Learn tips for finding a complementary therapist to support your cancer treatment journey and enhance your recovery process.
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Overview
A good starting point when looking for the right therapist is talking with your GP or cancer care team. Your cancer treatment centre may offer some complementary therapies or recommend suitable and qualified therapists in your local area.
You can ask family, friends or your support group to recommend a therapist. Some doctors, nurses and pharmacists are also trained in a complementary therapy, such as nutritional and herbal medicine, hypnotherapy, counselling, acupuncture or massage.
Many natural therapy associations have online directories to help you find therapists. See below for more tips on how to choose a therapist.
Checking a therapist is qualified
Some complementary therapists don’t need specific qualifications to practise. To reduce the risk of harm, always check that the therapist is qualified, and ask if they have experience treating people with cancer. Get information about the qualifications a complementary therapist may or may not have.
Some health services providing complementary therapies require therapists to be registered with a professional body, such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), to ensure that they have the right qualifications.
It is a breach of Ahpra’s advertising guidelines for registered health practitioners to make curative claims that are not scientifically proven to be effective, as this may mislead patients.
What to consider when choosing a therapist
- Check the therapist’s qualifications and whether they are registered with Ahpra, recognised by Medicare, or a member of a professional association.
- Ask if they have experience treating people with your type of cancer.
- Make sure the therapist is willing to communicate with your cancer care team, especially if you are using remedies that could interfere with your current or possible future treatment.
- Give your therapist a list of all your medicines and your treatment plan. Ask them to check for any possible interactions before recommending any therapies. This reduces the risk of them dispensing remedies or other treatments that might interact with your conventional medical treatment.
- Keep a record of treatments received and any medicines or supplements prescribed.
- Ask about the cost of each session, how many sessions you are likely to need, and whether you will need to pay for any products or medicines.
- Ask if they have professional indemnity insurance.
- Take someone with you to appointments for support, to get involved in the discussion, take notes or to simply listen.
- Just as you may want to get a second opinion from a cancer specialist about your conventional cancer treatment and medicine, you might consider seeing more than one complementary therapist to compare how they would approach your care.
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A/Prof Geraldine McDonald, Director Patient Experience and Wellbeing, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Laura Carman, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Victoria; A/Prof Christine Carrington, Senior Consultant Pharmacist Cancer Services, Princess Alexandra Hospital and Metro South Health and The University of Queensland, QLD; Kellie Giannarelli, Consumer; Dr Suzanne Grant, Senior Research Fellow, Integrative Oncology, NICM Health Research Institute, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Vivienne Hansen, Bush and Western Herbal Medicine Practitioner, WA; Karla Jaji, Administration Officer, Nepean Cancer and Wellness Centre, NSW; Dr Laura Kirsten, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Nepean Cancer Services, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, NSW; A/Prof Judith Lacey, Director of Supportive Care and Integrative Oncology, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Adjunct Professor Danforn Lim, Western Sydney University and University of Technology Sydney, NSW; Dr David Mizrahi, Senior Research Fellow and Accredited Exercise Physiologist, The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney and Cancer Council NSW; Professor Avni Sali AM, Founder and Director, National Institute of Integrative Medicine, VIC; Gillian Thompson, Consumer; A/Prof Kate Webber, Medical Oncologist, Monash Health, VIC; Tanya Wells, Integrative Oncology Consultant and Naturopath, Melbourne Integrative Oncology Group, VIC; Prof Kate White, Professor Cancer Nursing, Cancer Care Research Unit, The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney and Cancer Council NSW.
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