The IACST Constitution

OBJECTIVES AND AIMS:

The Irish Association of Craniosacral Therapy Ltd. By Guarantee (IACST) is dedicated to creating a strong Craniosacral Therapy (CST) community in Ireland.

Our aims are to:

• Promote Craniosacral Therapy in Ireland.
• To provide information about Craniosacral Therapy.
• To maintain a register of practitioners.
• To set and maintain standards of qualifications and practice.

There are three classifications of Membership

• Registered Membership – which is open to those who have successfully completed the examinations of their education providers, which shall meet the requirements of the Association Ltd.
• Student Membership – which is open to those in training who have not yet met the full requirements of the Association Ltd.
• Associate membership – which is open to persons with an interest in this therapy (CST).

THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

1. The Management Committee shall manage the affairs of the association.

2. The Management Committee shall consist of, Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary and Ordinary Members, up to 12 persons in total. Ordinary members were held at 9 previously.

3. Each position shall be filled annually by election at the annual general meeting; the maximum duration shall be of three years in any one position.

4. The secretary’s address is not to be included in the Constitution because of the changing of persons in the role.

5. The Management Committee may, at any time, co-opt up to four other members to perform specific duties. Such members shall not have voting rights on the management committee.

6. The Management Committee may appoint sub-committees, one place on which shall be occupied by a member of the management committee. Members of sub-committees, other than those who serve of the management committee, shall not be entitled to vote on the Management Committee.

7. The management committee may remove from office any elected or co-opted member who consistently fails to carry out the duties for which they were elected or co-opted, or who brings the committee or the association into disrepute. Such members shall have the right to make representation to the committee, after which a vote shall be taken. Two thirds majority shall be required to carry the motion.

8. The Chairperson and/or an appointed Public Relation Officer is/are the sole spokesperson/s for the Association.

9. In the event that the Association has to be would up, the assets remaining after all debts have been discharged shall be donated to charity.

10. Changes to the constitution can only be voted on by fully qualified and paid up members.

11. The committee shall consist of at least two third registered members.

12. No member of the committee may act or speak on behalf of IACST without full approval of the elected committee. This includes answering of e-mails, printed mail, giving discounts to members, or any other such decisions.

13. All mail received by the secretary shall be brought to every committee meeting for all members to read.

14. ONLY FULLY REGISTERED MEMBERS MAY BE LISTED TO THE PUBLIC ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

Committee Members - November 2022 - October 2023

Chairperson -Shared Chair

Treasurer - Claire Sheehy

Secretary - Eleanor Gibbons

Committee Members - Elaine Donnelly, Adrienne Daly, Sara Devoy

 

ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

1. All advertising, public relations and publishing, including management of the web site, shall be directed by the management committee.

2. The Accountant’s address shall be the official address of the association.
3. All correspondence shall be on association headed paper.

4. All correspondence, press releases etc, shall be released through the secretary’s office.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The job descriptions of committee members are as follows:

The Chairperson:

In conjunction with the Vice-Chair, the Secretary and in consultation with the committee

The Chairperson shall be responsible for the co-ordination of IACST policy and activities:

• For setting the agenda for committee meetings and the AGM.
• The Chairperson shall normally be the spokesperson for IACST.
• Minutes agreed by the committee shall be signed by the presiding chairperson.
• In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair will chair meetings.
• In the absence of both the Chair and Vice-Chair, an appointed Delegate will chair meetings.

The Secretary:

The secretary shall be responsible for the ongoing administration of IACST.

• For keeping and circulating the minutes of committee meetings, the AGM and EGM’s.
• For maintaining the IACST files and records.
• For giving notice of meetings and circulating the agenda.
• For the distribution of information about IACST.
• The duties of secretary may be shared by a maximum of 3 people.

The Treasurer:

In conjunction with the committee, shall be responsible for managing IACST finances.

• For keeping the account books up to date.
• Collecting the membership fees.
• Paying all expenses and bills.
• All expenditure in excess of €300.00 is required to be agreed before hand in writing and signed off by the Chairperson and Treasurer.

CODE OF ETHICS

The code attempts to provide guidance by way of a standard of attitude, understanding and therefore behaviour.

The code assumes that members run their practices legally and professionally.

• The members undertake to treat their patients/clients, their patient’s families and their own colleagues with respect, compassion and equality with respect to age, beliefs, disability, gender and race.
• No practitioner has a duty to treat anyone who comes to him or her. The ethical practitioner will be clear about the limits of their responsibilities, as well as what they need to maintain a good practice and take care of themselves.
• When involved in referral members will be careful;
  1) To provide adequate information to the referee practitioner together with clear terms of reference and to be clear with their patient/client about the purpose and expectations of referring them.
• Respect for the self healing principle leads to the acceptance that one person cannot heal or cure another, only that by the responsible application of techniques or other help, or by the quality of their presence, the practitioners may help remove inhibitions to or otherwise support the patient’s self-healing.
• It is the duty of the practitioner to encourage appropriate optimism.
• The patient/practitioner relationship and its details will remain confidential between patient and practitioner except only where the patient’s clear consent has been give, and such consent should be recorded.
• Unless the practitioner is legally qualified to work with juveniles, their responsible adult will accompany all patients under the legal age, during visits.
• The practitioner will provide non-judgemental environment, which respects the patient’s belief and admits them as part of the therapeutic process.

PROCEDURE OF PRACTICE

• All members must be insured in order to practice. Insurance must be explicit as to what is covered, i.e. juveniles.
• Voting for members of the Management Committee is by a show of hands at the annual general meeting. On any constitutional change a voting of two thirds majority of those present is required. On other matters a simple majority is sufficient.
• There is no provision for proxy votes.
  1) Postal votes are accepted for Management Committee before or on the date of the AGM.
• Admission to the association is at the discretion of the Management Committee.
• The date for the AGM is set for the second Saturday of October every year.
• Membership year ends the 31st of October each year and commences on the 1st November of the same year.
• Membership fees are set by the Management Committee and are payable in October every year.
• Decisions about any matters affecting the Constitution will be made at the AGM or EGM in a democratic manner. Notice of General Meeting and Constitution changes requires notice of details of not less than six weeks
• There will be at least four meetings per year of the Management Committee.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you would care to make a complaint about a member of the Irish Association of Craniosacral Therapy, please read and take relevant steps without undue delay.

The information is confidential unless

• You give permission to approach the member in question, and or
• The Association has to disclose information with regard to a legal matter.
• In writing, set out the nature of the complaint and any relevant information/documentation.
• Address the correspondence to the secretary of the IACST. Address can be obtained from the Management Committee.
• The complaint will be brought before the Management Committee for consideration.
• The Management Committee shall seek the views of the member concerned and request it in writing.
• If necessary, the Management Committee shall interview both sides in a manner appropriate to the complaint – and shall thereafter consider a course of action.
• The outcome of their deliberations will be made known to both parties, in writing, and restorative actions advised.
• A third party, in the person of a respected professional, will be asked to be involved in all proceeding in relation to the complaint. This person shall be independent of IACST, although the Management Committee shall do the choosing.
• In the event that the situation persists and the Management Committee is satisfied that the fault lies entirely with the member, in consultation with the independent person. The Management Committee will consider withdrawing the member’s name from the list of practitioners.
• Written record of the entire proceedings to be kept on file.

MEMBERS COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES

Where a practitioner suspects non-professional behaviour by another therapist and that this behaviour is of a grave nature, procedure is to report the matter to the Management Committee in writing.

The information, which is given to the Association, will remain confidential unless there is legal requirement of behaviour in breach of the law.

The practitioner under investigation will be informed to suspend their practice until an investigation takes place. If the investigation establishes a frivolous breach of safe practice or ethics then the complainant will have their name removed from the register for a period to be decided by the Management Committee.

IACST Grandparenting Policy

The IACST is open to graduates from Irish Courses which meet our minimum requirements.  We also welcome graduates and practitioners from outside of Ireland provided their training and experience meets core curriculum criteria. Practitioners who have previously been a member of another Association must be applying in good faith and demonstrate that they have not been expelled from their previous Association. 

 

The IACST has aGrandparenting Policy in place to set a pathway to full membership and professional recognition for those who do not meet the current criteria.

 

Through the application process, it will identify if there are any areas or gaps in training that require further study. They will be identified to the applicant and they will be redirected to existing training schools for review.  Applicants must meet the cost of the further study. 

 

Should any clarification be required by the applicant, an interview panel will be formed of committee members and one external professional if required.

 

Former IACST practitioners who have left practice for whatever reason and wish to rejoin the association do not require grandparenting but do need to meet the criteria for the membership category they are applying for, including the specified programme of (C.P.D.) Continuous Professional Development to include Pediatric relevant C.P.D. before reapplying.  This Policy may be reviewed by the committee as needed.

 

Please contact the Administrator via email for further information.

 

SAFETY STATEMENT

Members of the Practitioner Register undertake good and safe practice in the therapy rooms and elsewhere, especially in regard to children.

A parent or guardian must be present for persons of less that legal age, or the equivalent in the case of the persons with delayed development. If it comes to the attention of any Practitioner that such an approach is not being observed by another Practitioner, it then becomes the responsibility of the Practitioner who has that information to bring it to the Management Committee.

The Management Team will then seek a letter of good character from the Practitioner in question, to be provided by An Garda Siochana.

 

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