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.