The Oriental Health Practitioner Association of Australia (OHPAA) is Australia’s unique professional association representing the Oriental healing arts, traditional medicine and holistic healing modalities.

OHPAA was founded in 1997 as an incorporated non-profit company, governed by the Executive Board of Directors. New members can join as students, associates or full members from a wide variety of approved modalities. OHPAA has been affiliated with the New Zealand Charter of Health Professionals since 1998.

OHPAA’s policy generates awareness of the Oriental healing arts/traditional medicine/holistic healing modalities and its unique philosophy on health. OHPAA provides a meeting place for those modalities that acknowledge the spirit of healing. We aim to do this by increasing membership of the association and ongoing education of our members and the general public.

• To promote professionalism, credibility, and a pathway for career development.
• To establish and maintain relationships with quality training organizations who complement the Oriental/traditional/holistic healing perspective.
• To provide ongoing high quality education for members and associates so as to maintain and develop skills, thereby contributing to ongoing self development.
• To provide professional liability insurance cover for qualified practitioners through AON insurance.
• To provide a quarterly e-newsletter ‘Essence & Life’ to members containing industry updates and articles on the Oriental healing arts, traditional medicine and holistic health.
• To provide access to practitioner products such as books, music, herbs and food etc.
• To provide members with access to continuing education seminars and workshops on a wide variety of topics.
• To provide members with an opportunity to broaden their network of other complementary health professionals and access to potential mentors that can assist them.
  

OHPAA members are bound by the following Code of Ethics
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ORIENTAL HEALTH SCIENCE 
Oriental Health Science is an integrated approach to the practice of holistic therapy incorporating the classical branches of the ancient Oriental healing arts including needle therapy, moxibustion, patent herbal remedies, feng shui, food as medicine, astrology and body therapy. The foundation of Oriental health science practice is to enable the patient to focus on the source of cure, the principles of maintenance and the prevention of disease.
 
ORIENTAL NUTRITIONAL MEDICINE 
Oriental nutritional medicine is the study of the essential concepts of Oriental medicine and their application to diet and health. Traditionally, an understanding of the medicinal qualities of foods has influenced the evolution of cultural dietary practices throughout the world. The medicinal power of daily foods is used in combination with herbalism to provide an effective health care service. Oriental Nutritional Medicine teaches a completely holistic approach to dietary practice based on a blend of philosophical, spiritual, and traditional healing practices that embrace the Oriental medicine approach to holistic therapy.

ORIENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 
Oriental Psychology equips you with a unique understanding of the relationship between the mind and body. It outlines the astounding links between philosophy, medicine, psychology and spirituality. The focus of this course is to be able to assist self and others in the recovery of wholeness. Oriental psychology is the study of these arts as they apply to the identification and rectification of mind/spirit disorders presenting in a clinical practice or in the course of daily life. In terms of the philosophy upon which it is based, the art of holistic restoration incorporates the ability to precisely identify the source of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual imbalances as well as the skill to design strategies to correct and harmonise them.

METAPHYSICS 
Metaphysics refer to the study of natural medicine, particularly in relation to forming the basis of the science of natural medicine.  Metaphysical therapy is based heavily upon vibrational therapy and its use in complementary therapy together with traditional medicine.   It encompasses the fields of the philosophy of “being and knowing”.

ACUPUNCTURE 
Acupuncture literally means 'needle piercing," the practice of inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points in the body (called acupoints or acupuncture points) for therapeutic purposes. Along with the usual method of puncturing the skin with the fine needles, the practitioners of acupuncture also use heat, pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points. The acupoints (acupuncture points) are stimulated to balance the movement of energy (qi) in the body to restore health. There are many schools of acupuncture including Japanese, Toyohari Meridian Therapy, Manaka, Shonishin, Five Element, Korean, Acumoxatherapy, Auricular, French, Traditional Chinese, Medical, Veterinary.

POST-GRADUATE ACUPUNCTURE
This Acupuncture course is available to those people who are currently practicing or qualified health professionals such as Medical Practitioners, Dentists, Chiropractors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, Registered Nurses, Podiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Pharmacists, Accredited Natural Therapists and other qualified health professionals 

FACIAL REJUVENATION ACUPUNCTURE
Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture is a holistic method designed to treat the signs of ageing safely and naturally. This method can also be known as the acupuncture facelift however; Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture extends well beyond the surface. It is a rejuvenation technique that revitalises the whole body, not only your face. Treatments are supplemented with massage, facial exercises and herbal supplements based on holistic principles to augment and maintain the effects. In some cases dietary advice and flower essences may also be included.

COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE 
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a broad domain of healing resources that encompasses all health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs, other than those intrinsic to the politically dominant health system of a particular society or culture in a given historical period. CAM includes all such practices and ideas self-defined by their users as preventing or treating illness or promoting health and well-being.

SHIATSU
Shiatsu literally translates as ‘finger pressure’ and is a Japanese therapy that has its origins in Oriental medial theory and traditional Japanese massage techniques. The Japanese adopted Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices and enhanced its methods to develop the unique form of treatment now known as Shiatsu. Shiatsu therapists treat the whole body as well as specific problem areas by also addressing both emotional and physical wellbeing. The aim is to treat the body by balancing the flow of Ki (life energy), applying pressure to obstructed or weak areas. This relieves symptoms and resolves conditions, improving the patient’s strength and vitality.

TUI NA MASSAGE
Tui na is a hands-on-body treatment using acupressure that is a modality of Chinese medicine whose purpose is to bring the body into balance. The principles being balanced are the eight principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The practitioner may brush, knead, roll/press and rub the areas between each of the joints (known as the eight gates) to open the body's defensive (wei) chi and get the energy moving in both the meridians and the muscles. The practitioner can then use range of motion, traction, massage, with the stimulation of acupressure points and to treat both acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, as well as many non-musculoskeletal conditions.

THAI MASSAGE
Traditional Thai massage is a rich synthesis of three ancient health traditions stretching back more than 1000 years. By combining ayurvedic (classical Indian) medical theory and the postural dynamics of hatha yoga with their own health beliefs and ingenuity, the Thai's developed a very relaxing, therapeutic and graceful system of massage. Traditional Thai massage can be applied as a full-body treatment or as a specific therapy to treat a broad range of physical discomforts and stress-related disorders.

REFLEXOLOGY 
Reflexology is based on the principle that certain parts of the body reflect the whole. Reflex points, which relate to all parts of the body, can be found in the feet, hands and ears. These points respond to pressure, stimulating the body's own natural healing process. The body starts progressively clearing blockages, re-establishing energy flows and balancing itself, resulting in better health. There are many different styles and approaches used in reflexology, however the basic principle is constant. Subtle yet powerful, reflexology is becoming increasingly popular in the world of complementary therapies.

AYURVEDA 
The word "Ayurveda" is from the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, and literally means "Knowledge of Life". Known as the mother of all medical systems, Ayurveda has undergone continuous research, development and refinement over past 5,000 years. Ayurveda employs the judicious application of nutritional guidance, herbal medicines, exercise therapy, transcendental meditation and many special rejuvenation and purification therapies.

HOMEOPATHY 
The central theme of homoeopathy is the principal of 'similia similabus curantur' which translates as 'like cures like'. Homoeopathy is a system of medicine that works by giving patients a dilute dose of a substance that in a cruder form would cause symptoms similar to that which the patient is experiencing. Homoeopathy has been used successfully on humans as well as animals.

AROMATIC MEDICINE 
Aromatherapy is the scientific use of pure volatile chemical substances known as ‘essential oils’, which have been prized for their fragrance as well as their restorative effects on the body, mind and spirit for thousands of years. These essential oils have been recognised as therapeutically beneficial.
 
PRANIC HEALING 
Pranic healing provides techniques to harness Prana or Vital Force and use it to rebalance, harmonize and strengthen energy fields. The causes of most physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual imbalances lie in the energy field. As all living forms have energy fields and also as most human activities are surrounded by vortices of energy that control them, Pranic healing techniques can be applied quite successfully to correct dis-ease in plants, animals, relationships, finances , workplaces and the home.
 
AURA SOMA 
AURA-SOMA® is colour for everyone. A non-intrusive and self-selective system in which colour is the key. It is an ancient knowledge that has been refound and revitalised into a living system easily accessible to all. AURA-SOMA® is a system that brings you closer to the understanding of yourself. It uses the visual and non-visual energies of colour, it uses the energies of herbs from essential oils and herbal extracts and it uses the energies of crystals and gems.

COLOURPUNCTURE
Colourpuncture is a method of healing using colour, developed by a German naturopath called Peter Mandel. The treatments involve focusing coloured light onto acupuncture points on the body. As skin is photosensitive, the colour is absorbed into the skin and penetrates deeply into all the cells of the body. Colourpuncture is so successful because it is a completely painfree non-invasive technique which combines the principles of acupuncture with the healing power of colour.

COLOUR THERAPY
Using the seven colours of the spectrum, Colour Therapy aims to stimulate our body’s own healing process whilst balancing and enhancing our body’s energy centres, known as Chakras. Each of the seven colours coexists with one of the main seven Chakras. When one of these Chakras is experiencing difficulty, applying the appropriate colour to the body can therefore re-balance the energy. Used to treat both physical and emotional problems Colour Therapy may involve exposure to coloured lights, massage using colour-saturated oils, contemplating and visualising colours, even wearing coloured clothing and eating coloured foods.
 
CRYSTAL LIGHT HEALING 
Crystal Light Healing TM is the ancient art of the Laying of Crystals and using sound & colour to promote harmony & healing of the body, mind & spirit. The Crystal Light Healing TM™ practitioner accesses the vibrational frequencies of crystals through colour, sound, light and sacred geometric symbols. These frequencies are then resonated through the client’s subtle bodies and higher vibrational points to stimulate self-healing, and release dis-ease.