Professional News from the United Kingdom
The amalgamation of the three largest aromatherapy professional associations
The three largest UK-based international aromatherapy professional associations are planning to merge on 1st April 2002 to form a new representative body entitled 'The International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists' (IFPA). The three associations in question are the International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA), the International Society of Professional Aromatherapists (ISPA) and the Register of Qualified Aromatherapists (RQA).
The IFA was founded in 1985 and has approximately 1600 members; the ISPA was founded in 1991 and has about 2100 members; and the RQA was founded in 1990 and has slightly more than 800 members. The plan is for the ISPA and RQA to formally dissolve themselves in favour of their combined membership automatically being transferred to the IFA, which will at the same time take on the new name of the IFPA. The names of the ISPA and RQA will be legally incorporated into the new association so that they cannot be used again as names of aromatherapy organizations.
The amalgamation process was started in July 1999 following a meeting between ISPA Chairman Ian Smith, RQA Chairman Gabriel Mojay and the IFA Chair at the time, Mrs Doreen Bennetts. Steps were taken towards the goal of the merger during the second half on 1999 and throughout 2000, but it has been since the beginning of 2001 that the most significant progress has been made. The merger planning process has been directed by a Steering Committee made up of the Chairs of each association (Ian Smith, Gabriel Mojay and the current IFA Chair, Lynda Orton-Jay), the IFA Vice-Chairs Alison Winter and Helena Trump, the ISPA Vice-Chair Su Hagan, and the RQA Vice-Chairman Alan Stuart. Additional representatives from each association have played a part in discussing a wide range of issues including those of the constitution, administration, education and training, public relations, insurance and publications. All those involved have worked hard to ensure that the amalgamation process progresses as smoothly as possible, and produces the most positive possible outcome for both the practising members and their clientele public.
The aims and objectives of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA) are based on those of its antecedents. These, in summary, are:
 | to advance the knowledge and practice of professional aromatherapy through maintaining and ensuring a high standard of vocational education as a prerequisite for individual membership of IFPA; |
| to publicly promote the professional practice of aromatherapy by its members; |
| to regulate this practice in a way that ensures high standards of professionalism and the safety of the clientele public; |
| to encourage and facilitate scientific research applicable to the practice of aromatherapy. |
The new organization will continue to perform the key functions that were central to those of its antecedents. These include the promotion and maintenance of a public register of practising aromatherapists as well as a list of accredited educational establishments at which aromatherapy training can be undertaken. The IFPA will work hard to raise the profile of professional aromatherapy both in the UK and abroad, together with maintaining high standards of aromatherapy practice and training.
It has been agreed by the Steering Committee that the governing Council of the IFPA will consist of a Chairman, two Vice-Chairs, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and 10 further Council members who will chair subcommittees concerned with the following areas of concern: education and training; accreditation and examinations; publicity and public relations; research and scientific matters; membership and regional group coordination; international liaison; government affairs and regulation; publications; conferences; and the essential oil trade and industry. The term of office for each position will be two years; with a maximum of two continuous terms in one position, and a maximum of three continuous terms in any Council position.
As far as general membership to the IFPA is concerned, the following categories will apply:
| full membership - for practising members who meet the full requirements; |
| international membership - for practising members who meet the full requirements and who do not reside in the United Kingdom; |
| associate membership - for practising members who do not yet meet the requirements for full membership, but who are sufficiently qualified to be allowed a period of two years to undertake further training in order to meet them; |
| honorary membership - awarded in recognition of services to the profession; |
| fellowship - awarded to senior members who have served the Federation or its antecedents; |
| student membership - for those who are training in aromatherapy and who are not yet in professional practice, allowed for a maximum of three years; |
| lay membership - open to who are not in professional practice, but who have an interest in aromatherapy. |
The requirements for full membership of the IFPA will be based on standards of education and training laid down by the governing Council, as recommended by its education committee. These will be founded on 250 hours of in-class training provided by educational establishments that will be accredited and inspected by an Accreditation Board. The IFPA will establish the Board within a short period of its inception.
Training in professional aromatherapy and the therapeutic application of essential oils from theoretical and practical standpoints will consist of a minimum of 120 hours of in-class training. Training in therapeutic massage will consist of no less than 60 hours of in-class training, and studies in anatomy and physiology will comprise a minimum of 50 hours of in-class training. Each major section of study will entail extensive private study and practice additional to in-class tuition. This will include 50 hours of logged unsupervised massage practice as part of the therapeutic massage component, and 60 hours of aromatherapy case studies. A further 20 in-class hours or equivalent of business and ethical studies will also be required.
All training establishments accredited and inspected by the IFPA will be permitted to award a professional qualification in aromatherapy only on the basis that any given student successfully completes the examinations and assessments designed and set by the Federation. Similarly, all those applying for membership to the IFPA must sit and pass the required examinations as well as meet the IFPA's in-class training requirements. The examinations will consist of: (1) an aromatherapy theory paper; (2) an aromatherapy practical assessment; (3) a therapeutic massage practical assessment; and (4) an anatomy and physiology paper.
It is furthermore the intention of the IFPA to establish and maintain a Register of Massage Practitioners in addition to the main Register of Aromatherapists under which all full, international and associate members and fellows will automatically be listed. The Register of Massage Practitioners (RMP) will be open to all members of the Register of Aromatherapists as well as those who have fulfilled the requirements for in-class training in therapeutic massage and anatomy and physiology, and who have passed the examinations and assessments in these fields. Members of the Register of Massage Practitioners (MRMP) will not, however, be able to claim membership to the IFPA unless they meet its requirements for membership with respect to aromatherapy.
It is envisaged that the annual renewal of all memberships to the IFPA will take place on April 1st of each year; that the Annual General Meeting together with an international weekend conference will take place in October of each year; and that an additional one-day conference will be held in March of each year. It has also been agreed that the IFPA will produce a quarterly professional journal relevant to aromatherapists practising throughout the world, together with a regular professional newsletter designed to keep members fully informed of events and developments within the profession.
The Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the IFA, ISPA and RQA have been working together in a spirit of genuine unity to lay the foundations for what will become the premier UK professional body for aromatherapy as well as a leading organisation internationally. The Steering Committee to which they belong will continue to operate for the first six months following the final amalgamation on 1st April 2002, with the first elections to the newly-constituted governing Council taking place in October 2002 - at the Inaugural General Meeting and first IFPA Conference.
The Steering Committee will, during this entire period, seek to establish closer links with aromatherapy organizations and practitioners abroad. It will be eager, as a part of this process, to encourage its international members to form approved local branches of the Federation, so that the IFPA can truly fulfil its role as an international representative body for the profession. With respect to national aromatherapy bodies, the IFPA will likewise be keen to strengthen ties and exchange information - to work with its sister organizations overseas to further establish, on a global scale, professional aromatherapy as a viable, respected system of modern natural medicine.
Report by Gabriel Mojay,
IFPA Steering Committee Member,
September 2001
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