Knowing how to properly work the neck and cervical region is a priority for any therapist. It’s one of the most common complaints seen in clinical practice. Learn to work on the neck, face and skull using manual therapy. Develop confidence in your perception and assessment of the structures and use effective tissue techniques to treat neck pain. This is a practical class with hands-on work.

This course is designed to develop students’ professional writing skills as related to natural health professions and explores topics such as personal biographies, academic writing, and writing for various forms of online and print media. Students discover the importance of audience-centered, clear and concise writing. The layout of the course is interactive and dynamic and encourages critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The course helps students build confidence in their natural writing tone and style, and enables them to feel embodied in their written expression.

One of the fundamental aspects of being a skillful and successful practitioner is the art of patient care and communication. How we communicate and connect with our patients is an important aspect of patient care and health outcomes – as much as proper diagnosis or point selection. Understanding how to talk to our patients about TCM, how to gain their trust, create safety, and consent, these are all essential skills that are required for our practice. This course aims to equip students with the fundamental skills necessary for patient care. The content is designed to provide hands-on, practical knowledge, that will be invaluable in clinical practice. We will examine and practice how to talk about TCM in a simple and easeful manner, how to gather useful intake information while also being yourself, how to practice with a trauma informed approach (do no harm), and how to create safety and comfort so that your patients can get the most from their treatments.

Some exercises in this course involve physical touch. Participation is always based on informed consent; all touch is optional and consent must be clear and ongoing.

Class description:

Transform your wisdom into a wellness book that heals, inspires, and empowers. This course blends creativity with strategy, guiding you through intuitive content creation, mindful publishing, and authentic audience connection. Explore the role of AI in writing, develop a soulful brand voice, and craft a book that reflects your vision. Embark on this holistic journey to share your knowledge and elevate your career.

Course objectives:

• Master the essentials of book development, including content creation, audience targeting, manuscript preparation
• Understanding principles of wellness book conceptualization, targeting specific audiences and aligning content with niche standards
• Understanding the role of AI in book writing
• Gain practical knowledge of the publishing process, including editing, manuscript preparation and working with publishers.
• Explore strategies for book marketing, distribution channels and creating a unique brand voice
• Develop a comprehensive wellness book outline with a concept, theme and marketing plan

Class description:

Turn your love for food into a cookbook that inspires and connects. This holistic course guides you through recipe development, testing, and food styling while helping you craft a meaningful culinary narrative. Understand the role of AI in book writing, navigate the publishing process, and develop a strong author voice. By the end, you’ll have a polished cookbook concept, sample recipes, and a marketing plan to bring your vision to life.

Course Objectives:

• Master the essentials of recipe development, recipe testing and food styling.
• Understand how to develop a unique cookbook concept and align content with a targeted audience.
• Gain practical knowledge of the publishing process, including editing, manuscript preparation, and working with publishers.
• Understand the role if AI in book writing
• Explore the strategies for cookbook marketing and creating a unique author voice.
• Develop a comprehensive cookbook proposal including the outline, sample recipes and a marketing plan.

This course teaches the practice of self-care for practitioners. Content includes meditation, breath work, energetics, therapeutic movement, and yoga practices to care for all layers. These techniques and practices serve well during both healthcare studies and professional practice, and can provide value to clients.

Topics covered in this course include increasing body awareness, repetitive stress injuries and how to prevent them, proprioception, dissociation, connecting energetically with clients, avoiding enmeshment and transference, and basic anatomy. Student learn exercises for the practice for each topic.

This course explores how a deeper understanding of social equity can inform and be applied in your practice as a holistic healthcare provider. Topics include an exploration of how structures of power and privilege function in our society and within ourselves, and how these can result in intersectional oppressions and experiences that are as unique as each individual. The course will include frameworks for understanding these complex processes, as well as personal strategies for building awareness, resilience, and strategies for broader social change. Sub-topics will include trauma-informed practice, Indigenous frameworks and history, and inclusivity of gender and sexual diversity. Each are explored in service of building a broader understanding of the ways we can bring a social equity approach into all therapeutic interactions. Foundational approaches are introduced and explored with the aim of providing long-lasting tools for holistic healthcare practitioners to apply both in their practices and in their own lives.

In this course, a particular North American Indigenous lineage is studied over the course of 5 weeks. The lineage is centered on the 7 Teachings (Truth, Honesty, Courage, Bravery, Respect, Humility, and Wisdom); however, before diving into those concepts a foundation will be built over the first 3 weeks. The foundation consists of defining key terms, the Medicine Wheel, the Four Control Dramas, ceremony and the history of language. Two guest speakers are featured in weeks 4 and 5, after the groundwork has been laid. Taking part in this course offers students new ways to see the world in their personal and professional lives, such as by developing a greater understanding of who they are, how they show up in the world and why they may engage the way they do.

This course develops students’ ability to prepare and present speeches in various venues to small and large audiences. Students are introduced to the importance of developing an engaging speech, overcoming fears of public speaking, maintaining a flow of thought, and practicing delivery of speech.

This course provides students with basic principles and techniques of good patient communication and rapport-building. Topics include connecting with patients, identifying differing sources of motivation in the therapeutic context, working with shock, trauma, and difficult circumstances, sensitivity to varying viewpoints and cultural backgrounds, patient/practitioner roles and more. This course is designed to be relevant to any healing practitioner, regardless of their modality and helps to ensure effective interprofessional communication with other health care providers.

This course covers the social, genetic, and biochemical factors associated with gender transition, with some discussion of more broad LGBT related topics. An emphasis is placed on best professional practices, and the specific factors contributing to an inclusive and welcoming therapeutic environment. Topics covered include the hormonal controls of growth and development in utero, hormone actions and interactions in the body, the genetics of gender, and the mechanisms of action for the most common drugs and herbs associated with transgender patients available in both Canada and the US. Socially, the cultural challenges and impacts on patients are discussed, along with common concerns, which are connected to best practices in a therapeutic setting. The intersectional and self-reinforcing natures of discrimination are addressed, especially in relation to other LGBT-focused topics. The course is structured to be highly participatory, with students given the opportunity to examine specific questions that may arise both privately and as a class.

This course covers the holistic nutrition industry in Canada, exploring the origins of this unregulated industry and the importance of working within a scope of practice. Further, it seeks to facilitate students in gaining an appreciation of general ethical principles in healthcare, together with reflection on specific ethical and regulatory issues they may face in practice. Attention is paid to understanding professional organizations, ethics and leading with integrity.

This course covers medical ethics and legal considerations with regard to clients’ rights and privileges, patient care and privacy considerations.

This course provides students with information necessary to utilize their education and qualifications in a professional capacity. Students learn about business planning and development, marketing strategies, systems for business set-up and record keeping/financials. Each student should understand that businesses are dynamic. Skills such as creativity, resourcefulness and critical thinking are vital to succeeding in the business arena where change is constant and decisions are based on variable factors. The primary project for this course is completing a formal Business Plan.

This course covers medical ethics and legal considerations with regard to clients’ rights and privileges, patient care and privacy considerations.

This course develops students’ “research-mindedness” – enhancing their ability to access and critique research. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of research to CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) professions. An appreciation of the current practice and standards of mainstream medical research is contrasted with viewpoints designed to inspire and empower a profound reflection on the nature and possibilities of research as considered from a holistic perspective. A combination of lectures, discussions and projects aims to support students in creating a significant and potentially publishable piece of research addressing an area of their own special interest.

This course prepares students to transition into professional herbal practice by gaining practical professional skills. Skills for appropriate patient file keeping and dispensing records are covered, including necessities for shared dispensary environments and outsourced dispensing. Sourcing and ordering of herbs is discussed, including customs regulations, as well as well as requirements for maintaining cultivated and wildcrafted apothecaries. Inventory management skills are covered, including basic use of spreadsheets and batch tracking. Basic financial considerations are covered to complement skills gained in business studies. In addition, self-care and goal setting is taught and practiced. Students gain practical skills and confidence to start and maintain a basic dispensary and clinical practice. There are no prerequisites for this course, but it is recommended to be taken in the final year of study.

This course explores the essentials of running a safe and successful acupuncture practice. Topics include mitigating risks to patients, colleagues and staff, ensuring that all equipment is safe and functional, and the exploration of practitioner self-care.

This course builds on material covered in PD306 Acupuncture Professional Practice with the addition of professional practice topics essential to safely and effectively running a herbal dispensary and prescribing TCM herbs.