APTA, RPP, BCPP and You

A graduate recently posted a great question in the Facebook, Spa Tech Institute Career Builders about the value of APTA, RPP and BCPP in light of the fact that Polarity Therapy is still relatively unknown and the view that the APTA has done little to promote polarity.

The acronyms stand for American Polarity Therapy Association (APTA), Registered Polarity Practitioner (RPP) and Board Certified Polarity Practitioner (BCPP). The BCPP is an independently administered certification exam that measures minimum competency to enter the industry and call yourself a RPP. The purpose of having an independent exam is to create a level of credibility that other organizations, most notably insurance companies, a credential that justifies authorizing insurance payments for the services. The insurance companies need to justify what they cover and this is the way they have chosen to sift out the thousands of options that exist.

The question is, why is this valuable when APTA has done little to make polarity a household term? What value does it have to clients if they don’t even know what polarity therapy is? And why pay the money to get certified and registered? This is a core debate that has been raging in the APTA for 2 decades. There are those who see the value of regulation and others who are against it. And it’s a fact that the organization has remained small because of this debate and the direction that the APTA has taken. It’s much easier to regulate than to promote. At the same time, without good research to back up the work, it’s harder to promote. So the organization and the industry finds itself in an awkward position. The lament of many new practitioners is: I know this fabulous work but nobody knows what it is. It’s true that it is not as widely known as massage, reflexology or reiki. It takes time to gain recognition and polarity is relatively new compared to massage and reflexology. Reiki has the distinct advantage that the very small amount of training required to call yourself a Reiki Practitioner has opened up the field to a large number of people who do the work. But the biggest issue with Polarity is this: Doctor Stone developed the work, shared it with a few people, and then moved on. Other methods that have gained prominence have usually had a founder who promoted the work for an extended period of time. With polarity there have been practitioners who have adopted the work but there is yet to be a person who has stepped forward with the authority and power to promote Polarity into a brand. And more often than not, the strongest leaders in the field have moved on to promoting their own work which is often an extension of polarity therapy. That being said, Nancy had a full-time practice with a 3 month waiting list as early as 1983. That was 30 years ago. Polarity was completely unknown at that time. A posting by one of our polarity students on Facebook last week was that he had just gotten 6 new polarity clients. I only worked on men and my part-time practice was full with a waiting list in 1989. This was without APTA, RPP or any other credential. So at the end of the day, a full and thriving practice hinges on one key factor: How well you market your practice, both before, during and after the session.

But on to the BCPP and RPP. The key is this: With the new Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) there are opportunities being created for alternative care as well as problems that are going to push more companies into self-insuring. One company that’s ahead of the curve is Parker-Hannifin, an international company with a very forward thinking CEO. As part of their self-insurance program they focus on self care, prevention and education. This has opened up opportunities for practitioners that have taken a national certification exam in their profession. It still requires the individual to market themselves internally to the potential clients but once the employees have chosen their alternative therapies, the company reimburses them for their sessions. This can only happen with modalities that have national certification. Thanks to some very forward thinking and hard working people in the APTA, the organization has developed the national certification exam process for polarity that has opened up these doors. The exciting part about it is that Parker-Hannifin is keeping very good tracking statistics and finding a very high value to working with alternative therapies. These results will likely be the supporting documentation that drives the insurance industry well into the future. The key to the future for individual practitioners is to understand that you must earn your place in the world as a care provider either through working for a company who markets you or by doing your own marketing. Your attitude, demeanor, enthusiasm and dedication is what will define your success. Some people are succeeding while others are not which demonstrates that success is possible if you do the right thing. Many people who are struggling blame the industry instead of understanding that they have to learn more about marketing their practice. If you are an independent practitioner you must be good at marketing. There are no alternatives. Additionally, the thing that will move the profession forward is completely dependent on the actions of each individual. There will be some who take on the challenge of elevating the profession and others who wait for others to do it for them. It comes down to a simple personal choice: What is your mission and how are you going to execute it? Whether you choose to take the path of getting credentials that open additional doors to work or decide to work independent of any reimbursement structure, it’s possible to have a successful practice either way. But it’s important to understand the importance of marketing and then learn everything you can about how to market your practice. There are a lot of resources available on the professional websites as well as through the school. The biggest challenge is to embrace the time and energy that goes into marketing, particularly if you have a block to marketing yourself or your practice. As always, we recommend RYSE or ARYSE to help move beyond blocks and to move into your success. That’s what it was made to accomplish. Be courageous and change the world. Sincerely. Kris p.s. Are you looking to learn more about marketing your professional practice? There’s a lot to learn. Let us know your questions.

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