Flower essences (Australian bush, FES and others)

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Ian White, Richard Katz, Patricia Kaminski · 1979 · California, USA

What it is

Flower essences are liquid preparations made from flowers (and, in some ranges, from other plants, gems, crystals or "environments"), most of them preserved with alcohol, chosen to match a person's emotional state rather than a physical illness. Followers believe each essence carries the "healing…

Format

• No fixed session count; the work is woven into ordinary therapy sessions.
• Understand meaning (one or more sessions as relevant): explanatory model, hopes, what draws the client. Move on when you can state the client's own account back to them accurately.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Practitioner consultation: a fee-paying consultation in which the practitioner asks how the person feels, considers personality type, and selects one or a blend of essences according to emotional state rather than illness. Practitioner backgrounds include naturopathy and kinesiology (the Bush founder's own training) and dedicated essence-practitioner certification.
• Course of work (Alaskan model, as one published example): client writes an intake in their own words describing situation and goals; practitioner and client set goals together; work proceeds in repeated "cycles", each closed by a client self-evaluation form and a practitioner case-evaluation form; a summary report reviews how goals were met or changed. Certification requires a seven-day practitioner training, three…
• Teaching networks: the Bush range is taught through workshops in Australia and overseas; in 2011 about 80 teachers ran Bush workshops nationally. FES runs training, certification and international seminars. Course content and levels for FES and Bush certification.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line): a systematic review of seven randomised trials of Bach flower remedies concluded that the most reliable trials "fail to show efficacy"; essences do not prevent, control or cure cancer.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• substitution (one remedy replaced by another check); shame. Working: less checking and reassurance-seeking overall.
• notes that read as endorsement or ridicule; keep them factual. Working: another clinician could pick up the thread.
• a pull to please or impress the client by sharing your views. Working: the client accepts the role boundary and continues to disclose.
• minimisation, secrecy, sudden withdrawal from medical appointments, rising spending. Working: the client keeps medical care and can talk openly about both.
• parental defensiveness; a practitioner advising against medical care for a child. Working: medical care continues and the family can discuss choices openly.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.