.G. I had a lady the other day and although there wasn't necessarily an imbalance in her stomach area I thought that there was something going on in that area of her foot. SO I asked her at the end of the treatment and she said ' oh okay I'll tell you, I've been really worried about my stomach and I'm have some investigateive treatment in two days time'. So somehow I had picked that up.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that the more feet you do, the more you will 'read' in to them without reading or going on courses. x