C.H.U.Ms has been created to provide a totally free,
confidential mentoring service to all fellow healers and therapists,
who do not have regular access to supervision and guidance.
Practitioners who work alone,
can often feel unsupported and under-valued. With no-one to turn to if
dilemmas, problems or difficulties arise in our dealings with our clients,
we can sometimes feel isolated and troubled, long after the client has left
us. This is neither helpful to us, nor our patients.
The aim of C.H.U.Ms is to provide an advice, support
and listening service to all fields of complementary practitioners. This is
conducted by phone and /or email, whichever is preferred.
If you feel this free service
would be of benefit to you, and you would also like to benefit others, then
we invite you to become a C.H.U.M. Another benefit to everybody is free
advertising! Each C.H.U.M. will be encouraged to include a brief
description of their practice, next to their contact details on the
register.
To become a C.H.U.M, you are
simply asked to make a commitment. The commitment is that you agree to
listen to any C.H (Complementary Healer/Therapist) who requires listening
to. You may also offer suggestions and advice, but only if it is asked for.
We ask you to be non-judgemental and non-critical. What is required is the
ability to actively listen to
your caller and to be warm, supportive and encouraging. It is to be hoped
that all C.H.U.Ms will use the service both ways: in other words, at
some point you may be the listener and sometimes you may be the caller. If
you are a caller, you will say at the beginning of the conversation: “Hello,
I’m a C.H.U.M, and I’d be grateful for some support. Is now a good time for
you?” This is so that your
listening C.H.U.M can be ready for you. (Please do not leave messages on
ansaphones, for privacy reasons.) Please note also, that is is up to the
‘caller and ‘listener’ to make an agreement between themselves at the
beginning of the conversation as to how long the call will last. As a guideline
however, it is suggested that 30mins would be sufficient time in most
cases. (The ‘caller’ pays for the call.)
Please do not take advantage of
‘listener’s’ time by continually ringing the same person unless by mutual
agreement. Also, abusive language or anger projected on to either party
will not be tolerated and the call may be terminated and the member
‘black-listed’. All conversations are strictly confidential between
‘listener’ and ‘caller’ and false names must be used when discussing
clients.
How
did C.H.U.M.s start?
A message from Amanda Solk, founder and
director of C.H.U.M.s
I used to be a ‘Samaritan’.
‘Samaritans’ is the most wonderful organization and they have an excellent support
structure in place for all their volunteers. As a ‘Samaritan’, we were
expected to be unofficially ‘on call’ for all the other ‘Samaritans’ in the
organization. This meant that if at any time a fellow volunteer was
distressed or troubled by a caller, or maybe by the way they felt they
handled the call, they could pick from any one of a possible hundred
volunteers in their particular branch, to call up and chat to. The
listening ‘Samaritan’ would then drop everything to listen and support the
volunteer caller. It was seen as a very important job, because a happy
‘Samaritan’ can then go on to help so many other people. A distressed
volunteer can not.
When I had a very serious
dilemma with one of my own clients, I had no-one to turn to. This is
because I offered therapies that were unsupported by an official
organization, so I received no mentoring or supervision.
Then one of my own clients,
who was also a Therapist, rung me for advice regarding one of her own
clients. I listened then reflected back to her the possible options. I was
glad to be of help. At the end of the call she reported feeling much better
and more at ease about the situation. It was at that moment that I felt a
huge surge of compassion for all of us who work alone and unsupported in the
healing sector, and the idea of a ‘Samaritan-like’ network arose in my mind
and ‘C.H.U.M.s’ was born.
Another quality of C.H.U.M.s
is that we provide a ‘level playing field’. In other words, it makes no
difference to us whether or not you are qualified ‘up to the hilt’ with a
thousand letters after your name; it doesn’t matter which Therapy you
provide, e.g Homeopathy; Acupuncture; Reflexology; Spiritual Healing;
Massage; etc. All that matters is that you care enough about other Healers
in the field, to want to support them , should they need a listening ear.
(It is also completely
acceptable to offer to swap treatments with another C.H.U.M. as long as you
graciously prepared to accept that they may not choose to take you up on
the offer.)
We are all doing
marvellous work and this commitment to help and heal others stems from
compassionate and loving hearts, and we all deserve true acknowledgement,
payment and respect and also C.H.U.M.s to value and befriend us so that we
never again feel ‘cut off’ or alone in our work. Please pass this on to
your Healer colleagues and friends.
In the
future, we aim to have social evenings so that we can meet up every couple
of months and get to know each other and share ideas.
All the very
best and love to you all. And thanks for all you’re doing.
Amanda Solk
(If you would
like to see something of the Therapies that I offer: ‘BodyTuning’,
‘Assemblage Point Relocation’ and ‘Singin for Joy & Health’, please
visit my website:www.fullspectrumhealing.co.uk
)
