The Value of Feng Shui Certification, Part One

This is a sensitive subject to write about, especially as a feng shui teacher, but I think it is important and there are not many people talking about it. It is about the value of certifications.

In my own life it has happened twice now that I have invested money in training and have become disappointed, first in aromatherapy and then in feng shui. As these two professions caught hold and became popular in North America, books and courses became widely available on the topics. Many people, like me, were pleased to have the opportunity to become certified as practitioners and/or teachers.

But as unregulated fields of study, it also means that, for example, an esthetician can take a weekend workshop on aromatherapy and call herself an aromatherapist. Or someone who works in interior decorating can read some books on feng shui, or take some workshops, and incorporate feng shui as an added-value component to their other services. Or call themselves a feng shui consultant.

Does the general public understand the difference between calling yourself a feng shui practitioner (or aromatherapist) as opposed to a certified practitioner? And anyway, what is the difference between offering feng shui services as one part of your business, and being a certified practitioner?

Well first off the difference is the investment in training. Certification is (usually) relatively expensive. My feng shui practitioner certification alone cost $4,000 US before expenses and it is not unheard of to spend $10,000 on a certification course. I estimate that with the advanced certifications I took so that I could certify feng shui practitioners, I spent the equivalent of a Master’s Degree on training in feng shui. 

As a feng shui practitioner, going to a business networking event where the person who has an interior painting business “does feng shui too!” gets old really fast. It is discouraging. What exactly do you say to a statement like that? I still have not figured out anything I could say that would be in the least bit gracious. I do sometimes ask who they studied with and where they got there certification, or what kind of feng shui they practice, in talk-shop kind of way. I would never want to be perceived as grilling someone (afterall, that person could be my next student.)

More often than not the answer shows that people are practicing at a very superficial level. When someone who claims to be practicing feng shui isn’t aware that there are different ways of practicing feng shui (that aren’t completely compatible) it devalues the profession. One could argue there is an even greater need then for certification and regulation, for people who are the ‘real deal’ practitioners.

Stay tuned for part two of this series in which I talk about the ‘real deal’ practitioner. What is a ‘real deal’ practitioner anyway?

© Deborah Redfern 2011. All rights reserved.