a community of practitioners

What we call our work...

Using the professional modality name is very important no matter what style of wellness we offer our clients. The professional title for any stone work that involves temperature is Geothermal Therapy. This generic term means Geo-Stone, Thermal-temperature Therapy…. And stone work involving crystals and gems where the temperature is not altered is called Non-thermal Geotherapy….this terminology has been adopted by the only professional association developed for stone practitioners…The Geothermal Therapy Association is an international organization created to bring stricter guidelines and uniform criteria for safety and sanitation.

We see folks saying ‘hot stone’ or hot and cold stone and many other descriptive terms for this work…many of these are actually company names which indicates the speaker is endorsing a particular methodology when that may not be the intention. We are always seeking ways to enhance our professionalism and to promote our chosen modality to the public in a manner that will increase knowledge. Using the proper modality name will help support this goal.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mary Ellen Derwis-Balaz on December 13, 2009 at 2:26pm

Jenny,
I will give that some taught. I think i understand where you are coming from but I did not take a class on geothermal therapy. I was taught hot stone therapy by my Kahuna. He simply called it massage with hot stones. It is a traditional Hawaiian form of healing. I would like to keep that affiliation. And show him proper respect in the process. I call it Traditional Hawaiian hot stone massage. But if you want to market it as geothermal therapy I say go for it. BTW the Hawaiians are not the only ones who use this modality in their healing practices. Thanks for your perspective.