BACH Flower Remedies
The IRCH Bach Flower Remedies course has been developed as a CPD course to complement other therapies including Western Herbal Medicine. It can also be taken by non-therapists who wish to practice in this field of complementary health.
There are two levels to the course. The Practitioner Diploma level enables the student to achieve a diploma that is recognised for insurance purposes. The Lay Certificate level offers the student the opportunity to learn about the remedies, how to use them for themselves without intention to practice.
COURSE INTRODUCTION
There is no doubt that each generation carries its own specific problems and crises and throughout man’s existence we have been looking at various ways to alleviate our suffering and support ourselves through difficult times.
The creator of the Flower Essences, Dr Edward Bach, saw many huge changes and developments during his own short lifetime, including The Great War. Having started his medical career in a very conventional manner, Dr Bach quickly and readily identified and acknowledged the mental and emotional suffering of his patients and how this could lead to suffering equally on the physical plane. Rather unusually, Dr Bach became able to categorise the temperament and characteristics of his patients into discrete groups, simply by analysing their stool samples.
In the UK, the medical profession at that time was, for the most part, already rejecting the ideas of homeopathic medicine and although he was never a homeopath himself, Dr Bach had been working on the identification and creation of seven homeopathic bowel nosodes. Clearly during this time, Bach gained insight into how the treatment of physical symptoms alone would never “cure” his patients, only reduce or temporarily remove the physical expression of the disease.
Without a doubt, Dr Bach took a huge leap of faith into unknown territory when giving up his practice to research and study the flower remedies. Whilst he retained some sympathetic support among his colleagues, he was also, however, widely derided at the time for his new system of healing the emotions by the use of `simple herbs’.
This system of medicine has retained its position within complimentary medicine today, some 80 years later and of course has since spawned many new versions of flower essences, although still none are as well-known as the Bach Flower Essences.
Today’s generation certain has its own challenges, however people are far more likely to acknowledge the need for mental and emotional support. We are nevertheless a long way off from integrating these needs into a holistic programme of treatment for patients. As complimentary therapists however, we are able to utilise these tools that have been given to us.
This course has been designed to give structure for the use of the essences and the objective is to provide a practical and systematic approach which will provide the student with a comprehensive understanding of the remedy system. Whilst the philosophy and theories of Dr Bach are covered in the lesson text, the approach of the course is not intended to be an academic exercise, but to encourage the student to practice and develop their knowledge of the remedies by actively participating in the projects.
No knowledge of Anatomy & Physiology is required for this course and the remedies are subtle and gentle in their action. This is therefore an opportunity for all participants to integrate the remedies into their own lives and into any other healing systems.
It is hoped that the course will be engaging and inspiring to the student to utilise the remedies to help us all become a little stronger in the broken places.
OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE
Each lesson has a number of assignments to be completed and marked by their tutor. In addition, students keep a journal of their own experiences in the use of flower remedies. To qualify as a practitioner, students must take supervised live cases. There are written assignments for each lesson. It is anticipated that students will return a lesson every 4-6 weeks. In addition, there are group meetings via zoom for students with their tutor to support the learning process.
Lesson 1
o Dr Edward Bach
o What are the Bach Flower Remedies and where is their place in the healing canon
o Organisation of the Remedies
o Treating Yourself
o The Twelve Healers – Type Remedies
Lesson 2
o The Seven Helpers – Chronic Remedies
o Free Thyself – What is freedom?
o Strategies: The 12-7-19 method
o Peeling the onion – treat what you see
o Combination remedies
Lesson 3
o The Second Nineteen Remedies – Acute Supporting Remedies
o Healing Others
o Interviewing/Listening – consultation
o How to choose the remedies
o How Many Essences?
o Case Example
o Openers
o If the selected Remedy(ies) do not appear to work
o Code of Practice: Ethics/Standards/Health & Safety/Safeguarding/Data Protection (GDPR)
Lesson 4
o The Second Nineteen Remedies continued
o Afferent and efferent personalities
o Bach Flower Remedies and Mental/Emotional conditions
Lesson 5
o The Second Nineteen Remedies continued
o How the Remedies are made
o Treating children/animals/plants
o Remedy combinations/pairings
Lesson 6
o The Second Nineteen Remedies continued
o Emergencies and acutes
o Other ways of finding the remedies
o Other ways of using the remedies
o Rescue Remedy
o Making your own tailor-made Rescue Remedy
Case Histories
If the student wishes to practice in Bach Flower Remedies, then it is important to assess this through the taking of live cases. Three case histories should be taken from amongst family and friends. A flower remedy prescription should be formulated and provided with instructions. After three-four weeks a follow-up consultation should be taken to identify progress and continued course of treatment.
Each case should be clearly written up (anonymised) at each stage, including the prescription with a justification for each choice of remedy and the outcome following the second consultation. The tutor will guide you through the process. Following successful completion of the cases the student can qualify as a practitioner.
Application
If you would like to study this course, please contact the IRCH Director of Studies for more information. Applications should be returned to the Director of Studies via email.
irch.education@gmail.com
Course fees (2022; subject to change)
Practitioner £600
Lay £450 (this can be upgraded to practitioner at any time on payment of £150 + case studies)