Quality Standards For Healing

by Bob Parsons

Jesus didn't have a certificate of competence for healing! Neither did Jesus have a house, a mortgage, a nine to five job and all the trappings that we have come to expect as late twentieth century citizens of the Western world.

We live in an age of quality standards and are frequently faced with the need to prove our ability or competence.

In most jobs you need to have a recognised qualification that indicates you are likely to be able to do the job efficiently and safely. If someone comes to your home to service the boiler, mend the washing machine or provide nursing for granny, you want to be confident that they know what they are doing and that they will have an acceptable code of conduct.

When you go to see your doctor you know that you can talk confidentially. You know that your doctor has a very strict and detailed code of conduct that must be followed at all times.

There are many existing ways that healers can obtain recognition but, in my opinion, the Competence Based Qualification (CBQ) offers something rather special. Based on the well established system of National Vocational Qualifications, the CBQ is neither a course nor a test but a means that healers can prove their competence whilst also identifying any possible gaps in their knowledge.

Those of us who use a motor vehicle will have passed a competence based

qualification when we drove around for half an hour with a driving examiner beside us, but the CBQ will be a lot less nerve wracking than any driving test!

The first question most people ask is 'who needs it?' There are several groups who would benefit by achieving the CBQ. Firstly, lets think about an established healer who is a long term healing member of a county healing society and has often provided healing at a local hospital. This person quite clearly could continue to heal without further qualification but may find it difficult to be accepted as a healer if they went to another area. I would recom mend this healer to work towards the award because they would clearly already have most of the evidence needed to prove their competence. This form of evidence is known as Accredited Prior Learning.

An established healer who has hitherto remained independent but carried out healing independently for many years, would be advised to seek this qualification. I know of a number of competent practising healers who do not want to go though the probationary period in-posed by many healing organisations because they see it as a retrograde step. The CBQ would allow them to prove their competence in a more appropriate way.

Newcomers to the healing movement are often impatient and want to do everything at once. To complete the CBQ they must prove that they have a full understanding of the subject, have sufficient knowledge and are ready to be let loose on the public.

Because this is not a test there is less pressure on the healer candidate. Assessment can take place over a period of time and at a pace that suites the candidate. Evidence of knowledge and competence is assembled by the candidate and can take various forms. Guidance is available to help the candidate put together a portfolio of evidence which must be authentic, current and sufficient to cover the range specified.

The assessor matches the portfolio of evidence against nationally agreed standards which are clear definitions of the things a healer needs to know and do in order to be a competent healer.

Richard Booth of the College of Healing has kindly provided much of the background information for this article Richard has a strong NVQ background, in addition to his Healing knowledge, and has played a leading role in setting the standards for the CBQ in Healing.

These standards are set out as units covering such topics as: Provide & Evaluate Contact Healing, Provide & Evaluate Distant Healing and Initiate & Maintain Personal Development. Don't be put off by the formal language, it refers to everyday actions that you probably do without even thinking about them.

These standards were set by the Confederation of Healing Organisations, a grouping together of some fifty established healing organisations who are each independent but have agreed to co-operate for the good of the cause.

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