Board certification is meant to encompass holistic practice as a whole. With IAHAP, this is a Holistic Practitioner Board Certification, meaning you are certified across a broad range of holistic principles and modalities. It does not mean you are board certified in only one technique. Instead, it reflects that your practice, mindset, and treatment approach are holistically based, and that you have committed to expanding your education and skills beyond a single modality. This often represents a practitioner who may have started in one area—such as massage therapy—and then intentionally advanced their practice into multiple holistic modalities such as acupressure, red light therapy, craniosacral work, or other integrative techniques. Board certification acknowledges this depth and breadth of holistic commitment and the ability to integrate multiple modalities into thoughtful, well-rounded care. A specialty designation, on the other hand, is the commitment to one specific modality (or a small number of modalities). It signifies that you have taken advanced education, spent extended time practicing that modality, and refined your skills to the point where it has become your niche. Specializing in a modality like kinesiology means it is something you are confident in, known for, and proud to offer as a focused area of expertise. One of the most prominent benefits of both board certification and specialty designation is the ability to stand out in a growing field. I often compare this to veterinary medicine. In many towns, there may be several veterinarians, but many of them have specialties—such as orthopaedics, sports medicine, or holistic care. While they all share foundational veterinary knowledge, clients seek out a veterinarian based on their animal’s specific needs and their own goals for care. The same concept applies to holistic practitioners. Board certification tells clients that you practice from a holistic framework and have committed to a well-rounded, integrative approach. A specialty designation tells them where your expertise goes deeper. For example, as kinesiology becomes more widely practiced, specializing in it helps you stand out by showcasing that you have advanced your education, invested significant time into the modality, and built a higher level of proficiency. Holding both a board certification and a specialty designation offers the strongest professional positioning. Board certification establishes you as a qualified, integrative holistic practitioner, while your specialty designation highlights your focused expertise within that framework. Together, they communicate credibility, depth, and intention—showing clients that you not only practice holistically, but that you have chosen to excel in a specific modality and make it a cornerstone of your work. This combination allows clients to clearly understand who you are as a practitioner, how you practice, and why you are uniquely qualified to support their animals.