Last week we told you about who accredited our online and face to face courses. 

Now the question is, why should you care?

When I started creating our Post Graduate Diploma Courses I didn’t know very much about accreditation or accrediting bodies. I was a member of a few professional bodies but probably couldn’t have articulated my reasons for joining. As I created courses I discovered the joys of accreditation and approval and have come to value the process enormously. If you are not so familiar with the different types of qualifications and providers, read on…..

 The Jennifer Young Training School offers accredited and approved courses only. We do not offer courses that are not accredited or approved by an independent professional body. Accreditation and approval are important to therapists and training providers alike. When working in a relatively new field with a vulnerable client group: third party verification is vital. It...

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, we wanted to reflect on how therapists can begin to understand what their clients with cancer may be going through. Most importantly, we want therapists to be able to support their clients in many ways, not solely through touch therapies. 

Breast cancer treatment can be of various types, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, medication or surgery. Surgery can include lymph node removal, lumpectomy, mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Each type of treatment option will have different follow up care in terms of physiotherapy, and guidance from your therapist must always be followed. For example, reconstructive surgery may have used a muscle called Latisimus Dorsi, and therefore the patient may have specific strengthening exercises to help recover from this. Physiotherapy falls into several key areas following treatment, and these include exercise, skin care, posture correction and lymphoedema treatment/ prevention. Simple...

We are honoured to work with some of the biggest spa and hotels across the country. Working with these spas means that we get to offer Jennifer Young treatments in gorgeous settings with highly trained staff, all dedicated to care and relaxation. 

You may recognise a few names on this list. 

We work with the fantastic...

• Cowshed
• Rudding Park Harrogate
• Macdonald Hotels and Resorts
• Ragdale Hall Spa
• Alexander House Hotel and Utopia Spa
• Hoar Cross Hall
• Eden Hall Spa

...and many many more. 

If you would like to join the Jennifer Young Training School as a spa or salon, and train multiple therapists at once, leave your details in our contact form and a member of our team will be in touch. 

Help through quarantine

Yesterday was my last day in quarantine. I have been climbing the walls. Never again will I give everyone a lift to Volleyball (10 journeys a week is the alternative to masked lift sharing with the windows open).

My weeks of relative isolation have been improved by Zoom. As the ten thousand gifts projects comes to an end, I have been fortunate enough to hear from some of the recipients. Here we speak to Anastasia from Liverpool Cancer Mummies

 And, as always, listening to others gives me a sense of perspective, quarantine for me is nothing to worry about. My job is a gift.

Some of the videos are super helpful to you therapists, and to anyone you know who has been diagnosed. There are loads of them (quarantine is long and slow and I have Netflix nausea), the team are barely speaking to me as whilst I record and edit, I am refusing to brand (or ‘tart’ we as call it).

Hopefully we will add them to the blogs in the...

Disclaimers, consent, discrimination, insurance, liability...all words that put dread into the health and beauty world. Even without a pandemic, therapists and business owners alike sometimes struggle to navigate these words and how they apply to their work. 

During a chat about vulnerable clients and COVID-19, our founder, Jennifer Young was joined by insurance expert Alison Livings and employment lawyer Jude Hogarth to discuss how to treat these kinds of clients in the current climate. 

There was some laughs along the way, alongside some very important conversations about the topics plaguing everyone's mind. Take a look at the sneak peek in the video.

Take a look at all that was discussed amongst this panel of experts by joining our Discrimination in Wellness learning area - these ladies really know what they are talking about. 

Sign up here: Join Discrimination in Wellness 

Don't forget about our Control of Cross Infection in a Post-COVID-19 World ...

We hear so many stories over here at the Jennifer Young Training School of cancer patients being turned away from spas and salons as some therapists don't have the knowledge to treat them safely and effectively. It breaks our heart. Our mission is to educate as many people as we can so the industry becomes a more inclusive and inviting place for those suffering with cancer. 

Oncology Massage treatments can help with so much more than relaxation. But don't just take our word for it. In the video above, Vicky gives her account of how a Jennifer Young Treatment helped her feel "cocooned and pampered". 

Vicky does some incredible work in the cancer community, she is the founder of True Cancer Bodies, as well as being a busy mum and business owner, all this while having being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She is an all-round superhero. 

Being able to give help in any way to people like Vicky is why we do what we do. To some its just a massage, to some it is...

Our online and face to face courses are all accredited by the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT). Their experts have reviewed our courses and given us their seal of approval. We are honoured.

We also have our Oncology Massage, Oncology Balanced Body and Mind, and our Oncology Reflexology courses are also accredited by the wonderful ThinkTree. 

Are you already a Jennifer Young qualified therapist? You are eligible to be listed on the database of SATCC qualified therapists, published by Think Tree. This will become the definitive list of therapists holding qualifications that meet the standard when it is officially launched later this year. All publicity materials will signpost it to those looking for oncology touch therapies. 

 
Use the code satccfree1 to register free of charge (click become a member>sign up) and add the coupon code to reduce the price to zero. This will be the only SATCC listing for therapists and small...

Are we more likely face a claim of discrimination than we are of negligence for someone contracts Coronavirus on our premises.

We have been through so much, we have had to learn how to risk assess and control cross infection.

We are not the only ones who are picking up new skills and discovering responsibilities that we may not have known we had. Our professional bodies, our insurers and our clients are all working from unchartered territories.

Some professional bodies have, at the time of writing, advised us to seek medical consent before touching anyone who falls into the clearly defined groups of vulnerable, such as many of those affected by cancer.

We are in the throes of a global pandemic and we are, no matter best intentions, unlikely to get that written consent. If we turn folk away, are we liable to claims of discrimination?

Alison Livings of Holistic Insurance Services and Jude Hogarth, a specialist discrimination lawyer, discuss.

I came to holistic and beauty therapies late. After working in science and hard facts for a long time, coaching at all levels within large organisations, it was time for a change & therapies was the change. I was taught, as are we all, that cancer is contraindicated for most therapies (well done to Reflexology and Reiki for not excluding those affected by cancer). I wasn’t taught why – were you? Or at least, I wasn’t taught why in a way other than unsubstantiated suggestions that it could do harm.

At the same time as leaving my science behind, or so I thought, I was asked by my local NHS hospital to create a skin care range to help those going through treatment for cancer. The creation of the skin care collections, Defiant Beauty, is another story. The invitation to work with the patients, ex-patients and staff at the hospital opened my eyes to a world of injustice. The women I met felt that this was the time when they needed beauty most – it was...

We have had so many therapists join our Jennifer Young Training School family since our Postgraduate Diplomas have moved online. Our learning has never been more comprehensive and accessible. 

Victoria noticed this and decided to expand her treatment offerings and took our Oncology Reflexology Postgraduate Diploma online course. 

After beginning her career as a professional makeup artist in the music video industry, Victoria has always been inclusive of cancer patients in her work. She taught oncology patients how to create brows and lashes using makeup, and then expanded her involvement through her aromatherapy and beauty therapy qualifications. As well as this, she has worked closely with a breast cancer charity for 10 years, holding workshops and private therapies. A busy lady indeed. 

Victoria chose to train with the Jennifer Young Training School "because the course looked to be exactly what I needed, not just practical training but the extra parts of the course...