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 Medical
/ Clinical Aromatherapy
Psychotherapeutic
Aromatherapy for Stress Management
Holistic
Aromatherapy
Aesthetic
Aromatherapy in Beauty Therapy and the
Scientific Study of Fragrance including Environmental
Fragrancing
In
her book Clinical Aromatherapy
- Essential Oils in Practice, 2nd edition,
Dr. Jane Buckle puts it this way, "Without
doubt, 'nice smells' added to a massage in a beauty
salon are something akin to fresh flowers on the table
at a restaurant;  they
are not specific ingredients of the meal, buy they
certainly enhance it. This is a form of Aesthetic
Aromatherapy. Beauty therapists do not
usually treat disease.
However,
at the other end of the aromatherapy spectrum, Medical
/ Clinical Aromatherapy suggests that specific
medical conditions can be treated with essential oils.
French medical aromatherapists Franchomme, Penoel,
Gattefosse, and Belaiche have each written books dedicated
to this subject.
These
two types of aromatherapy---aesthetic and medical---are
very distinct. The misunderstandings that arise often
concern the types of aromatherapy that fall in between
and what they entail."
Jane
goes on to explain that "Holistic
Aromatherapy suggests the therapist is
involved with all parts of the patient---in other
words, with mind, body, and spirit. Holistic Aromatherapy
involves "supporting" a client; this is
consistent with Tisserand's diagrammatic outlines.
It is a procedure often carried out by body workers
who may or may not know much about the chemistry of
the essential oils or the pathologic conditions for
which they are appropriate. These therapists are not
"treating" the client so much as supporting
other treatments the client may be receiving, which
can be either orthodox medical care or alternative
complementary therapies." Holistic Aromatherapy
utilises the pharmacological, psychotherapeutic and
metaphysical properties of essential oils.
"Aesthetic
Aromatherapy is about pleasure.
Choosing a smell because it is pleasing is similar
to studying a beautiful picture. The picture is treasured
for the pleasure it gives, not for its intrinsic molecular
structure. To put it another way, the use of
perfumes, scented bath soaps, and incense sticks are
the use of Aesthetic Aromatherapy, and the world would
be a sadder place without them.  When
patients are nearing the end of their lives, the focus
is on keeping them comfortable, not prolonging life.
At that stage, Aesthetic Aromatherapy can give both
pleasure and comfort."
And,
finally, "Psychoaromatherapy
concerns the ways smells or odors affect our brains
by influencing the production of endorphins and noradrenaline.
Whether we realise it or not, our entire life is affected
by smell.
All
forms of aromatherapy have been around for hundreds
of years. They are definately not "New Age."
Despite the explosion of products on the market that
include the word aromatherapy
on their labels, the use of essential oils in products
is not new. Only the use of their laboratory-produced
synthetic copies is a recent development."
I
could not have said it better, so I didn't try. Thank
you Jane!
"For
those stressed by civilization, Aromatherapy offers
nature in a bottle."
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