Aromatherapy
Overview
Essential oils are widely used, but using them well requires precise knowledge. This course offers a rigorous, safety-first approach to aromatherapy, grounded in reading the available evidence and recognizing the limits of advice.
After the essential safety rules and an overview of the origins of aromatherapy, the course covers essential oil identity (botanical name, plant part, chemotype), chemistry, extraction processes and quality criteria. It then addresses physical properties, choosing a carrier and calculating concentrations, followed by the families of aromatic molecules and the precautions associated with them.
Students learn to distinguish levels of evidence — traditional use, observation, laboratory findings, clinical studies — and to justify a choice, or a decision not to use an oil, through practical cases. A materia medica presents thirteen common essential oils as monographs: product identity, available data, routes and dosage guidelines, contraindications and precautions.
By the end of the course, students will be able to assess a product’s quality, calculate a preparation, look up the relevant precautions, recognize situations that call for a referral and document follow-up.
Included teaching methods:
- E-Learning training: an interactive, motivating, and effective learning method.
- Printable course materials
- Online exams
- Access to the student portal
- Videos and virtual library.
Course Content Description
Student Guide
- Exam Submission Deadline
- Course Objectives
- Chapter Organization
- Working Method
- Assessment
- Main Course References
Before You Begin: Essential Safety Rules
- Five Basic Rules
- What to Do in Case of Accidental Exposure
Chapter 1
Introduction: Aromatherapy, Its Origins and Its Limits
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- What Is Aromatherapy?
- Historical Landmarks
- Key Concepts: Evidence and the Limits of Advice
- Worked Example: Marie’s Request
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 1
Chapter 2
Essential Oil Identity and Chemistry
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- Definitions
- Reading an Oil’s Identity
- Where Do Essential Oil Constituents Come From?
- Chemotypes
- Worked Example: The Three Bottles of Thyme
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 2
Chapter 3
Extraction and Quality of Essential Oils
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- Steam Distillation
- Other Processes and the Resulting Products
- Essential Oil Quality
- Storage
- Worked Example: Julien’s Bottle
- Documentation Checklist
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 3
Chapter 4
Physical Properties, Carriers and Preparations
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- Physical Properties of Essential Oils
- Three Products to Tell Apart and Choosing a Carrier
- Diluting and Dispersing
- Calculating a Concentration
- Worked Example: Camille’s Preparation
- Preparing and Documenting a Batch
- Key Method
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 4
Chapter 5
Aromatic Molecules: Composition and Precautions
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- What a Chemical Family Can — and Cannot — Tell Us
- Terpenoid-Derived Families
- Phenylpropanoid-Derived Families
- Worked Example: Helichrysum, Wintergreen and Eucalyptus
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 5
Chapter 6
Essential Oil Properties: Reading the Evidence and Justifying a Choice
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- Why Move Away from Lists of Properties
- Levels of Evidence
- What the Data Show for Selected Uses
- A Selection Method
- A Reasoned Teaching Kit
- Worked Example: Clara’s List
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 6
Chapter 7
Practical Applications: From Case to Decision
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- Routes of Use
- Populations Requiring Specific Assessment
- Recognizing Referral Situations
- The Aromatogram and Its Limits
- Tools for the Process
- Six Worked Cases
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 7: Eight Cases and Four Case Files
Chapter 8
Aromatherapy Materia Medica
- Starting Scenario
- Chapter Objectives
- How This Materia Medica Is Organized
- True Lavender — Lavandula angustifolia Mill.
- Peppermint — Mentha × piperita L.
- Tea Tree — Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel
- Blue Gum Eucalyptus — Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
- Narrow-Leaved Eucalyptus — Eucalyptus radiata Sieber ex DC.
- Ravintsara — Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J.Presl ct. 1,8-cineole
- Lemon — Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck
- Bergamot — Citrus bergamia Risso & Poit.
- Petitgrain Bigarade — Citrus aurantium L. (leaves)
- Helichrysum — Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G.Don
- Wintergreen — Gaultheria procumbens L.
- Common Sage — Salvia officinalis L.
- Common Thyme — Thymus vulgaris L. (chemotypes)
- Reference Oils
- Summary and Self-Assessment
- Knowledge Review
- Activities 8
Appendices
- Essential Oil Dictionary — English / Latin
- Essential Oil Dictionary — Latin / English
- General Bibliography
- Answer Keys
