What should I look for when choosing a practitioner?

Around one in five people in the UK have used some form of complementary therapy or treatment. All the evidence shows a massive rise in public interest in, and use of, alternative treatments.

However, there has previously been no one central source of information for a member of the public to check if the complementary healthcare practitioner that they are thinking of using meets professional standards of safety and competence.

The purpose of the CNHC Register is to enhance public safety, by giving the general public access to a list of practitioners that have been independently assessed as meeting national standards of competence and practice. 

If in any doubt as to whether a practitioner is registered, you can search CNHC’s on-line register. Use the Check the Register facility on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

You can also look to see if a practitioner is displaying a current certificate with the CNHC quality mark. Registered practitioners are able to display this in their place of work and can also use the quality mark on promotional literature such as leaflets, headed notepaper or on their website. The CNHC quality mark provides an independent seal of approval to well-qualified, responsible professionals in the complementary healthcare field.

For information on each of the disciplines registered with CNHC see Other Publications.