How to become an SATCC-approved spa or spa therapist?

What makes the SATCC stamp of approval so special when it comes to therapist training in cancer touch treatments? Here we give an overview of the process that therapists and spas go through in order to treat cancer patients with confidence.

The SATCC approval process

The values, standards, and processes designed by the SATCC (a registered charity) are all about ensuring a consistent,  high standard of training for therapists when it comes to treating cancer patients with confidence at any stage of their cancer journey. 

Individual therapists

If you are an individual or self-employed therapist, you can go directly to the training provider to find an appropriate course.

Anybody training on an SATCC-approved course must have an internationally recognised Level 3 therapist qualification. If you do, then you can go onto the SATCC website’s list of approved training providers to choose the right one for you. Some training providers will come to you, some work internationally, some have courses where individual therapists can go to them at their own training facility. 

Each approved training course includes a fee of £25 per head, which goes to the SATCC. We then charge an annual £25 fee to feature you on the SATCC’s Spa Finder (postcode search), and ensure you’re provided with our dedicated marketing support (detailed below). 

Spas

For spas, the process is similar to individual therapists, whereby an initial fee of £25 is charged for each therapist attending training. Again, all therapists doing the cancer touch training need to have an internationally recognised Level 3 qualification to be eligible.

It may be that the spa brand you currently work with already has an SATCC-approved and accredited training course for cancer touch treatments, in which case you can liaise with them about higher level training. Alternatively, you can find the right training provider for you on the SATCC website.

As a pre-requisite to the therapists completing their training, the spa will be asked to sign the SATCC’s Employer & Therapist Charter, which is a simple guide for our member values and behaviours.

Once you have signed the charter and your touch for cancer training is complete, you will be added to the SATCC’s Spa Finder (postcode search).  An annual fee of £250 will be payable a year after completion of your training, and each year thereafter. You will also receive marketing support materials and communications as a valued member of the SATCC community.

What you get when you join the SATCC

There are lots of benefits to being a member of the SATCC, from specific tangible elements to the strength and support that comes from being part of a passionate, forward-thinking community. 

In practical terms, that includes, but is not limited to, giving you:

• Featuring you on the SATCC postcode search so clients can easily find you
• Our Brand Partner Digital Pack 
• SATCC Brand guidelines, colours and logos formatted for web and print
• Website banners, QR codes and pop-ups
• Approved, licensed images shared (not for sale)
• Positioning statements and approved soundbites for your own newsletters, self generated campaigns, promotions and launch collaboration
• The Brand Partner Visual pack includes Window logos, a desktop acrylic brand plaque, with access to pop-up banner artwork or additional large format artwork as required.
• The Brand Training pack includes therapist training pins, logo integration into your certificates or individual templates and fact cards for clear communication of Touch for Cancer therapies

We also have a dedicated PR team promoting the work of the SATCC and highlighting both our commitment to holistic cancer care and yours. For example, European Spa recently published a beautiful article on our consumer-facing initiative, Touch for Cancer Care, on World Cancer Day. 

Perhaps most importantly, when you become an SATCC member you join a supportive community. It’s not just about us telling you things – we want to hear your news, thoughts, questions, challenges, and ideas as well. As part of that, we deliver regular newsletters with up-to-date information about our work and the evolving world of holistic cancer care. 

Why is Cancer Touch training important?

There are more people being diagnosed with cancer, and living longer with it or beyond it, than ever before. The wellbeing industry as a whole is evolving to accommodate this shift, and spas, salons and therapists will continue to play an evermore important role in supporting those individuals. There are lots of reasons Cancer Touch training is important, but we tend to focus on three core areas: 

The business case

From a spa business perspective, with one in two people being diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, not to mention more people living with cancer, the sheer volume of people impacted means that spas and therapists cannot simply turn people away if they don’t have the training to treat them. 

The legal question

There is a legal issue for wellbeing providers when it comes to cancer patients, which we wrote about in our article, Cancer is a disability. Cancer is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. That means businesses are required to make reasonable changes, where needed, to accommodate an individual’s needs following a cancer diagnosis. With training now available, it is ‘reasonable’ to consider appropriate therapist training for cancer patients if you don’t have it in place already.

The human experience

No one we have ever met has been looking for a way to avoid treating cancer patients – they have always been frustrated and saddened by having their hands tied. Those hands are no longer tied. We know we can’t treat cancer, but we can treat the person with cancer, delivering proven wellbeing benefits and helping them feel human again.

What gives the SATCC its power?

The SATCC’s stamp of approval ensures you and your team receive the best training possible when it comes to holistic cancer care. For our members, our first port of call is to make sure the training we signpost to delivers the best for your business, your team, and your clients. The second part of our commitment is to give SATCC members the support, information, and materials they need to market that specialist training to their team, and their clients.

To do that we have:

• World class leadership: the SATCC is led by Sue Harmsworth MBE, and our trustees and advisory board members represent leaders from the worlds of spa, wellbeing, and medicine.
• Accredited training: All training courses approved by the SATCC are accredited by one of the main accrediting bodies.
• Specialist insurance: We have a list of insurance providers who can provide comprehensive cover for therapists who have successfully completed SATCC approved training.
• A strong community: To date, more than 500 spa destinations and wellbeing therapists have signed up to our Charter and committed to SATCC approved training already.

If you would like to find out more about SATCC approval or creating your own, accredited training, you can explore our website or contact us any time.