Training - Holistic body

Course formats & Admission Criteria

The Holistic Body course is available in the following course formats.

  • Class based study - consisting of one teaching weekend per month over a six-month period supplemented by home study through extensive course notes and recommended reading. The class based course is held in Reading and starts in January each year.
  • Home study course – the full course is also available in a home study format with extra support available through tutorials
  • Modular – students with a good background in anatomy, physiology and pathology who do not quite meet the requirements of the Holistic Body syllabus can supplement their knowledge by attending the module(s) they need at the weekend seminars of the Reading course, through the home study course or through tutorials with the course tutor.

People who are drawn to the study of Craniosacral Therapy have a wide spectrum of experience with regard to their core training in anatomy, physiology and pathology. In order to ensure that all students have a good understanding of the core material that constitutes the Holistic Body syllabus, the Institute uses the following "traffic light" system.

Red

Red is for students with very little or no background in anatomy, physiology and pathology but who want to take the main Craniosacral Therapy training.

Requirements – attendance on the class based course is essential.

Amber

Amber is for students who have some background in anatomy, physiology and pathology (e.g. ITEC) but have not fully covered all areas of the Holistic Body syllabus

Requirements – these students need to bring their level of understanding up to that of the Holistic Body syllabus. This can be done in one of two ways:

1) By completing the whole training at the class based course or by completing the correspondence course.

2) By attending only the module(s) required in order to meet the admissions criteria. This can be done either by attendance at the relevant weekend seminar(s), by completing the specific part(s) of the home study course or by tutorials with the course tutor.

Green

Green is for students who already have a significant background in anatomy, physiology and pathology as part of a previous training.

Requirements – these students do not need to take the Holistic Body course.

Disclaimer – the Institute of Craniosacral Studies reserves the right to ask any student who feels that they do not need to undertake any further training in this area to pass the Holistic Body exam as a pre-requisite for graduation from the Craniosacral Therapy training.

Please contact the Institute if you require any further information with regard to these criteria

Notes, Home Study and Assessment

Notes and Home study

Home study is a major part of the holistic body course, and consists of detailed course notes plus guided reading from the course textbooks. For those students taking the class based course, the home study is intended to supplement the material presented at each weekend. Students who are taking either the home study or modular course are encouraged to have one or more tutorials with the course tutor in order to support their learning and to iron out any particular issues that may arise.

Assessment

Assessment for the holistic body course carried out in two ways – by short tests on the material presented at each weekend, and by the final exam. At the beginning of each weekend, students will be given a short test in order to examine their understanding of the material presented at the previous weekend. The marks from these tests will go towards their final mark.

Students sitting the home study course will also be required to sit these tests. Once a student feels they have completed one weekend’s worth of notes and guided reading, they may contact the course tutor to arrange to take the written test for that weekend. Once they have completed the test, they will then be sent the notes for the next weekend's material.

Students taking the modular course will only be tested on the material that they have learnt and will not be required to take the final exam.

The final exam is a two-hour written paper that covers all the material from the course. Successful students will receive a graduation certificate and will then be eligible to join the full Craniosacral Therapy training.