Aromatherapy for Health and Wellbeing eCourse

Understand more about the health and wellbeing benefits of using aromatherapy oils, fragrances and scents. 

The course consists of ten lessons with an assignment at the end of each lesson to submit to your tutor for marking and feedback.

Also contact your tutor with any questions throughout the course.

Course Content

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Essential Oil Properties A
2. Essential Oil Properties B
3. Oil Extraction
4. The Physiology and Psychology of Aromatherapy
5. Applications of Aromatherapy
6. Aromatherapy Safety
7. Aromatherapy Treatment
8. Body Systems – Part 1
9. Body Systems – Part 2
10. Running your business

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Identify the different properties of essential oils and describe their effects on the body.
• Identify the various methods used in extracting essential oils.
• Describe how essential oils can enter the bloodstream and the process of olfaction.
• Learn some of the more common application methods used with essential oils in aromatherapy.
• Ensure that essential oils are used in a safe and controlled manner and identify situations where aromatherapy might not be appropriate.
• Develop an aromatherapy treatment plan for a client.
• Identify which essential oils would be appropriate for use of various conditions relating to specific body systems.
• Understand the scope and nature of an aromatherapy business.

Course Extract

In aromatherapy there are two ways that essential oils can enter the body to work therapeutically: inhalation and absorption into the blood stream.

Essential oils have three distinct modes of action:

1)      They initiate chemical changes in the body when the essential oil enters the bloodstream by reacting with hormones and enzymes

2)      They have a physiological effect on the systems of the body

3)      They have a psychological effect when the odour of the oil is inhaled

The science and physiology of smell – Olfaction

The term olfaction derives from the past participle of the Latin olfacere, which means “to smell”.

Our senses are heightened by the presence of smell. The scent of a flower may bring pleasure, or the smell of debris or noxious gases may warn about danger. It is our sense of smell that can affect our behavior, desires and sometimes illness.  Early cultures used aromatherapy in both spiritual and medicinal ways to ‘cure’ both physical and mental diseases. Throughout history, fragrances have been used to stimulate the unconscious mind by Greek philosophers and practitioners to transform a person’s emotional state. Essential oils and aromatherapy may be used to involve feelings of positivity and wellness based on their individual properties.

Scents we find pleasurable (such as lavender or rose) may have a positive effect on our psychological wellbeing through:

• Increased memory and cognition
• Higher self-esteem
• Mood improvement
• Heightened emotions
• Reduced stress

The term ‘Psycho-Aromatherpy’ was first mentioned by two Italian doctors, Giovanni Gatti and Renato Cajola. In 1923 they published L'Azione terapeutica degli olii essenziali, or The Action of Essences on the Nervous System. This paper outlined how certain scents can influence mood and emotions, and particularly how they can affect the depressed and anxious state.

In recent times, interest in the impact of certain odours has increased due to the documented positive effects on the physiological and psychological states of being.

Mechanism of Action

For our olfactory senses to work we must first be capable of allowing gaseous molecules of scent to pass through our olfactory system. Olfaction occurs when specific molecules bind to receptors in our bodies. Humans have several million olfactory receptors in the nasal passage.  

The nasal passage is covered with a mucus membrane called nasal mucosa. This mucosa consists of small nerve cells. These connect to the the olfactory cilia, which look like tiny hairs. Olfactory cilia work by detecting sensory stimuli which has been dissolved in the nasal mucosa. The cilia then send the signals through the nerves back up to the brain. This information goes straight to the olfactory bulb, which is at the forefront of the brain, just behind the nose.

The olfactory bulb is responsible for mapping the smells to determine what senses we are experiencing. Once the signals are mapped, the information is then sent to the higher levels of the brain such as the thalamus and the hypothalamus for further processing and identification.

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