Aromatherapy Courses Frequently Asked Questions

The Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy Correspondence Course Frequently Asked Questions

The Certificate, what does it really mean?: There is no state licensing (such as there is for instance for nutritionists or acupuncturists) in any of the 50 states of the US. As a consequence, the PIA certificate is not one that constitutes a license, but it is simply a certificate of knowledge. We may, however, add that within the aromatherapy community the PIA certificate is highly respected and has helped many graduates with their job applications and similar circumstances. Also on the active side is the fact that there have been close to 10,000 graduates and alumni of the PIA course, who have an understanding of the basic concepts of scientific French style aromatherapy, and that the certificate is an assurance that a common language is used with respect to the phenomena of scientific aromatherapy.

I am certified, now what can I do?: As has been pointed out above, there is no state licensing for aromatherapy in any of the 50 states. This means everyone can put up a sign and call themselves an ‘aromatherapist.’ The field is not regulated. The most important legal concerns to watch or conflicts to avoid are those of practicing medicine and making drug claims. In other words, aromatherapy can be practiced as long as one does not practice medicine without a license and does not make drug claims, which have not been approved. Clearly, there is a lot of grey area where those in the field of alternative medicine get creative with their language to communicate their ideas, but stay shy of arousing official scrutiny by claims that are too blatant.

Why is PIA not a member of NAHA?: The PIA Correspondence Course has been offered since 1985 and is probably the one piece of educational aromatherapy literature that has strongly influenced many who followed after us. Many who now offer aromatherapy education of their own or have written books on the subject have taken the aromatherapy course or even started their career in aromatherapy with the PIA Correspondence Course. Including all the certification seminars that were presented over the years by PIA the number of alumni is around 10,000. PIA has not associated itself with the various organizations representing British Aromatherapy in order to maintain its academic independence and not to compromise its seniority in the field, as the PIA course, in fact, predates NAHA. In other words, we do trust that our courses have sufficient status on their own. Through not being a member, PIA also maintains its independence from the commercial networks often associated with these certifying bodies. While having a very appreciative and respectful position towards NAHA, we are not a member of this organization for the same reasons.

How long does it take?

Typically students of this course will finish it within six to eight weeks, even though we encounter much faster and much slower as well. We do not think specifying a specific number of hours is very helpful, as it suggests a limitation of academic depth, however, a rough guess would be 200 hours.

What is the main thrust of the PIA correspondence course? The PIA correspondence course focuses on an academically precise representation of essential oils and their properties for many different applications as they might be of value to professionals and lay individuals alike. The PIA correspondence course embraces scientific French style aromatherapy and explores the therapeutic and medicinal properties of essential oils as a tool for self-medication or to help friends and family. Different from British style aromatherapy it does not set rules or guidelines for practicing aromatherapy in a therapist-client setting.

The Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy Correspondence Course Frequently Asked Questions

PRODUCTS

YOUR ACCOUNT