The South African Body Stress Release Association
The Body Stress Release Association (South Africa)(BSRA (SA), was founded in 1987, and is a member of the Confederation of Complementary Health Associations of South Africa (COCHASA). The Association controls the mode of practice of practitioners in South Africa, and is governed by its constitution, a legal document by which all practitioners are bound. The purpose of the constitution is to maintain high professional standards of practice, which ensures public safety. It provides a code of ethics, a framework to keep practitioners functioning within the scope of practice and disciplinary powers to deal with misconduct.
Annually the association hosts a three-day BSR conference, which is attended by practitioners from all over the world. The conference has a variety of local and international speakers with the aim of promoting current best practice and to ensure that the practice is improved from relevant experiences and case studies. Additionally the BSRA holds two continuous development workshops annually in Gauteng and Cape Town. In the UK the BSR Association is a member of the British Complementary Medicine Association and is recognised by the Guild of Holistic Practitioners.
There are approximately 400 practitioners globally in spread between; South Africa, United Kingdom, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Curacao, Canada, U.S.A. , Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Zambia, Mozambique, Poland, France, Andorra, & Mauritius
The International Body Stress Release Association
The International Body Stress Release Association (IBSRA) was founded in 2008 in response to the expanding number of BSR practitioners worldwide. Its constitution provides the guidelines, standards of conduct, practice and ethics for all practitioners who are not members of specific National BSR Associations. The National BSR Associations are affiliated to the IBSRA which is domiciled in the United Kingdom.
Confederation of Complementary Health Associations of South Africa (COCHASA)
COCHASA‘s was established in 1992 and its members support and encourage an holistic approach to health care, which includes promoting wellness or the integration of body, mind and spirit, with an understanding that everything you do, think, feel and believe has an impact on your state of health.
In line with this philosophy COCHASA’S members facilitate health and wellness by subscribing to a non-therapeutic approach to health care. The practitioners do not diagnose, treat nor advise their clients on matters of disease, defect or deficiency. Instead, non-therapeutic health practitioners work with optimising the client’s innate capacity for health. This approach supports the World Health Organisation’s definition of health:
Health is not just the absence of disease, but is a state of complete social, emotional and physical wellbeing.