TRAINING
Soul Therapy - Holistic Beauty

A new wave of development is about to change the skin care and beauty therapy industry as we know it. The momentum for change has been building for some time. Many spa clients have been moving away into New Age offerings, finding them more fulfilling. Some clients are giving up with the never ending and expanding “product range promises”. There are many reasons for client loss and discontent, but one thing rings true - they want something more – they want something different.

The truth is most clients don’t know what they want. They do know they want to feel better. A large proportion of clients believe that the more beautiful they look, the better they will feel. The cosmetic industry has invested in this belief. But they’re selling temporary relief from a much bigger and underlying concern that affects many women – that many women’s’ perception of value is attached to their beauty, and that the judge of their value lies with someone else.

We’ve all heard of the term Body Mind Soul and can see that they move from the external illusion to the reality of who we really are at a deeper level. Body products are applied superficially or added to the physical – from Botox to augmentation. Mind products or therapies are applied to beliefs, judgements, negative and limiting thinking. Soul therapies deal with emotions, stress, depression and the expression of feelings.

Many clients book a treatment because they want to feel better. They want to feel “more” better at the end of the treatment than they felt at the beginning. If they feel better after the treatment they will more likely book another. Simple business sense!

But no matter how one slices this picture we’re in the business of feelings and beliefs. The client believes the product or treatment will make her feel better. And the unspoken truth in the industry is that it’s not the product or treatment that counts but how the entire experience is felt – the package. It’s all about the feeling.

Because of the well established belief that “something’s missing in my life and if only I can find it then I’ll be happy”, many individuals are searching. We are all different: some look for it in more cars, children, money, status, house, muscle, power, and some look for it in more beauty. A fair proportion of these individual will be knocking on the spa’s door.

If one is to act with integrity one needs to accept that though the product is supportive and has value, and some “natural” products are better than others, it is superficial and temporary. The greatest service we can offer clients is often intangible and has little to do with the literal package.

The inter-action between the therapist and client is crucial in measuring these intangible services – “I don’t know what she did but I feel so much better.” There are inter-personal and intra-personal skills that leading therapists have that make the difference.  Unfortunately, most spa therapists are unable to truly “hold” a client.

For some therapists it would be an unreasonable expectation – they have so much of their own stuff to deal with it’s just about impossible to be open, centred and connected with a client’s real needs. So the treatment is mechanical, superficial and unsatisfying. The therapist’s own emotional needs, struggles, expectations, disappointments, personal relationships and challenges clutter and compete with the client’s space – they are unable to feel into what the client is saying or conveying – so they miss the connection. The client doesn’t feel better – and then they get the bill. Not a good recipe for re-booking.

The next level of development in the health and beauty industry is not superficial; not even skin deep. It starting to deal with the real reason many clients come to a spa – to feel better. Here we are beginning to explore inner beauty, an ageless beauty hidden under the clutter of limiting beliefs – a Soul that’s smiling.

The skill development necessary to lift therapists to the next level is now available in South Africa. It’s the skill that makes the difference. It’s the missing piece many clients are searching for. The good news is the training is now available in Cape Town through Healing EARTH EDUCATIONAL Centre.

Our new understanding of how people listen, communicate, experience others and express their needs, consciously and unconsciously, completely changes the old model used for designing a client experience. Quite simply, you can only understand and relate to a client to the degree that you understand and relate to yourself. What we judge in our self we will judge in our client. What we avoid in our self we will impress on our client.

This mirrored and connected experience has profound implications. The client’s experience of a therapists’ work is linked to the therapists’ experience of the client and her internal dialogue – what she’s thinking and feeling - during the treatment. Any internal emotion or conflict will leak into the clients’ energetic experience of the treatment. The conditioned mind actively uses the clients’ experience to resolve its’ own repressed memories. Subtle, but pervasive.

The above holds true even in a purely functional treatment, where there is no apparent communication. Recent research breaks communication down into 3 primary areas with some surprising weightings:

1. Words – 7%
2. Tonality – 38%
3. Physiology – 55%

Though the concept and interpretation of body language has been around for a long time, recent developments have caused a major overhaul. Developing rapport with clients, pacing and leading, influencing behaviour and outcomes, and understanding the effect of our unspoken inner world are some of the evolving facets.

The training is not only for skin care and beauty therapists. It benefits all staff, supervisors, managers and owners who come into contact with clients. This includes lifestyle consultants, personal trainers, nail technicians, hairstylists and receptionists.

Though the Law of Attraction has been somewhat over sold the truth still remains – we attract experiences that resonate with our internal experience. So if you want to change the experience your spa is having right now – to the performance you dream of - then you need to look at how you and your team are responsible for creating the present situation.

The course subjects include:

1. Know your Self – Your “Story”
2. Beliefs and Reality
3. Emotional Intelligence
4. Consciousness and Experience
5. Perception and Projection
6. Rapport and Pacing
7. Listening and Basic Counselling Skills
8. Internal and External Dialogue Skills
9. Conscious Use of Language
10. Motivational Strategies
11. Questioning
12. Behaviour and Habits
13. Values and Quality Control
14. Professional Relationships
15. Centring Skills – preparing your space
16. Self Care versus Client Care