FEELING a bit stressed lately? Suffering from aches and pains? Then, like thousands of others, you could be considering a visit to a complementary health therapist. Britons spend £130 million a year on complementary therapists, and the figure is set to reach £200 million over the next four years, as we grow ever more dissatisfied with conventional medicine.

The cost of sessions depends on the type of therapy, your location and also the practitioner, but it can run into hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds for regular customers. The first session is usually the most expensive because it involves a consultation. In London, acupuncture costs can vary between £90 and £120 an hour, falling to £35 to £45 an hour in the Midlands. Homoeopathy is more expensive, costing an estimated £70 to £125 in London and £35 to £60 in the Midlands.

Add this up over a course of only six sessions and the total cost rises from £210 to £750, not including cancellation fees. If you cannot make an appointment and do not give at least 24 hours’ notice, in most cases you will still have to pay.

If you are lucky, you might find a therapist who is not in the industry purely to make money, but more because he or she wants to help people. These magnanimous souls can charge as little as £20 an hour, rarely impose cancellation fees and will even let you pay less if you are hard-up. Karin Mont, of the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (08700 736339, a-r-h.org), says: “It is quite common for therapists not to charge anything like what they are worth. They go into the trade because they want to help people, but do not value their services adequately.”

Whether you pay £25 or £125, you are entitled to expect treatment from a trained and qualified therapist. The problem is that not all are. Bona fide therapists will have completed years of training and will be registered with a professional body. But anyone with a spare room can, unofficially, set themselves up as an aromatherapist. There are plans for a new voluntary code for complementary therapists, which will act as a quality guarantee for the public. Some alternative therapies, such as homoeopathy and osteopathy, are already regulated.

However, in the absence of full regulation, anyone considering a visit should always check that the therapist belongs to a governing association and is listed as a practising therapist with relevant qualifications. Barbara Richards, a qualifed Bowen therapist based in the East Midlands, says: “If in doubt, always ask to see a therapist’s certificate of competence and up-to-date insurance documents. If they cannot provide these, walk out. Better still, research on the internet before your appointment.”

A therapist may be eligible to register with more than one association, so if you can’t find yours, ask with which one he or she is registered. If you have visited an unregistered therapist, there is little hope for redress if you have a complaint. Complaints against any registered therapist will be subject to the formal procedures laid down by the relevant association.

Terry Cullen, chairman of the British Complementary Medicine Association (0845 345977, bcma.co.uk), says: “If someone has a complaint, he or she should contact the relevant association for the therapy. If it is serious, the association will hold a disciplinary hearing and can remove the therapist from the register.”

The difficulty with complaining because you did not feel you received value for money is that customers undergo treatment knowing that it might not make them better. Some therapists ask patients to sign a disclaimer, so that they cannot claim redress if treatment is not effective. Ms Mont says: “It is not a case of saying, ‘I didn’t get better, I want my money back’. A patient might say that, but he or she may be better without realising it because the changes can be quite subtle.”

Nevertheless, Ms Mont says that most therapists will pay a refund rather than risk upsetting a patient. “If practitioners feel genuinely sorry that they were unable to help, then most will agree to give back the money as a gesture of goodwill.”

CASE STUDY

TEARAY DOSANJH, of Nottingham, thinks that any money spent on giving himself time out of his busy life as a property developer is money well spent. Mr Dosanjh, left, has an hour of Bowen therapy treatment each week to help with his bad back. The sessions cost £30 a time, but the 35-year-old says that they are worth more because the benefits last a couple of days.

He says: “It helps physically but also has psychological benefits. It gives me time to forget about everything and I still feel great a couple of days later. The cost is relative really.”