In today’s post, we’ll explore the drastic changes made to the practice of Christo Scheepers Therapeutic Reflexologist.
Let’s begin the post with some 2025 carried-over content:
- Firstly, at the end of 2025, I renewed my first aid certification.As a practicing Therapeutic Reflexologist, I am required to hold a valid first aid level 1 certificate, but as per usual, I have renewed my first aid certificate on levels 1, 2, and 3 with Automated External Defibrillator (AED). That is in place, so you can be ensured of being in safe hands when visiting the practice office.
- Secondly, I was accepted as Fellow of the Complementary Medical Association (FCMA) at the end of last year and it is a huge privilege to be part of this larger international community on this very prestigious membership level being recognised as a distinguished member in the complementary healthcare community.
The big change is the fact that the practice is changing from a full-time practice to a part-time, after-hour practice that will be specialised and relocate to new premises:
- In December 2025 I was offered a permanent senior lecturer position at a private higher education institution in Tygervalley. As the position is in my field of expertise (research methodology and business management) and is the natural progression after being a lecturer for 12 years, I had to accept this opportunity. I commenced as senior lecturer in January 2026, resulting in the practice being closed during January, and will reopen again on 2 February 2026.
- I love Therapeutic Reflexology and want to continue offering it.To make it possible to still practice while working full-time, I am relocating to the Tygervalley area, and the practice is reopening next week in the very cosy new premises. It is very close to where I am working as senior lecturer, freeing up practice hours instead of spending unnecessary time in traffic. I shall have blinds installed in the new office, but that will take some time, so if you are one of the ones visiting me from next week, please excuse the curtain in the office; it is a temporary solution the previous people left for me to use until the blind can be installed.
- The practice will change to a specialised practice where I shall focus mainly on women’s health and women’s sport reflexology, as these are my areas of expertise.The past few years, even though having that as main focus, I have been practicing more in a general sense being available to everyone, but with reduced hours available, I must follow a specialised approach going forward. What that means, is that women will have priority when it comes to making appointments, and going forward, new content on the website will be more focused on women’s health and sports reflexology for modern, professional and active women.
- More exciting news, the website has been updated at www.christoscheepers.co.za so please feel free to visit and browse around; your feedback will be appreciated.
What many may wonder, is why the change and accepting the permanent position? That is an interesting question, so to answer it, please keep in mind why I originally started studying in 1999; I wanted to end up with the highest qualification (a doctorate), with the purpose of lecturing to students at university level. The road to get there was interesting, and I have been lecturing part-time since 2013, even while running a practice. When I graduated with the Doctorate (PhD) in 2022, I took on more-and-more lecturing opportunities and in 2025 worked myself into proper burnout by lecturing at three different universities, while running the practice and doing corporate wellness days. Continuing like that was not possible and changes were inevitable.
Towards the end of 2025, I was considering reducing the number of universities I was involved with and had those plans into motion, when the permanent position was unexpectedly offered to me. The offer came in two thoughts: 1) If I accept it, will I still be possible to practice Therapeutic Reflexology? 2) If I decline the offer, will the practice be able to replace the opportunity?
- The first part was answered very quickly when out of nowhere I came across the ideal building from where I can practice that is literally 100 metres from the university.I viewed it and immediately knew that it will make it possible. That was followed by the university approving the fact that I can continue to practice while permanently lecturing for them.
- The second question was more of a reality check than anything else.The practice has been doing very well and growing since starting the Tygervalley/Durbanville practice in 2017/2018. During 2025, I had the privilege of working with many people from different countries, but two things stood out: a) More-and-more women (my specialised demographic) wanted late afternoon or after-hour sessions, leaving normal business hours open (which I used for lecturing purposes), and b) Many people made appointments that were either not kept as they just did not show up for the appointments (without notification), or moved to new timeslots a few minutes before the sessions were supposed to commence. The result was that I had many hours that could not be filled with other patients, and some were even showed away due to non-availability and then the timeslots were not used, resulted in wasted timeslots.
With these matters in mind, I decided that the best way forward, is to utilise my business hours optimally within a permanent lecturing space at one university by utilising my highest PhD qualification, and to convert the practice into a specialised practice; which may cause the practice to be affected moving from a general to a specialised practice, but it will give me time to truly change it into the specialised practice I originally intended.
These are the big changes for 2026 and as they say, a change is as good as a holiday, and since we all need another holiday, thank you for coming on this journey with me.
To everyone that has been supporting this practice over the past number of years, thank you for your ongoing support, it is truly valued. To everyone that has supported this practice once-off or intermittently, thank you for support, it is always good to welcome new people into the practice, or welcome a previous patient back for a treatment session.
As this Therapeutic Reflexology practice is approaching a new era, thank you for your ongoing support.
Looking forward to welcoming all the modern, professional and active women into the specialised practice of Christo Scheepers Therapeutic Reflexologist from next week; the appointment booking system has been opened at www.christoscheepers.co.za/bookings. With the lecturing responsibilities, I cannot answer telephone calls during the day, and it will be appreciated if bookings are made online on this very user-friendly platform; alternatively, a WhatsApp message can be sent that will be responded to when there is availability.
See you all at the practice in the Tygervalley area soon!
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Christo A. Scheepers: Therapeutic Reflexologist
DTR (Cum Laude), PhD, FCMA
AHPCSA: A11945
Pr. No.: 0737453
Tel. 072-800 7243