Choosing a complementary therapist in the UK: statutory regulation, accredited registers and what to ask

Statutory regulation means the law requires registration and protects the title. In complementary healthcare, the NHS says this applies to osteopaths, who must be registered with the General Osteopathic Council, and chiropractors, who must be registered with the General Chiropractic Council. Arts therapists such as art therapists and music therapists are also on the statutory Health and Care Professions Council register, with protected titles.

Everything else, according to the NHS, falls outside statutory registration. That does not mean it is unsafe, but it means anyone can use the job title, so a check of a voluntary register carries more weight.

The Professional Standards Authority oversees registers for practitioners who are not regulated by law. It accredits the organisation holding the register, to check it meets standards. Its website lists over 100 practitioner types, including acupuncturists, reflexologists, naturopaths, yoga therapists, hypnotherapists, counsellors, nutritional therapists, sports massage therapists and healthcare chaplains, and lets you search a practitioner type to find the relevant register.

Registration with an accredited register indicates that the practitioner has met the register's standards for training and conduct It does not tell you that the therapy itself treats a disease, which is a separate question about evidence.

The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council describes itself as the independent UK regulator for complementary healthcare practitioners, operating a voluntary register approved as an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority. It registers 18 professions: Alexander technique teaching, aromatherapy, Bowen therapy, colon hydrotherapy, craniosacral therapy, healing, hypnotherapy, kinesiology, massage therapy, microsystems acupuncture, naturopathy, nutritional therapy, reflexology, reiki, shiatsu, sports massage, sports therapy and yoga therapy.

You can look up a practitioner by name, location or therapy type. Notably absent from this list are qigong, general yoga teaching and acupuncture in general, as opposed to the microsystems form, so those need to be checked through other bodies.

Cancer Research UK advises checking qualifications and, where relevant, experience with your condition, for example for aromatherapy and acupuncture. Treat these as general prompts for any therapist.

• Which register or professional body do you belong to, and how can I verify it?

• What training have you completed and how long ago?

• Have you worked with people with my health condition or medicines?

• What does the therapy involve, and what are the known risks?

• How many sessions do you expect, and how will we decide whether it is helping?

• What do you do if I become unwell during or after a session?

The NHS says herbal medicines and complementary therapies are not tested in the same way as standard medicines. It lists situations in which specific therapies may not be safe: acupuncture if you take blood-thinning medicine or have a skin condition or infection, osteopathy and chiropractic if you take blood thinners or have weak bones or nerve conditions, and hypnotherapy in people with schizophrenia, a history of psychosis or epilepsy.

Its Parkinson disease page warns that some herbal remedies such as St John's wort can interact with Parkinson medicines, and that there is no clinical evidence complementary approaches control symptoms. Tell your GP, pharmacist or specialist about anything you take or plan to try, particularly before surgery or during cancer treatment.

Be wary of any practitioner who claims to cure serious illness, advises stopping prescribed medicine, or discourages you from seeking a diagnosis.