Shiatsu Society

Members Mentoring Scheme - Where you can find a listening ear

The Mentoring Service is a free service for anyone who is a member of the Shiatsu Society.  Its main aim is to give students and practitioners the chance to have some support, advice and help in reaching their objectives, whether it be passing their exams or building up their Shiatsu practice and gaining more confidence generally. Any of us can benefit from some support at times.

Mentees, i.e. those seeking mentoring, will have the chance to talk over their progress, not necessarily with experts, but more often with people like themselves who have just come a bit further along the Shiatsu path. Our service has been running since spring 2006 and is now well established, and the current mentoring team has had considerable experience of meeting mentors on Induction days, and finding out what people need to know about.

On January 20th 2007 we celebrated the launch of the new Mentoring Induction Packs with a Mentoring day and party for both mentors and mentees at the Shiatsu Studio in London.  These Induction Packs explain how to become a mentee and a mentor, and they are now being sent out from the Office, on request. A copy of the pack is available to download from the downloads page.   The pack comes with a list of mentors, and an application form. Would-be mentees will be able to choose from the list, sending their choice of three names on the application form to the Office, after which they will be allocated their first preference of whoever is currently available.    

We are encouraging new mentors (you must be a qualified MRSS Practitioners) to come forward to join our team. If you are interested you will also benefit from the new Induction Pack as there is an application form for you to fill in and send back to the office to register as a mentor. If you are already a mentor, please do remember to let us know if you would like another mentee, or in many cases, a first mentee. 

Please note that Mentoring is now accepted for the purposes of the CPD scheme, a very important and welcome development.   

Up and coming events:

Mentors will be on site at the 2010 congress in October and they are only too pleased to speak to members.

Everyone is invited to a special weekend at Lower Shaw Farm this summer, from 2nd to 4th July 2010, in Swindon, Wiltshire. 

Timetable:

Friday

Meeting at 5pm for a cup of tea followed by introductions and a tour around the farm
Delicious vegetarian dinner
Workshop 1 - Rose Fuhrmann - "Boundaries within Mentoring"
Come sit outside in the balmy evening and sip wine!

Saturday

Early morning Chi Gung with Francesca Jaggs
Workshop 2 - Jean Robertson-Molloy - "Mentoring - an interactive sharing"
Lunch
Leisurely Walk
Workshop 3 - Nicola Pooley - "Listening Skills"
Dinner
Social evening including a 5 ryhthms dance session with Francesca Jaggs and singing with Rose Furhmann

Sunday

Early morning Chi Gung with Francesca Jaggs
Workshop 4 - Jocelyn Wellburn - "Pair-stretches to share with clients, based on Okido Yoga"

EARN 12 CPD POINTS !!

2009 Mentoring Weekend - Read what happeneed.............

Our spirits soared as we drove off from London on a fine summer's day to attend the Shiatsu Mentoring Retreat in Lower Shaw Farm.  England hasn't had much of a summer this year, but we were lucky enough to have even more periods of sunshine over the weekend.
I went to the Retreat with no expectations and with an open heart and mind.  The weekend got off to a great start on Friday evening, when we all gathered for introductions, and then sat together for a delicious vegetarian meal.  Later in the evening we went to 'The Hayloft', a lovely room where we sat for meditation.  It was a fantastic feeling to be in such beautiful, natural surroundings; to go off to sleep in a warm, comfortable bed and in sweet silence.
Next day, we were all up for a 7.30am chi kung session with Chris Jarmey, who joined us for breakfast after the session.  Later in the morning  we had an interesting workshop with a skillful and delightful lady, Heather, who had joined us for dinner the previous evening and who blended beautifully with the group.  She kept our attentionn throughout the morning, demonstrating how to transfer skills and knowledge, and the session was a powerful catalyst to enable us to develop confidence in our skills.
In the afternoon we had some mentoring sessions and Shiatsu swaps.  The treatment I received was truly magical, carried out by a wonderful lady with a unique Shiatsu style that was thoroughly enjoyable and effective.  The experience deepened my knowledge of Shiatsu and also my understanding of my body and chi.
Saturday evening was memorable because of the wonderful feeling of togetherness that was generated.  We all stayed together sitting around the dinner table or on the sofas, chatting and relaxing.  I felt contented and so pleased to have experienced a day of learning and achievement.
On Sunday morning, our last day, we did chi kung again with Chris, this time on the lawn in the warm sunshine.
Tamsin Grainger's workshop, "Effective Communication", later on that morning was like the icing on the cake.  Her professionalism, the pace of the presentation, and the depth of her experience all contributed to hone our Shiatsu skills to an even greater degree.  For me, the most revealing experience was doing the makko ho's, experiencing Shiatsu touch and listening to sounds whilst blindfolded.
After lunch, we packed our things, and gathered together one last time to share about our learning and experiences over the weekend.  It was a beautiful sunny day and it felt as if we were on a wonderful holiday.  Each of the participants contributed to the week-end in their own unique and valuable way.  Personally, I felt that one of my main contributions was to share some of my experiences of having had Jean Robertson-Molloy as my mentor.  There is tremendous value in the mentoring service which is offered so freely and willingly. I learnt from Jean the importance of time management and to maintain appropriate boundaries and self respect.
Finally, we all felt grateful to Tamsin for the time and care she took to organise the weekend.  She held everything together in such a very beautiful way, keeping sessions to time, and guiding it all in a loving, gentle way.  Having Chris Jarmey come to teach us chi kung and also having the opportunity to share with him at breakfast time was also valuable and enjoyable. My thanks also go to John Brodie for all the time and effort he put in to make arrangements for the weekend.
Maria Faundez

Mentoring Sub-Committee

Our Mentoring Team is Francesca Jaggs, Jane Groombridge, Jocelyn Wellburn, and John Brodie. Board member responsible for mentoring: Tamsin Grainger. For fuller explanation about the service, please do read the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). There is also a single page summary of the service which is obtainable from the Office.

What to do now

1. If you would like to become a mentee: please download the Mentoring Induction Pack. It will come with a list of mentors and an application form. Choose 3 mentors (to help you choose you may want to look at geographical location, or Shiatsu specialisation, for example) and send that list to the Office on the form. The Office will then allocate your first preference of whoever is currently available. 

2. If you would like to become a mentor, are a qualified Shiatsu MRSS practitioner, and are willing to give two to three hours per month of your time, free, to help, then you also need the Induction Pack. So phone, e-mail or write (sending an A4 stamped addressed envelope) to The Shiatsu Society and you will receive all the information you need, plus an application form to become a mentor. Fill this in and return it to the Office and we will add you to the list. You can also email the Office.

Mentoring Service Induction Pack

Our Mentoring service is well established, and the current Mentoring Team has had considerable experience of meeting mentors on the Induction days, and finding out what people need to know about. We have now decided to streamline the Induction process so that everyone who wants to become a mentor, and is a qualified MRSS Practitioner, can do so more speedily than in the past. We recognise that, as in Shiatsu itself, the success of the enterprise depends as much on the attitude of the receiver, as the giver, so we are now making suggestions for would-be mentees, which we hope will prove helpful.

What is the Mentoring Service?

Essentially, this is a free service for anyone who is a member of the Shiatsu Society, and who, for any reason, feels the need of some extra support in their Shiatsu practice, whether with their progress towards qualification, or with aspects of their practice after qualification.  It is in no way a substitute for finding a Shiatsu School and fully qualified tutors.  While some of our mentors are indeed well-qualified teachers, many are not, and in any case the service we are offering is not technical, it’s a helping hand in a time of need, which mentors enter into for the sake of promoting and supporting the practice of Shiatsu.

MENTOR SECTION (useful for mentees to read)

How do you become a mentor? 

1. You must be a fully qualified Shiatsu practitioner to MRSS level and a member of the Shiatsu Society.

2. We no longer ask you to attend an Induction Day, but you need to familiarise yourselves with the basic principles of our scheme.  Please read through this Induction pack and make sure that you agree with the general principles outlined here.  Remember that mentoring is very much an individual thing; there is no one right way of doing it, but we can point  you in useful directions, and perhaps help you to avoid some obvious pitfalls.

3. You must be willing to:-

a) sign your agreement to follow our guidelines as outlined here

b)  give two or three hours a month to offer free advice, support, encouragement to your mentee.  You may communicate by phone, e-mail or face to face. (Your mentee should  pay for phone-calls)

4. You will be required to write a short profile of yourself, (200-300 words) noting your interests etc., and we will make this available to prospective mentees, on the Members’ Area of the Shiatsu Society website and from the Shiatsu Society office.  Please send your profile to the Shiatsu Society once you have decided that you would like to be a mentor. 

How many mentees should I have?
Either one or two mentees will usually be enough – it is your own choice.  This also depends on how often you have contact with your mentee. 

Making first contact
Mentees will contact the Office for a list of mentors or download it. They will fill in a form giving first, second and third choice of mentors. The Office will have an up-to-date list of which mentors that are free, and will then give the mentee the contact details of the requested mentor (trying wherever possible to pair up the mentee with her/his first choice of mentor.) It will then be up to the mentee to make first contact. You may then get a phone call; receive information about why the mentee is looking for mentoring.    Make an agreement re. amount of contact time needed, including times, dates etc..    clear some time to have a longish talk, either straight away or at one of those agreed times; listen to your mentee and give some tentative suggestions, encouragement or advice. Please remember listening carefully is generally more important than giving advice, useful though that can be.

Further contact
To avoid misunderstandings, it is very important that you come to an initial agreement as to when the mentee will be in touch again.  If you have not discussed the time for the next contact during your first conversation, you may be expecting to hear more in a week or two, whereas your mentee may be feeling quite satisfied and ‘forget’ to phone you for six months or so.

The Contract
To this end, both mentors and mentees will find life a lot easier if there is a workable contract.  This need not be in writing, however it must a clear agreement between you about what you both want.  Some possible topics you may want to get clear are:

1. What help is the mentee seeking? Can you supply it?  Will you be a good match for each other?  For instance, you might be a great Shiatsu practitioner but not at all knowledgeable on business skills.  That could be OK if your mentee is mainly seeking support with their  exam studies, prioritising their time etc.  But if they want more advice on building up a practice, that may not be your area of expertise.

2. What is your cancellation policy? Make it clear that you expect a certain amount of warning.

3. What would you like to get out of mentoring? Share these ideas with your mentee. 

4. What are the time boundaries for each session?  Make a decision at the beginning of the session. You can always change these at a later date by mutual agreement.

5. How will you know if the discussions are helpful or not?  Make some time for feed-back and review.  Be honest, on both sides.

6. What are your boundaries? You are not expected to be a counsellor or a tutor. If the mentee wants or needs the services of either, he/she will probably need to pay someone for such help.  The kind of support you are willing and able to offer will depend on your own work and life experience.  This may well mean that you are able to guide your mentee towards other kinds of support.  If you are a very experienced Shiatsu practitioner or teacher, you may need to decide what sort of help you are willing to give for free, and what you feel would be more appropriate for your mentee to seek elsewhere.   The same applies to mentors with counselling experience.  Mentors may find it helpful to tap into the ‘mentor support network’ by contacting one of the mentoring team.   

Every new mentor will be given the name of a ‘buddy’, a more experienced mentor, who can help you through the initial stages, should you wish.

Keeping in Touch
It is extremely important that you keep in touch with the Office to let them know:

1. When you have a space for a new mentee
2. When you start contact with a mentee
3. When you cease this contact

Insurance  
Mentors are covered by their normal Shiatsu insurance scheme, for the purposes of mentoring.

MENTEE SECTION (useful for mentors to read)

What is a mentee?              
Any member of the Shiatsu Society can choose to be a mentee, including mentors themselves.   We recognise that all of us can have times when we need some extra support.  You may be looking for help with study skills for your Shiatsu exams; with time management etc.; you may have lost a little confidence after a gap in study or practice; you may be feeling somewhat bereft after leaving school and fellow students behind, and wondering ‘what now?’— or any number of other reasons. 

How do I start?.          
Read the mentor profiles.  Fill in the form noting your first, second and third choices of mentor.           Send the form to the Office.  You will be contacted and given the details of a mentor. Every effort will be made to pair you up with your first choice of mentor if he/she has a space.  You will then be free to make contact.

What are you looking for?
Included in this Induction Pack is a list of mentor profiles. Mentors, like mentees, are all individuals and all have different strengths, so think about what you need from a mentor, and then identify three people who have the skills you are looking for. If you would like face-to-face contact you may want to find someone living or working near you. You may want to lookfor someone who trained at the same School as you.

Working with your mentor
Please remember that although your mentor is not charging any money for their services, they are putting precious time and energy into offering you this help.If you have made initial contact and you are not sure whether you want another session, make a date to contact your mentor to let them know what you decide. If you don’t want to continue, this could enable them to offer time to someone else..           Make your satisfactions and dissatisfactions clear to your mentor.          

Make a contract.          
Stick to time boundaries.          
Be careful to keep in touch when you say you will
Please note that you are not obliged to book a certain number of sessions; a ‘one-off’  may turn out to be all you need.

Keeping in Touch
It is extremely important that you keep in touch with the Office, to let them know:

1. When you start contact with a mentor
2. When you cease this contact

FOR MENTORS AND MENTEES

What are the Characteristics of Good Mentoring?.          

* Good mutual communication.           
* Confidentiality.          
* Good listening skills.           
* Empathy.           
* Willingness to share experience (where relevant).           
* Encouragement.          
* Mutual respect.           
* Commitment.          
* Clear definition of boundaries

This list is not exhaustive, but could be a basis for discussion on first contact, to help both parties decide what they want, or can offer.

Mentoring Days 
You are no longer required to attend a Mentoring Day in order to become a mentor. The Shiatsu Society will run some regular Mentoring Discussion sessions where you can meet with fellow mentors / mentees, and exchange your ideas, skills, questions about the mentoring process. A  certificate of attendance  will be given which may be used as proof of Continual Professional Development.

Support
The Mentoring team and the Office are always available to advise.

Code of Ethics   
We have a very strong ethical code in the Shiatsu Society, and all mentors and mentees are bound by this.  For this reason please read the Code of Ethics on the downloads page.   In case of difficulties, please share the problem with one of the Mentoring team, or if need be, with a member of the Ethics Committee of the Society. Complaints/Plaudits. Please do not hesitate to contact the Mentoring team or the Shiatsu Society in either case.