Is it like going to the doctor’s? Will I have to use crystals and read tarot cards to understand what they are telling me?
Let’s learn things!
The Setting
This article assumes that you have sought an aromatherapist for help with one or more specific issues. This is different from those times when your massage therapist or yoga instructor diffuses some oils to enhance that one experience.
This appointment may happen in your home, at the home of your aromatherapy professional, or in an office or treatment room setting. These settings will vary greatly! As with any profession, the individuals who practice aromatherapy have a broad range of other interests and tastes. This is not a good indicator of their education or abilities. You can find highly educated and professional aromatherapists inside brightly-decorated yurts, and sales-based professionals wearing lab coats in crisp-looking offices. This is a good reason to call and ask questions ahead of time!
First Things First
You’ll have a conversation. This is the bones of the actual appointment. As you are talking about your problems, your aromatherapist is mentally narrowing down the plants that might function to support your goals. They will likely ask some questions about your scent preferences as well, in order to avoid what you dislike when possible.
Testing
Unless your aromatherapist is also a licensed medical professional, there will be no medical tests. However, there are some tests that can help determine which oils may help you. Here are two of the most common:
Sniff, Smell, or Scent Tests: These tests are usually best used to help transient issues, such as headache, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Your aromatherapy professional will offer several oils that might help. When you are experiencing your issue, you sniff the oils. You then make note of any oils that smell particularly good, or positive, and any that seem to make the issue worse, or smell particularly bad. Your aromatherapist can use this information to help determine sensitivities to specific compounds, or your receptiveness to others. This test may be used during your appointment as well, but is most effectively used when symptoms are present.
Muscle Tests: Your aromatherapist can test the impact of an oil on your body using your own strength. They’ll ask you to pinch, press, or push their hands or arms. They will then introduce a specific oil, and ask you to do it again. After a few minutes, a different oil may be introduced. Your brain’s response as shown in your precise abilities to make the requested movement can indicate the use of one oil over another.
Within the realm of aromatherapy, muscle testing is very different from Kinesiology, or muscle tests used to diagnose illness. Kinesiology is hotly debated and unproven. When used in aromatherapy, these tests are considered gentle indicators, not end results!
Recommendations
Your aromatherapist will make recommendations based on their knowledge of your needs. Most will offer to blend what you need; take them up on that offer. While you may be able to mix drops from suggested oils, blending is part of their training. They’ll know how best to balance the aroma in diffused blends, which oils will help mask less pleasant-smelling oils, and what substitutions will bring down the cost, as necessary. If you need a special blend, your aromatherapist may need additional time to blend it. This may mean that you return the next day to pick it up, or that it will be shipped to you directly.
You will also receive suggestions about how best to use your oils. This is especially important if you have weighed the risk, and have chosen to ingest essential oils. Whatever the case, do not use your oils other than as suggested without inquiring about the safety and efficacy of doing so.
Complementary Practices
It is true that some people who are into aromatherapy are also into crystals, tarot, auras, and the like. If you are also someone who enjoys those things, that’s great! If you aren’t, that’s great, too!
Aromatherapy is completely independent from those practices. While crossover exists, it shows only an interest in alternative healing on the part of the practitioner. You need not choose to participate in these other modalities when you choose aromatherapy. Most of the time, there will be no chanting, no waving smoke around the room, and no psychic insight. Aromatherapy is actually quite clinical in nature, while the peripheral items simply shift the experience.