Mentoring is beginning to become much more of an everyday term and a mainstream service that is gaining much more popularity. Recently we are seeing mentors being introduced into professional sports, business executives and music (The X Factor being a case in point).

Many health care therapies have mentoring support in the early years after graduation and in many cases it is a requirement. This is now being recognised in all forms of Natural Therapy as an essential tool for supporting graduates in the workplace. It is important to understand the following aspects of mentoring:

1.Mentoring is the provision of both personal and practical support, driven by the therapist’s specific needs.

2.Mentoring builds on your existing knowledge and experience from the classroom to a working environment, using a different set of educational tools, to initiate greater effectiveness in practice.

3.To facilitate professional development, mentoring establishes a foundation by which to work from such as a business plan and a focus of direction. From this it is a matter of ongoing progress and support until you achieve your aims.

4.The mentor acts as a guide and can offer support but the onus in on the therapist to do the work.

If you are at a stage where additional support can improve your practice and your business professionally, then mentoring could be for you. Examples of the critical stages where mentoring can help are: when newly graduated, when experiencing low confidence, when your business model is not effective, or when you are not getting the desired results from your clinic.

One to One mentoring

Our one to one mentoring service establishes a personal relationship with you and your mentor which is solely focused upon your individual needs. We discuss your needs and develop a clear plan to address your development across academic, business, and clinical competencies to achieve the career path you desire.

Your mentor

A mentor will have a large amount of experience in the area you need support. A mentor would help you explore your issues, be it developing a business plan, looking at client case evaluation/strategy, or any identified weaknesses, and then guide you on how to make improvements and develop. A mentor will provide a clear strategy and the tools in which to achieve your needs.

Finding a mentor

A mentor can be someone you respect and already know personally or an experienced mentor who offers professional support. Either option offers benefits but it largely depends upon your needs as to which is best for you. For example colleagues may be more supportive but may not be challenging enough or objective. Many practitioners have contacted old tutors to mentor them or have a 2 way mentoring relationship with colleagues. Either way, a mentor is an essential part of your support once in practice.

Our mentoring service

We offer our own mentoring service if you feel we are best suited to your needs. This is a paid for service, independent from the non profit Naturalhealthpractitioners.org website. If you are interested and would like to discuss this in person. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Other mentoring services

There are other mentoring and support services which we include under our Networks & Links module. Go to page.