A simple trawl through the net's search engines will show you just how many courses there are to choose from, but how do you which ones are good and which ones aren't, because some are just a waste of your money and others inappropriate for your particular needs.
Courses come in five main formats
On line training and distance learning courses
My best advice is stay away from these if they are trying to convince you that you can master these fields by distance learning of any kind. You need hands on tuition, otherwise you could practice by just reading a book- the books in this field are often great, but not that good!
These courses can range from an in depth introduction that teaches you some skills you can take away, to a useful introduction to field, to just someone's sales evening.
Find out first what you need from an introductory course
ask these questions.
What techniques will I be trained in during the course?
Will I be able ready to practice after the course (see our other articles for guidance on this!)?
How many people are attending?
What is your goal for the course participants?
These questions will make it clear what kind of course and organisation you are dealing with.
This is where the problems can really begin
You might think a Certified Practitioner courses would prepare you adequately to be a practitioner and be ready to see clients when you graduate from the course.
Unfortunately this is so often not true. Many Certified Practitioner courses are excellent introductions to the field, but are simply not sufficient to make you knowledgeable enough, or in some cases safe or competent to be practitioner.
I'd advise asking these questions;
What's the student /tutor ratio?
Is there clinical tuition during the course with real clients, who are not course participants?
What will I be able to work with clients competently on graduation?
What are the graduation criteria?
Are there formal exams? (Nobody likes exams, but many of courses give a certificate of graduation just for attending, this is clearly a bad thing for the profession and public.)
How long is it and over what time scale?( if it takes a plumber longer than a weekend to train to be a plumber, and the course is just a one weekend long, then I’d recommend looking elsewhere)
If the answers suggest a rapid course which seems too good to be true then it probably is.
These courses can be excellent as introductions, but don't be fooled by the Certified Practitioner label into thinking you've got a bargain and will be fully trained when you leave the course.
These courses are not for everyone. As they are actually preparing you to be a professional and competent practitioner, they take longer, are more in depth and as a result often cost a bit more- however there really is no substitute for immersing yourself in an appropriate training course if you wish to be really effective as a practitioner.
I'd advise asking similar questions to the above;
What's the student /tutor ratio? ( it needs to be about 2-4 to 1)
Is there clinical tuition during the course with real, clients, who are not course participants? (the answer must be yes)
Will I be able to work with competently on graduation?(the answer must be yes)
What are the graduation criteria?(it should include some external assessment of clinical competence, i.e being examined whilst seeing a client)
Are there formal exams? (the answer must be yes. Nobody likes exams, but many of courses give a certificate of graduation just for attending, this is clearly a bad thing for the profession and public.)