SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A SHAMANIC PRACTITIONER
As a college, our courses are primarily for personal exploration and, for a number of reasons, we are not in the business of “certifying” people as shamanic practitioners, and we do not maintain a professional register. Sometimes though, people who study with us do want to offer their services to others on a fee-paying, “professional” basis, and so we offer guidance on the issues involved in doing this. This guidance is twofold.
UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS INVOLVED
We provide a detailed list of the competencies that we consider essential in being able to work in a safe, effective and ethical way. This includes all the shamanic skills and knowledge that are needed, the necessary interpersonal and psychological skills, and the professional skills (such as awareness of mental health issues, record keeping, taking fees, confidentiality issues, etc), and a code of ethics. For those who want to work towards offering their services on a professional basis, this list provides a framework in terms of which courses to do in order to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge (in addition, the list can serve as a useful guide for anyone looking to find a shamanic practitioner to work with, in terms of knowing what to look for and what to avoid).
SHAMANIC PROFESSIONAL MODULE
Because our main courses do not cover things like professional issues, we offer a short additional module that covers these. This module is offered when-and-if there are enough students to run it (and is on hold at the moment, whilst we concentrate on moving all our other courses online). On successful completion of this module, participants are provided with a certificate of attendance and will be free, should they wish, to apply to join an independent register of practitioners (such as Indie Shamanism, for example).
If you are interested in the shamanic professional module, please read and careful think about the following:
Working as a professional therapeutic shamanic practitioner is not something that can be undertaken lightly. Done well and with any degree of integrity, it is a way of being and not just a professional service. It involves having spent considerable time and effort in having worked on your own healing (not just spiritually, but psychologically too) and a commitment to ethical standards. It requires having a long, deep, and committed relationship with your shamanic Guides.
These days though, the unfortunate truth is there are many people offering their services as shamanic practitioner who fall far short of that. As a college, we do not want to contribute to this, by enabling people setting up as practitioners when they are not ready. Because of this, we are upfront about the skills and knowledge we feel being a competent shamanic professional entails, and the time it takes to acquire that.
APPLY TO TRAIN AS A SHAMANIC PRACTITIONER
If you are interested in studying to be a professional therapeutic shamanic practitioner, then by all means, let us know. Bear in mind though, that:-
(a) we are careful and selective about whom we offer the practitioner module to and
(b) the bulk of your training will be doing sufficient courses with us to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge and this takes time.
There are no shortcuts to this. It takes years, and the best practitioners are those who understand this and take the time needed. From experience, students who are in a hurry to be professional practitioners always fall by the wayside. So if you are in a hurry, you need to look elsewhere. Because big trees grow slowly.
Online Shamanic Training
First Steps
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