Becoming a BFRP

BFRPs normally need to re-register every year. There is a re-registration fee to pay. Practitioners who want to be listed for referrals also promise to keep a yearly record of relevant learning and development they have experienced, so that we know that they are actively engaged with improving their practice and deepening their knowledge of the system.

Many teachers and authors have developed their own approaches to the remedies. Some are based on concepts from other traditions, others on theories that Dr Bach removed from the completed system.

These approaches may be perfectly valid in their own terms, and the courses and books that present them may be excellent: but there is no guarantee they will emphasise self-help, simplicity and the consultation process.

Bach Centre-approved courses and the BFRPs who lead them aim to teach the simple methods that Dr Bach preferred. Students are going back to the source when they follow these courses, and we feel that is done most effectively if everyone starts from first principles. That’s why we ask everyone to start with Level 1.

No. The Code doesn’t mention brands and BFRPs are free to use whichever brand they want.

Yes. But as a BFRP you promise always to present Dr Bach’s as a separate system, and not mix Bach and other essences in the same bottle or explain them as if they were the same thing. BFRPs always present Bach as being a simple, complete set of 38 remedies ideal for self-help.

No. BFRPs can dowse and so on in other contexts, but when using the Bach system they promise to avoid any selection techniques that might confuse or complicate the simple consultation method used by Dr Bach.

Joining the Register means that you become a member of a world-wide community of people committed to Dr. Bach’s work and vision.

The contact information for active BFRPs – i.e. BFRPs who are open to more clients – can be found on Bach Centre website. You have access to your own account on the site so that you can update your contact information, add your photo to it, and list your other therapies, create a personal biography etc.

We regularly supply BFRP contact info to individual clients.

We offer BFRPs the use of our name and logo and our trade marked “BFRP” letters. This helps BFRPs to project professionalism and reassures the public that practitioners have been trained and are working under a Code of Practice.

There are online practice guidelines including help on giving a talk, working with children and animals… and we offer BFRPs our personal support with anything to do with Bach practice. We sometimes have local arrangements allowing BFRPs to get discounts on remedies and other kinds of support, and all BFRPs get a 10% discount on books, remedies and other items in the Bach Centre’s online shop. BFRPs have access to BFRP-only content, and are encouraged to do further study (and to teach) via the BC-ACE programme.

We have a BFRP-only online community where you can find support and insight from BFRPs all over the world, and teacher-training programmes that provide a way to get involved in teaching Bach Centre-approved Level 1 courses, and beyond.

Not least, the registration fee helps support the running of the Centre. The Centre’s main job is to promote and protect the original ideals of Dr Bach regarding the therapy, i.e. simplicity and self-help. Many BFRPs maintain their registration because they want to support those ideals.

Finally, active BFRPs in the UK have automatic membership of COREP, which gives them access to independent regulation via the GRCCT.

It depends very much on how much time you can give to your studying, and how much knowledge you have already. It is possible to complete everything inside 12 months; but sometimes taking more time is a better approach.

People who want to become BFRAPs (Bach Foundation Registered Animal Practitioners) have to complete the full three levels of “human-facing” training – i.e. Levels 1, 2 and 3 – and apply to become a BFRP first.

Once on the Register, BFRAP status will be granted at the Centre’s discretion to practitioners who can provide proof that they have additional high-level training in veterinary medicine and/or animal behaviour.

By “high-level” we mean university standard education or similar. The training must be academically rigorous (i.e. taught by properly qualified people with academic training in the subject). It must also be fairly recent to ensure the material learnt is up to date. And it must comprise at least 50 hours of supervised learning that covers at least three different species. It’s up to applicants to prove to us that the courses they have followed meets those conditions by sending relevant documentation showing the qualifications of their teachers and the status of the institutions attended.

There is though a course that we can suggest, available via distance learning, and taught in English:

• The Natural Animal Centre – Animal Course

The kinds of learning that will not count for this purpose include informal training and experience; unsupervised study (e.g. teach-yourself courses, general reading); general knowledge from e.g. living with animals or volunteering at a shelter; training in techniques that are not based on animal behaviour (e.g. animal communication, animal massage etc.).

We will also ask candidates to confirm that they don’t advocate or use any negative conditioning or punishment methods in their work with animals. This is in line with Dr Bach’s belief that cruelty should have no place in true healing.

Because the Bach system is simple and can do no harm, and because our primary role is to teach a self-help system, non-specialist BFRPs may help animals and their owners in a professional context as long as they refer on to more qualified people any cases that exceed their level of experience and knowledge.