Day 1: Registration (3-5pm), Evening lecture (5-7:30pm), Welcome Reception (7-9.30) Pheromones: Pheromonal and olfactory communication in humans Spend the first evening learning all you ever wanted to know about pheromones, but were afraid to ask! Michael is known as an expert in human pheromones - the human pheromone industry was started with his first and famous experiments, so he has a unique personal knowledge in the origins of the subject. Topics:
The evidence for a pheromonal/olfactory communication system in man is presented and examined. Man is highly scented. The axillary glands of human beings are larger and contain more apocrine glands than any other primate, and produce musky steroids of which there are matching olfactory receptors. Studies that show pheromonal-like behavioral responses to these compounds are then discussed with the implications of learning and context on these responses. Also recent research on physiological effects of these compounds, e.g., in altering menstrual cycles, will be presented. As perfumes contain compounds that are sexual attractants in other mammals and which resemble he musky steroids, examples are given of the cultural transmission of social responses to these natural and synthetic odours across human cultures present and past. Finally, possible evolutionary and cultural reasons for the suppression and adaptation of man's natural chemical communication system are suggested. Day 2: Morning: "Therapeutic Olfaction" or Physiological and psychological mechanisms in Aromatherapy Michael begins the day speaking about the science behind the therapeutic aspects of olfaction, in relation to Aromatherapy. You will learn what processes might be involved in giving therapeutic effects and at the same time, begin to understand future therapeutic possibilities. This will naturally point to the need for and entice thoughts toward formal clinical evaluation. Topics:
Olfaction is unique amongst the senses in its direct connections to the neuroendocrine and limbic structures of the brain. This suggests that the olfactory system and olfactory stimuli may have potential uses in the treatment of various disorders, both physiological and psychological. Recent multidisciplinary research on the olfactory system may open up such therapeutic uses. This presentation reviews the health implications and applications of examples of this research. The areas covered are pharmacological effects and neuroendocrine responses, the conditioning of the immune and affective systems, odour memory, the direct influence of odour on mood and hedonics and finally social psychological aspects related to interactions with expectation, placebo and situations. At each level findings from pure research or clinical uses related to this research are described. Taken overall, the research lends substantial circumstantial support for novel therapeutic uses of olfactory stimuli, and point to a need for their formal clinical evaluation. Day 2 Afternoon: Research and Evaluation in Aromatherapy - Starting on the Path Following on from the morning topics, Michael shows that much is known within science about how essential oils you choose might have their effects. Now what needs to be done is to see if it works in practice. He gently leads us onto this path with clear insights, and offers his skills on how to go about finding this out. Topics:
How a research proposal is drawn-up and how the clinical effectiveness of Aromatherapy may be evaluated, from the initial literature research, though planning the study and analysing the results. Any evaluation must also be conducted in messiness of the clinical situation, and must be economic, i.e., there are not the resources to conduct the large scale randomized double-blind trials typical of pharmaceutical testing. The different oils used and ailments treated, and the consequent different environmental, psychological and physiological factors, and different clinical situations suggests that each intervention will have to be specifically designed. However, all evaluations will involve common problems of confounding factors and of inferring causality in real-world situations, e.g., due to expectations, placebo, measurement error, small patient numbers, and the limitations of double-blind procedures. This presentation illustrates how the principles of research design can be used to counter these problems with reference to the conventional case study. Day 3: Aromatherapy Research & Evaluation (for Dummies!) Intensive Workshop In this daylong, interactive hands-on workshop, Michael penetrates much deeper into evaluating aromatherapy treatments and offers personalized insights on actually doing it! Here you can find out and discuss how you might evaluate treatments that are of personal interest to you. Suitable for beginners as well, this workshop is a must for anyone needing a refreshing dose of creativity in this critically important area, including those needing to hone their present skills, and instructors of Complementary / Alternative Medicine (CAM) interested in introducing the subject to their curriculum. Come interact with the finest of professionals and participate in this groundbreaking workshop. Topics:
What you will learn: Our intention is to ensure that aromatherapists will know the conventions and principles that lie behind research practice and how to apply them to the circumstances that they work under, i.e., clinical situations with few resources. We are mostly concerned about research on the effectiveness of aromatherapy, a critically important area. We will be describing how research and research papers are drawn up and presented. We will be explaining the issues behind doing the research itself such as research design, measurement, data analysis and result presentation applied to aromatherapy. Participants will be able to understand all aspects of research, from writing proposals, to final papers, and leave with the basic understanding of how to evaluate treatments. This includes interactive personalized discussions with instructor, hands-on activities, breaking into groups, performing on line literature search, sample exercises. This workshop is suitable for anyone (student, professional) wishing to begin research or desiring a better understanding in relation to AT or CAM. It is also suitable for instructors wishing to upgrade their understanding and skills, in order to introduce this topic into courses. Participants are urged to come prepared with any current research issues they may need help with and any tools (i.e. laptops, notebooks). This workshop qualifies as Teacher training of the licensed module courses by AIA. DIPLOMA course- AIA Advanced Series
For registration contact Sylla Sheppard-Hanger The Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy
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