Atlas›Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield›Guide 107
Guide XII-107

Aura-Soma

Vicky Wall1983Lincolnshire, UK
A 26 · L 46 · M 2810 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: the one-to-one Aura-Soma consultation as currently published by Aura-Soma (the company's own consultation, Equilibrium and FAQ pages), with The Aura-Soma Sourcebook (Booth and McKnight, 2006) as the organisation's reference book. Details of that book are cited from its publisher's description. Where these differ (for example, the number of Equilibrium bottles), both are named.

What it is. The company describes Aura-Soma as "a system of colour, plant and crystal energies" meant to "enhance happiness and vitality" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs]. Its main product is the Equilibrium range: two-coloured bottles with an upper oil layer and a lower water layer [source: Aura-Soma, Introduction to Equilibrium]. The publisher's description of the Sourcebook gives 104 Equilibrium bottles plus 30 related fragrances [source: Simon & Schuster, Sourcebook page]. The company's own product page for the full set says the collection currently stands at 124 bottles, so the range has grown [source: Aura-Soma, Full Equilibrium Bottle Set]. Related products named in company material include Pomanders, which are held in the hand and "introduced into the aura" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs].

Origin, as the organisation tells it. According to the company, Vicky Wall worked as a pharmacologist, surgical chiropodist and healer. After retiring, she meditated, perceived colours, and mixed the first Equilibrium bottles in her laboratory overnight. The company describes her as having sensed colours around people since childhood and links this to synaesthesia [source: Aura-Soma, Self-Discovery through Colour book page]. The company says it "first created our products in 1983" and makes them in Tetford, Lincolnshire, UK [source: Aura-Soma FAQs]. Mike Booth is described as principal of the Art and Science International Academy of Colour Technologies (ASIACT), chairman of Aura-Soma Products Ltd, and someone who cared for and worked with the founder for seven years [source: Simon & Schuster, Sourcebook page]. Current material names the teaching body as the Aura-Soma Academy, with Mike Booth as Chairman [source: Aura-Soma US page].

Core idea of change, as the method holds it. Aura-Soma is self-selective. The client chooses four bottles by being drawn to them, not by favourite colours. The organisation holds that "the colours you are drawn to are the colours you need" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs]. In its account, the upper colour mirrors conscious awareness and outward expression, and the lower colour mirrors the subconscious. The choice and its order are read as insight into the client's life path, motivations, blocks and hidden talents [source: What to expect during an Aura-Soma consultation]. Each colour is linked to a chakra, and the product's "vibrational energy" is said to activate on contact with the skin [source: Introduction to Equilibrium]. These are the system's own concepts. They are reported here as Aura-Soma holds them, without endorsing or dismissing them.

For a psychotherapist, Aura-Soma is used as a consultation and reflection tool. The colour choice works as a projective prompt for conversation about self, values and direction. Claims about physical health or energy belong to the organisation. Aura-Soma is not presented here as a treatment for any mental or physical disorder [synthesis].

Evidence status (one line): no controlled clinical evidence for psychological or health effects is cited here [uncertain: not verified]. UK advertising regulators require robust clinical evidence for treatment claims and have not seen such evidence for the related crystal and aura therapies [source: CAP advice, Crystal therapy].

2. Framework

Format, as published. The consultation is one-to-one with an "accredited Aura-Soma Practitioner". It lasts up to 90 minutes and costs from $95 in the US, or from £75 or local equivalent on the company's general consultation page [source: Aura-Soma US page; Aura-Soma, Beyond Colour]. The company says it has practitioners in more than 40 countries [source: Aura-Soma FAQs]. Company pages do not describe a multi-session course. A consultation is a single event, and a further consultation may be booked later [uncertain: not verified].

Phases of a consultation, as reconstructed from the company's published descriptions. Labels 1 and 6 are added [synthesis].

  1. Welcome and framing. The practitioner welcomes the client and guides a customised self-selection [source: What to expect]. Move on when the client understands the process and has consented.
  2. Self-selection of four bottles. The client stands before the bottles and chooses the four they feel most drawn to, by "energetic connection" rather than favourite colours [source: What to expect; Aura-Soma US page; Introduction to Equilibrium]. Move on when four bottles are chosen and their order is noted.
  3. Exploring the colours. The practitioner explores each bottle's upper and lower colours and its position in the sequence. The company says both colour placement and selection order "offer insight" [source: What to expect]. The practitioner discusses what each bottle in its position might represent [source: Introduction to Equilibrium]. The company's consultation page says the four bottles together denote the client's "soul bottle", their gifts and talents, where they are coming from emotionally, and what is emotionally required for the future [source: Aura-Soma, Beyond Colour]. Which position carries which of these meanings is not stated on that page [uncertain: not verified]; it is taught on the organisation's courses and described in its books.
  4. Life-story dialogue. The practitioner relates the colour combination to the client's life path, motivations, possible blocks and hidden talents [source: What to expect]. The client may need support in all four areas or only in the first two [source: Introduction to Equilibrium].
  5. Integration. The client may choose an affirmation to repeat during the day [source: Introduction to Equilibrium]. One of the four bottles may become part of the client's personal practice, applied to the skin [source: practitioner page; Introduction to Equilibrium]. Application details are not given here; see section 4.7.
  6. Close [synthesis]: summary, the client's own takeaways, and a link back to therapy goals.

Training and certification route. The organisation refers to its practitioners as "accredited" [source: Aura-Soma US page; FAQs]. Training is run by the Aura-Soma Academy (historically ASIACT) through a courses-and-events listing and a membership and practitioner register on the Academy's site. The site's course listings include a course titled "Aura-Soma Practitioner Level 3". The full level structure, prerequisites, hours and assessment are [uncertain: not verified]; check them directly with the Aura-Soma Academy. Aura-Soma is not a regulated health profession in the UK or US. Its certification is an organisational credential, not a clinical licence [synthesis].

Combining with psychotherapy. The company's public pages do not say how to combine Aura-Soma with psychotherapy [uncertain: not verified]. For a licensed therapist, the safest structure has two parts [synthesis]:

  • (a) Integrated exploratory use. The selection is done only after separate, written informed consent, as an optional projective and reflective exercise within the therapy contract.
  • (b) Separation. The therapist keeps psychotherapy separate and refers the client to an independent accredited practitioner if they want a full consultation or products.

Under either route the therapist does not sell bottles to their own clients (see Principle 6).

Professional-body positions. No published position on Aura-Soma by a psychotherapy professional body is cited here [uncertain: not verified]. The APA Ethics Code requires several things: competence within the boundaries of one's training (2.01), judgments grounded in established knowledge (2.04), and, for treatments without generally recognised techniques, telling clients the approach is developing and explaining its risks, alternatives and the voluntary nature of participation (10.01b) [source: APA Ethics Code]. UK advertising rules bar claims that could discourage people from seeking essential medical treatment (CAP rule 12.2) [source: CAP advice, Crystal therapy].

3. Guiding principles

  1. Self-selection: the client chooses. The organisation describes the method as "uniquely self-selective and non-intrusive" [source: What to expect]. Practically: never steer the choice. Only the client handles the decision.
  2. Choose by attraction, not preference. The client is told to set aside favourite colours [source: What to expect]. Practically: invite a felt sense of being drawn, and allow time.
  3. Intuition, not diagnosis. The company contrasts intuitive choice with "conventional 'diagnosis' methods" [source: What to expect]. Practically: nothing that comes out of a selection is a clinical assessment. Never record it as a diagnosis, and never use it to rule out any condition.
  4. Mirror, not prescription. The organisation frames the colours as a mirror of the client's story; the Sourcebook subtitle is "Color Therapy for the Soul" [source: Simon & Schuster, Sourcebook page]. Practically: offer meanings tentatively and let the client confirm, revise or reject them [synthesis].
  5. Attribute the system's concepts. Chakras, aura, energies and vibration are the method's beliefs [source: Introduction to Equilibrium]. Practically: say "in Aura-Soma's view…". Neither assert nor debunk.
  6. One role at a time. The APA code covers multiple relationships (3.05) and conflicts of interest (3.06) [source: APA Ethics Code]. Practically: do not sell bottles, courses or consultations to your therapy clients. If you also practise Aura-Soma commercially, keep that practice separate and refer elsewhere [synthesis].
  7. Complementary, never instead of care. CAP rule 12.2 [source: CAP advice]. Practically: make no claims about treating disease or mental disorders. Route health questions, including pregnancy, skin reactions and medicines, to the doctor or pharmacist. The company's own FAQ advises consulting a medical professional in pregnancy "if in any doubt" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs].
  8. Informed, voluntary participation (APA 10.01b) [source: APA Ethics Code]. Practically: written consent and an explicit right to decline or stop. It must make no difference to the therapy if the client declines.
  9. No touch needed. The consultation as published involves choosing and talking. Products are applied by the client to their own skin [source: FAQs; Introduction to Equilibrium]. Practically: the therapist does not apply products to the client. If touch is ever proposed, it requires explicit consent before and during, the client may stop at any time, and it is never sexual [synthesis].
  10. Client's meaning first. Practically: the client's associations to a colour count for more than any book meaning, and cultural and religious colour meanings are respected [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

The organisation's published consultation contains items 4.2 to 4.7. Items 4.1 and 4.8 to 4.10 are the psychotherapist's framing and safety work [synthesis]. Bottle-by-bottle meanings, position meanings and product application belong to Aura-Soma's own courses and books and are not reproduced here.

4.1 Role decision and informed consent [synthesis; APA 10.01b]

  • Purpose: to set up an optional, clearly bounded exercise before any selection.
  • Steps:
    1. Decide which route applies: exploratory use inside therapy, or referral to an independent accredited practitioner (section 2).
    2. Check your own Aura-Soma training and whether this use falls within your licence (APA 2.01).
    3. Explain what Aura-Soma is, attributing its concepts to the organisation.
    4. Describe what happens: choosing four bottles, then talking. No touch is involved, and you do not apply anything to the client.
    5. Give the evidence status in one line, as in section 1.
    6. Say it is optional and is not a treatment for any condition. The client can stop at any point, and declining will not affect therapy.
    7. State that you do not sell products.
    8. Record consent in writing.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Aura-Soma is a colour system. You'd pick four bottles you feel drawn to, and we'd use them as a starting point for talking about what matters to you right now. The organisation has its own beliefs about energy and colour; I'm offering it as a reflective exercise, not a treatment. There's no research showing it treats any condition. It's completely optional, and saying no won't change anything in our work."
  • Watch for: the client agreeing out of deference to you; expectations of a cure or a prediction; religious objections to energy or esoteric frameworks; and a client who wants to buy from you.

4.2 Framing the self-selection [source: What to expect; Aura-Soma US page]

  • Purpose: to help the client choose by felt attraction, as the method requires.
  • Steps:
    1. Set out the bottles so the client can stand or sit before the whole range.
    2. Ask them to set aside favourite colours and notice which bottles they feel drawn to.
    3. Give them unhurried time.
    4. Do not comment or steer while they choose.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Take your time. Rather than picking colours you usually like, notice which ones seem to call to you today. There are no right or wrong choices."
  • Watch for: freezing or perfectionism ("what if I pick wrong?"), and choices aimed at pleasing you. Check for colour-vision differences beforehand and adapt if needed [synthesis].

4.3 Choosing four bottles and recording the order [source: What to expect; Introduction to Equilibrium; Sourcebook page]

  • Purpose: in the method's account, the four bottles and their order are a key to past difficulties and to the potential for growth [source: Simon & Schuster, Sourcebook page].
  • Steps:
    1. The client chooses four bottles one at a time.
    2. Note each bottle's number or colours and its order of selection.
    3. Let the client place them in sequence.
    4. Write down the client's spontaneous first reactions before offering any interpretation [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "Which one first? … And next? … Before I say anything, what's your first reaction to these four together?"
  • Watch for: the company publicly names only the four themes the set of bottles is said to show (soul bottle; gifts and talents; where the client is coming from emotionally; what is emotionally required for the future) [source: Aura-Soma, Beyond Colour]; the mapping of themes to positions is taught in Aura-Soma training [uncertain: not verified]. Do not improvise a position mapping and present it as Aura-Soma's.

4.4 Exploring the upper and lower fractions [source: What to expect; Introduction to Equilibrium]

  • Purpose: in Aura-Soma's account, the upper colour (oil) mirrors conscious awareness and outward expression, and the lower colour (water) mirrors the subconscious.
  • Steps:
    1. For each bottle, invite the client's associations to the top colour, then the bottom colour.
    2. Offer the system's framing as attributed: in Aura-Soma, the top is what is visible and the bottom is what lies beneath.
    3. Ask how that fits their experience.
    4. Link the material to life areas the client names [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "In Aura-Soma, the top colour is said to reflect what you show the world, and the bottom what's underneath. Does that fit anything for you? What comes up with this deep blue underneath?"
  • Watch for: the client relaxing into self-description (a sign it is working as a prompt); or the client treating meanings as verdicts. Return the authority to the client.

4.5 Life-story dialogue: path, motivations, blocks, gifts [source: What to expect]

  • Purpose: the company describes exploring how the chosen colours relate to the client's life path, motivations, possible blocks and hidden talents.
  • Steps:
    1. Take each bottle in order.
    2. Ask open, strengths-based questions.
    3. Reflect themes back to the client.
    4. Connect them to the client's stated therapy goals [synthesis].
    5. Note emerging material, such as grief, ambivalence or values, for ongoing therapy rather than resolving it in one sitting [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "If this bottle were saying something about a gift you don't use enough, what might it be? … And where does something feel stuck?"
  • Watch for: strong affect or trauma memories surfacing. If so, slow down, ground the client, and contain using your usual stabilisation methods [synthesis]. Also watch for idealising the method or the founder's story.

4.6 Affirmation [source: Introduction to Equilibrium]

  • Purpose: the company suggests the client may choose an affirmation to repeat during the day. For a peace-themed bottle its example is "I breathe in peace, I breathe out peace."
  • Steps:
    1. Invite the client to draft a short statement in their own words, linked to a theme from the dialogue.
    2. Check that it feels believable and not self-critical [synthesis].
    3. Agree when the client might use it.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Is there a short phrase you'd like to carry from today? Something that feels true enough to say to yourself?"
  • Watch for: affirmations that feel false and backfire, especially with low self-esteem. Keep them modest and in the client's own words [synthesis].

4.7 Integration and personal use of products: the therapist's role [source: FAQs; Introduction to Equilibrium; practitioner page]

  • Purpose: the organisation describes clients taking one of the chosen bottles into personal practice, applied to the skin. The company publishes this; the therapist does not prescribe it.
  • Steps:
    1. If the client wants products, direct them to the organisation's own product information or an independent accredited practitioner.
    2. Do not sell, recommend or instruct on application.
    3. For skin sensitivity, allergies, pregnancy or any medical question, route the client to their GP or pharmacist. The company's FAQ advises consulting a medical professional in pregnancy "if in any doubt" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs].
    4. Explore with the client what having the bottle means to them, for example as a reminder, a ritual or a sense of agency [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "If you'd like to use a bottle at home, the Aura-Soma practitioners and the company's own information cover that; it's outside what I do. What I'm curious about is what having it would mean for you."
  • Watch for: spending pressure, repeated purchases or courses, and expectations that the product will fix symptoms. Watch too for any use in place of prescribed treatment; route that to the prescriber [synthesis].

4.8 Bridging to the therapy work [synthesis]

  • Purpose: to turn colour material into usable therapy material.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask the client to name one theme to carry forward.
    2. Link it to the treatment plan.
    3. Agree whether to revisit it, for example by photographing or noting the selection.
    4. Avoid repeating selections frequently, which can drift into fortune-telling.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Of everything we talked about, which thread feels most worth following in our sessions?"
  • Watch for: the exercise replacing the agreed therapy; the client wanting a selection every session.

4.9 Closing and documentation [synthesis]

  • Purpose: a safe close and an accurate record.
  • Steps:
    1. Briefly summarise and check the client's state.
    2. Ground them if needed.
    3. Record the consent, the bottles chosen (as the client's selection), the client's own meanings, and any risk material.
    4. Never record a selection as an assessment finding.
  • Example language (illustrative): "How are you leaving today? Anything that felt too much or that you want me to know?"
  • Watch for: unfinished emotional material at the end of a session; plan follow-up.

4.10 Referral and coordination [synthesis]

  • Purpose: to keep roles clean and care safe.
  • Steps:
    1. Refer to an independent accredited practitioner (found through the Aura-Soma Academy register) if the client wants full consultations.
    2. With consent, coordinate with the GP if health concerns, pregnancy or medicines arise.
    3. Do not take referral fees.
  • Example language (illustrative): "If you want to go further with Aura-Soma, it's best done with a practitioner who isn't also your therapist. That keeps our work clear."
  • Watch for: conflicts of interest (APA 3.06), and clients who feel abandoned by the referral. Frame it as protecting the therapy.

5. Handling problems

Aura-Soma's published consultation material does not address clinical problems [uncertain: not verified]. Everything in this section is [synthesis] unless it is tagged otherwise.

  • Stuck, or "nothing calls to me". Normalise it. Invite the client to choose the bottle they would least like to leave behind, or to stop. Do not pick for them; self-selection is the method's core [source: What to expect]. Example (illustrative): "Nothing has to jump out. We can leave it, or just notice which one you'd miss."
  • Choices aimed at pleasing you, or asking "what does it mean?" straight away. Turn the question back to the client's own associations before giving any attributed meaning. Example (illustrative): "I'll tell you how Aura-Soma sees it, but your sense of it matters more. What's yours?"
  • Treating meanings as fate, diagnosis or prediction. Restate the self-reflective framing. Make clear nothing has been diagnosed or foretold. Never let a selection reassure the client about, or alarm them over, a physical or mental health question; route those to assessment.
  • Overwhelm or trauma material. Stop the exploration and use grounding. Return to the material later with titration and your usual trauma-informed approach. Keep the method's interpretive frame out of trauma processing.
  • Psychosis, mania or high suggestibility. Esoteric meanings about the soul, chakras or aura may feed unusual beliefs. Avoid the exercise during acute episodes; if it is already under way, keep it concrete and brief.
  • Religious or cultural objection. Respect it and do not use the method. Offer neutral alternatives such as a colour-association or image-choice exercise without the system's concepts, and say clearly that it is not Aura-Soma.
  • Rupture: the client feels you are mocking or overselling it. Name your stance: you attribute its beliefs and neither endorse nor dismiss them. Ask what felt off and repair. Example (illustrative): "I may have sounded sceptical, or the opposite. My aim is to take what it means to you seriously without making claims for it."
  • Non-adherence (affirmations not used, the theme dropped). Explore the meaning without pressure. The exercise is optional and carries no homework obligation.
  • Using it instead of medical or psychological care, including stopping medicines or delaying assessment. Explore what draws the client, such as hope, control or distrust. Support an informed decision and, with consent, coordinate with the GP or prescriber. Do not advise on medicines. Under CAP rule 12.2, UK advertising may not discourage essential treatment [source: CAP advice]. See Domain II for health anxiety.
  • Spending, upselling or course pressure. Explore the costs and the client's values. Do not sell anything yourself (APA 3.05, 3.06, 3.08) [source: APA Ethics Code]. If a third party appears to be exploiting a vulnerable adult financially, follow safeguarding procedures.
  • Physical reactions or pregnancy. Route to the GP or pharmacist. The company's FAQ advises consulting a medical professional in pregnancy "if in any doubt" [source: Aura-Soma FAQs].
  • Children and young people. Get parental consent and the child's assent. Use the exercise only as a play-based colour conversation. Products are a matter for the parents and the GP, and any concern about withheld medical care goes through safeguarding.
  • Your own dual role. If you are an accredited practitioner, notice any urge to recruit clients to products or courses. Take it to supervision, refer to a separate practitioner, and keep the two practices separate.
  • Advertising your practice. Describe Aura-Soma as a reflective or wellbeing tool. Make no claims to treat conditions, and avoid misleading statements (APA 5.01) [source: APA Ethics Code; CAP advice].

Sources

← Previous · XII-106Syntonic phototherapyNext · XII-108 →Crystal healing