Hello everyone!
Welcome to our first Bulletin. This paper will be sent to all the practitioners on our register, and we hope that it will be the first of many. The intention is to issue one every so often to impart any news that we may have, and to generally keep you informed of what is going on. It will be a way of us keeping in touch with you and you with us. We will welcome any items that you may wish to share with other practitioners – perhaps a successful case study or an experience that you have had – or maybe a question or query, something not clear, that you would like an answer to. If this is the case, the chances are that others will have a similar query in their minds, so to print the question and answer in one of the bulletins would be helpful to you all.
It is, after all, a paper for you, and we want you to get as much out of it as possible.
So…to begin…
Baby Ball
The first major news item to share with you has to be the birth of a daughter to Chris. She is called Alexandra Ellen, and was born on 1st September. Both mother and baby are doing well – Alexandra was 7lbs 6ozs at birth and is thriving. Chris had wanted to carry on working right up until the baby came – she said it helped to take her mind off things. She lives locally, and so was not far from home, and besides, coming in to work at Mount Vernon is not the same as turning into work in a busy office. She was actually at work on that Tuesday morning, and although she confesses now to having felt the odd twinge, did not let on to anyone until the evening. Her husband Stef whisked her into hospital at about 8pm and the baby was born at 11.15. Chris said that when she arrived in the delivery ward, her labour had only really just begun, and the midwife expected that she would be there contracting all night. Chris promptly filled her glass and added some Rescue Remedy, sipped at frequent intervals, and had the baby half an hour later! The midwife couldn’t believe it, and wanted to know all about the little drops. She was most interested. In actual fact the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has quite an open mind about natural therapies, and aromatherapy is quite readily accepted as a support therapy on some wards. Chris said that although she had done without any pain relief, during the last stages she felt she needed something and asked for some gas & air. The midwife informed her that they were experimenting with aromatherapy inhalations instead. At that moment, Chris was in no mood for experiments, but nevertheless found the aromatherapy worked a treat. An excellent example of aromatherapy and the Bach remedies working hand in hand as they so often do, and a perfect example to satisfy any sceptic, because if they can help to overcome labour pain, they can surely overcome anything!!
Courses and practitioner update
You will all have attended courses at different times, anytime from our very first one in September last year, right through to the last one we held at the end of March this year. Altogether we have now run eleven, with three more planned for this year and about 100 applicants for next year already! You could say, they are proving popular!
We now have, at the time of writing, around 60 practitioners on our register, but the list is growing all the time, as those essays and case studies continue to trickle in… I must say, that we do enjoy reading the work, and we do appreciate the time, thought and effort that everyone puts into it. The case studies particularly are lovely to read, telling nearly always of a wonderful success. Most of you by now will probably have received at least one referral, although it does tend to vary from area to area. Those of you in London have probably had your fair share, whilst those in more remote parts of the UK may not have been approached. We do, however, refer quite a number of people, and word that we now have a Register is definitely getting round! Thank you all – it makes all the difference to have practitioners we know and trust, and the clients we refer are always grateful for the opportunity to see someone locally whom we can recommend.
The UK Medicines Act
We have been asked on a number of occasions whether it is necessary to apply for a licence in order to practise as a practitioner, particularly in relation to dispensing treatment bottles. We have looked into this, and although one can never tell what decision or directive will come out of the EEC in due course, at the present time, the law states the following, which confirms that providing these conditions apply, a licence is not necessary at the present time:
“Exemption from licensing applies in such a case if:
- the product is a herbal remedy, and
- it is prepared or packed on the supplier’s premises, and
- he supplies it for administration to a particular person after being requested by or on behalf of that person in that person’s presence to use his own judgement as to the treatment required.”
(By definition the remedies are deemed to be a “herbal remedy” for this purpose.)
New things to look out for…
There are three new items which will be available soon, and we hope will prove to be a welcome addition to the range:
- Getting to Know the Bach Flower Remedies – an audio cassette tape prepared by the Centre. On side A there is a description of all the 38 Remedies, plus the crisis formula, delivered courtesy of Chris’s husband Stef who, you may remember, read the commentary to the remedy slides that we showed you on the course. On side B there are three learning exercises to aid the memory, and it is hoped that by the time these have been done a few times, the remedies will be second nature! The cassette should be available by the end of September, and will retail at £3.99. (Running time approx. 75 minutes). Practitioner price £3.31.
- A video will soon be available, hopefully by the end of September/early October, not unlike that which you saw whilst on the course. It will go through Dr.Bach’s life and work right up to the present day. We have not seen it ourselves yet, although we have spent a number of days filming, so have a rough idea what it will be like
- Bach Flower Remedies for Women, a new book by yours truly (Judy), which gives helpful advice to women of all ages as to how the remedies can help during the various milestones and trying times in a woman’s life. It covers PMT, pregnancy, childbirth, infertility, menopause, old age, sexuality, as well as other issues such as irritable bowel and ME. It is a book I have wanted to write for a long time, and I hope it will be welcomed by women everywhere, and that you will enjoy reading it. It is being published by The C.W.Daniel Company, who publish our other books, and we are hoping that it will be ready for the end of the month, so look out for it! (ret.£6.95 – practitioner price £5.99)
Support and sundry items
We also have some new additional items available which we hope will be of benefit:
- Treatment bottle labels – 12 labels to a sheet. 40p per sheet or £2 for five sheets.
- Consultation pads – 50 sheets to a pad. £2.35 inclusive of P&P
- Set of slides – 12 slides, glass mounted, ideal for giving talks etc. The set consists of the following: Dr.Bach, Mount Vernon, Dr.Bach’s furniture in the consulting room, Star of Bethlehem, Rock Rose, Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Crab Apple, Sun method, Boiling method, the full range. The retail price of the set is £22.50 but £18.50 for practitioners.
- We also have some new postcards and sets of greetings cards picturing some of the remedy plants and scenes of the garden (blank inside).
Closing words
Well, I think that is more or less it for now. I hope you have enjoyed this first Bulletin and that future papers will prove to be a useful means of keeping in touch. Once again, if there is anything you would like to share, or feel you would like to know or need clarification about, do let us know so that we can include it in the next one.
In the meantime, have a good autumn, and enjoy your work.
Best wishes from us all.
This archive material has been edited to remove some out-of-date advice and information.