The simple answer to your question is that Yoga Teachers are trained to give class instruction and Yoga Therapists are trained to work with clients individually for their personal needs. Yoga Teachers can be certified in 200 or 500 hours courses and if they choose become registered with a group called the Yoga Alliance. Yoga Therapists are certified in similar courses after they have become certified Yoga Teachers. However there are no standards set by the organization that currently serves them, the International Association of Yoga Therapists; www.iayt.org There is a movement underway for this to happen much like the formation of the Yoga Alliance done under the IAYT auspices. I have recently been asked by the president of IAYT to formulate what aspects of Ayurveda and Kinesiology should be in the curriculum.
Historically, people such as myself developed programs out of years of Yoga study with their teachers. I created Structural Yoga Therapy in 1976 following my 2 year yoga teacher certification training. Later on I attended a year of graduate study in physical therapy and kinesiology to polish my program enough to begin writing my book. Some psychotherapists and physical therapists have also developed their own renditions of Yoga Therapy programs that they offer in an attempt to use Yoga programs individually.
I certify Structural Yoga Therapists in a 2 year program that is open to both certified Yoga Teachers and licensed health professionals who have a yoga sadhana. In 2000 I began to offer this training after 25 years of experience with clients. To date I have certified only 4 Structural Yoga Therapists. Personally I do not certify people who merely complete the programs hours. They must not only be competent at making recommendations, but they must also be in relationship with me so that i feel confident they will consult me when they have challenging clients and continue to deepen their education.
There are many other organizations who offer similar training to much larger numbers of teachers among the more contemporary programs are Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, Integrated Yoga Therapy, and some ashrams such as Integral Yoga’s Yogaville are now providing training specializing in cancer or cardiac Yoga Therapy.
Insurance coverage as well as licensing for their work varies state by state. To address this question i would suggest you contact IAYT or the Yoga Alliance (www.yogaalliance.com) for their input. good questions. namaste Mukunda
