In January 2010, Palgrave Macmillan are publishing my new book, Foundations of Complementary Therapies and Alternative Medicine.

I was travelling on the train back to Yorkshire from London and somehow got talking to the passenger next to me. He was an academic with a PhD in mathematics, and our conversation alighted on East and West. It emerged that he had spent time in China and while there had become fascinated by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). He trained as an acupuncturist and some time later when he returned to the UK he founded the Northern College of Acupuncture ,in York.

From that meeting, we held a joint study meeting between social work academics and his colleagues at the Northern College and, as well as sharing common ground, explored differences between Eastern and Western approaches to health and well-being.

Some time later, plagued with occasional but intense back pain due to seemingly spontaneous muscular contractions, I recalled a drama lecturer colleague was a strong advocate of the Alexander Technique (AT). I met a practitioner, Lena Schibel-Mason in York and took lessons with her for more than a year. From this, I learnt that although the AT is not a therapy, as an education it can help your posture and your control over your body. That was nearly ten years ago. Through the AT, I now have the means to relax my back muscles when stressed and, from whatever cause, my bouts of back pain have vanished. At least, when I feel them coming on, I use my AT and the signs disappear.

About five years ago, I took a short course in reflexology. It was a revelation. At the start, Nicola Hall, Director of the Bayly School of Reflexology, and author of many books about reflexology, introduced the course by advising us of the power of reflexology. Again, as a recipient of one half-hour session from a person to whom I barely spoke and whom I had never met before, I was astonished at what she could confirm for me about the state of the various organs of my body.

More recently, I was privileged to be able to sit in on a diagnostic first interview and several treatment sessions held by Mike Chan, an experienced and well-qualified practitioner in TCM.

I cannot say at what point during these experiences over more than a decade I decided to write this book. What I can say is that I was convinced it would have to be written as a team effort, using the expertise of practitioners who are respected, qualified and experienced in their specialist field.

I persuaded my health and nursing editor at Palgrave Macmillan to go into this new area of practice and so the journey to produce Foundations of Complementary Therapies and Alternative Medicine began. In the early stages of this journey, I persuaded my former colleague from 30 years ago, Sue Jennings, anthropologist and one of the founders of drama therapyin the UK, to write a keynote chapter in the book on what I call the expressive therapies– dance movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, art therapy and play therapy.

I wanted the book to be informative for the general reader, but also a useful resource for the existing and the intending student of complementary therapies and alternative medical approaches,of which there are more than 2,000 in Western countries at present, to say nothing of those traditional medical and therapeutic practices which sustain the health and well-being of the 40 per cent of the world’s population unable to access what we in the West call conventional medicine.

The book is structured so as to take the reader through seven main aspects required in learning and practising a complementary approach.

Part 1 deals with the skills needed for learning and studying (Chapter 1) and the knowledge and understanding required to grasp the main aspects of professional development (Chapter 2).

Part 2 introduces some important contextual themes that form the basis for knowing about, and critical understanding of, complementary approaches, notably their social, policy and legal bases (Chapters 3–5).

Part 3 sets out the main ethical, multiprofessional, business, health and safety and hygiene aspects of managing your practice, whether employed in the health service or working independently (Chapters 6–8).

Part 4 deals with the areas of knowledge, understanding and skills required for working with patients and clients (Chapters 9–12).

Part 5 deals with the historical, philosophical and scientific basis for practice, including anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology (Chapters 13–18).

Part 6 deals with the main different areas of practice, including chapters on: homeopathy,Traditional Chinese Medicine (acupuncture, herbal medicine and massage), herbal medicine, meditation, reflexology, osteopathy, chiropractic, Alexander Technique, reiki, healing and expressive therapies (Chapters 19–31).

Part 7 deals with the important topic of maintaining your continuing professional development throughout your career (Chapter 32)

I hope to be able to highlight some of these different aspects of complementary and alternative approaches in future editions of Well-Being e-zine.

Robert Adams Author, Editor and Consultant

First published in Well-being 4.1. December 2009

This article is copyright Avenue Consulting Ltd. It may be reproduced in full provided that this copyrightnotice and information about its source (www.well-beingzone.com) are also reproduced. © 2009

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