First batch of holistic therapists graduate

First batch of holistic therapists graduate

03-September-2015

The tourism industry has been crying out for well-trained holistic therapists to meet the demand as the industry continues to expand and the responsibility to create these professionals has hitherto been left to the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) at La Misère.

At the STA potential holistic therapists undergo their training which provides a good supply of these professionals to the hotels and spas in Seychelles, but now a number of new private spas are opening up and the demand has become more acute. The shortage has meant the employment of therapists from Thailand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka where such a profession is regarded as respectable on the par to nursing.

The Academy of High Performance Ltd and Transport-therapies (Sey) Ltd have combined their knowhow and experience to create new holistic therapists and a first batch of eight professional holistic therapists graduated recently at the end of an intense full-time course. They are Sephora Souffe, Nathaniel Boniface, Erica Michelle Dorby, Hillary Germain, Shana Figaro, Chiana Bertin, Julie Julius and Anastasie Henriette.

The course was specially designed to bring out the best of their talents and at first the students thought it would be easy but they soon realised that there is a great deal of knowledge and training required before they are let loose on clients to deliver holistic treatments.

The course included the study of all 11 human body systems in Anatomy and Physiology and Swedish body massage. Then they had to study how to blend and use Aroma therapy essential oils not forgetting customer care and ethics and how to read body language before they could call themselves professional holistic therapists.

This shows we have in Seychelles the talents we need to support our tourism industry provided we make available the training facilities necessary to produce these specialists.

The students came from different backgrounds which included nursing, office management, returning mothers but they all have one thing in common and that is to undergo the transformation from being an average person to someone who can now deliver one branch of health treatment and do it professionally and with dedication.

They report that they have undergone a change of mindset and now they see life differently and they understand why some people behave the way they do and they are able to cope better with their own personal life.

Let us congratulate them for completing the course and graduating as a holistic therapist, such training and accomplishment has brought them self-satisfaction, recognition and a higher level of self-esteem.

Shortly we will have a pool of Seychellois holistic therapists ready to work in the top hotels and spas in Seychelles because the Academy of High Performance Ltd and Transport-therapies (Sey) Ltd will soon be running other courses.

“We are becoming a smart nation and our new generation is asking that we elevate our standard to international standards,” said Barry Laine.



Medical Tourism



Many tourists go to Thailand and Goa on medical tourism but now Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange and Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) are creating medical tourism in Seychelles and Transform-therapies in association with Le Relax Hotel Group will be offering medical holistic treatments as part of this new branch of tourism to be created in Seychelles. This makes it even more urgent for us to “grow” our own Seychellois professional holistic therapists to take up these new jobs being created. We have the potential to make this brand of tourism a big success in Seychelles especially with the new medical hospitals soon to be established.

“There is still a great deal of work to be done to propel Seychellois in top jobs in Seychelles not only in tourism but also in international companies like Cable & Wireless, Barclays Bank, Airtel and others which still bring expatriates to be the chief executives of these companies.

“I take my hat off to Minister Alain St Ange and Flavien Joubert, the head of STA, for their relentless efforts, dedication and their drive to create a path to the top for Seychellois in the tourism industry. It is just a matter of time and identifying Seychellois professionals who have the determination to rise above the rest and be the best,” said Mr Laine.

The Academy of High Performance Ltd was founded in 2007 by Barry Laine and the academy is licensed by the Ministry of Education as a tertiary college. Visit www.academyofhighperformance.sc for a list of courses on offer.

Transform-therapies (Sey) Ltd is a wellness clinic located at the Wishing Well in Anse Des Genets and provides health treatments using Holistic Hypnotherapy and Holistic Aroma Therapy to treat ailments and disorders. Transform-therapies started in the UK in 2000 and moved to Seychelles in 2006. The clinic is licensed by the Seychelles Licensing Authority.



Contributed by Barry Laine

Principal of the Academy of High Performance Ltd and Transport-therapies (Sey) Ltd

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=246646