Shiatsu Society

Membership of the Society provides a pathway to being a nationally registered practitioner in the UK.

Generally, people will train at a Shiatsu School in order to gain a Diploma from that school which can be part of a route to becoming a Member of the Register of Professional Practitioners of the Shiatsu Society (MRSS).

The present system is that you keep a Training Record card of the courses you attend.  This provides evidence for the MRSS Assessment of the number of hours you have put in, and that you have trained with the requisite number of Shiatsu Society Teachers.  The Training area of the public part of the website gives more information about these criteria and the alternative to the MRSS assessment.

You need to join the Society at least two years before you graduate from your school in order to go straight on to either the MRSS Assessment presently held by the Society twice a year, or the Post Graduate Year Programme.

The Society provides support in various forms:

Being a student member of the Society connects you to a national network of students and practitioners across the country.

You receive a copy of the Register of Practitioners so that you can contact Practitioner and Graduate members of the Society, for example, with regard to booking treatments, making new contacts etc.

You receive the quarterly Shiatsu Society News where there are topical articles about Shiatsu and related topics, as well as information about courses and practise classes around the country. There is a Student Page in the newsletter where you can submit articles or accounts about your Shiatsu life.

You may like to take advantage of the mentoring scheme which is run by the Society, and where you can make contact with one members who is interested in taking on the mentoring role. They agree to offer a few hours a month to help support you in your Shiatsu training. Mainly people take advantage of this to support their route to becoming a Member of the Register of Professional Practitioners of the Shiatsu Society (MRSS).

You may like to join us at our Annual Congress - students are very welcome. Every year we book a venue for the weekend and organise talks and workshops on Shiatsu-related themes. Saturday evening is usually an event such as a ceilidh or disco to provide some variation for our Ki!

Students are eligible to be involved in running the Society eg, on Sub-Committees, or can be elected to the Board of Directors. Many people have skills developed in other areas of life which can be really helpful in keeping our Society on course as a significant body in Shiatsu professionalisation in the UK. Come to the AGM or the EGM to find out more about these issues.

We offer free Regional Forums and Workshops to members throughout the year.

So, lots of options - we look forward to meeting you one way or another!

Feel free to contact any Director or the Office for further information and clarification.

Student Projects on the Web!

NEW !!!!

The Shiatsu Society is developing a list of Projects that Students have done as part of their second or third year training at their Shiatsu School.  This provides a wider forum for other shiatsu people to see your project.  It will also provide a useful resource for shiatsu students to draw on when writing their own projects, to refer to what has been done before.  This is good academic practice.  Additionally, it is a way of disseminating some of the excellent information gathered by 2nd and 3rd students on particular areas of shiatsu, and case study projects on particular issues.  So, if your interest is, for example, on the management of pain using shiatsu, you may find looking at Prasannavira’s project of particular interest to your own practice.  This is also how good practice can develop, and is part of continuing professional development.

Visit the list in Document Downloads.  Projects are available as pdf documents from this area.  If you would like to submit your project for inclusion, please complete the form on the Downloads page, and return to the Office.