State of the Industry in Holistic Health

State of the Industry in Holistic Health

The spa industry trend to incorporate body, mind, spirit and wellness into traditional services is being market-driven by consumers' growing interest in care for the whole self.  The health care industry also is experiencing a trend to incorporate holistic wellness into a traditional disease-oriented model of care.  These trends are offering greater potential for the spa and health care industries to merge.

In his book Spontaneous Healing (Mass MarketPaperback, 2000), Andrew Weil, MD. wrote that the hospital of the future would be more like a healing spa, European spas have integrated a philosophy of healing treatments with wellness and skin care for hundreds of years, and many European countries provide health insurance coverage for spa services. Now, there is an increasing number of new destination and healing retreat spas in the Western world that include an array of holistic healing and diagnostic services as part of wellness assessment screening.  It is not uncommon fora physician and other medical professionals to be involved in these healing retreat centers.  There also is the growing potential for competition between both industries.  Plastic surgeons often hire estheticians to do pre- and post-surgical skin care treatments and regularly promote product lines and services that also are offered in spa settings.

Service Options

The options for providing an array of services within aholistic spa setting are many.  The traditional services of massage,facials and body treatments can be enhanced with practitioners trained in energyhealing.  Offering tai chi, yoga and meditation classes can furtherincrease offerings for whole self-care, Stress management, weight management,nutrition and exercise programs provide physical care services.  hands-onhealing, including therapeutic touch or Reiki, also can be offered for bothemotional and spiritual care.  Emotional release work and group sessionsfor spiritual growth also can represent holistic health on your spa menu. Advanced practitioner training, however, is the key to offering high-qualityservices, classes and programs.

Education

Holistic health implies a philosophy of care for the wholeself--body, mind, spirit and emotions.  As the owner of a holistic healthspa, my 30-year background in nursing and psychology provided both theeducational and clinical experience to design a center with an integrated arrayof services that include these four aspects of whole self care.  I believethe spa industry needs to offer more education at both the undergraduate andgraduate level to incorporate both the philosophy of holistic health and thehands-on training that provides practitioners with the skills to care forthemselves and their clients using a holistic approach.  In hiringestheticians and massage therapists trained in traditional schools, I find thatoften they can enter the job market without the professional attitude ofunderstanding the need for continuing education to advance their careers.

Practitioner Training

The solution to providing what is lacking in educationwithin the industry is to develop practitioner orientation and trainingprograms.  The major focus for education in the spa industry is onequipment and product training, and the business aspects of running a spa. There are very few product companies or training programs within the industrythat teach professionals in the field the skills to provide high-qualityservices as a holistic practitioner.

When whole self-care or holistic health is the focus for aday spa or destination spa, the entire team must understand what is involved inpromoting a healthy lifestyle of caring for a client's physical, emotional,mental and spiritual needs.  The practitioner-training program at VESTACenter is a four-semester program that was designed for team members to learnhow to become holistic healing practitioners.  It begins with a six-weekholistic health program that is mandatory for all team members and optional forclients.  The program was opened to the public two years ago and has drawnparticipation from both health care and spa industry backgrounds.

The primary focus of the program is based on the conceptthat individuals must take responsibility for their self-care, health andwholeness.   You can help clients improve and maintain their health byoffering a variety of services an classes, but it is their responsibility tochoose a level of participation.

There is a variety of holistic health training programsthroughout the United States.  Many are four-year college programs that donot specifically prepare a student to work in any particular field.  Ibelieve the spa industry has and obligation to provide industry-specifictraining to meet the needs of the growing demands for holistic health spaservices.  There are companies and training institutes that offerholistically oriented classes, including stone therapy, manual and lymphaticdrainage, Oriental medicine and ayurvedic healing philosophy classes, butunfortunately, issuing credentials and certifying programs to the health spaindustry have not yet been established.

Facing challenges

Taking responsibility for making healthy choices andliving a belief system that includes caring for ourselves and others on a dailybasis are personal requirements for spa owners and practitioners who provideholistic spa services.  There are many challenges ahead for the spaindustry to develop high-quality training programs and products that arechemically safe for clients, practitioner use and the environment.  Takingresponsibility as an industry to put values into action that promote health andwellness requires caring about others.  A focus on total wellness can setthe spa industry apart from other industries whose primary emphasis often is oncommercialism and the bottom line.