The psychological aspects of aromatherapy

For many years, aromatherapists have largely ignored psychological factors that may be involved in, and play a part in their discipline. One possible explanation for this is that they feared they would add fuel to the already critical and disapproving attitude of the general medical profession that aromatherapy is just a pleasant experience at best, or, at worst, a scam [Vickers A. Massage and aromatherapy: a guide for health professionals. London: Nelson Thornes; 1998]. However, for a long time, medical professions have been content to admit that psychological effects, or what is commonly termed ‘the placebo effect’, play a large part in the effectiveness of the administration of drugs and even surgery.