After completing an English Literature degree, I worked in various environments, from managing and teaching in an English Conversation school in Japan, to administrating the client services department of a stockbroker. Throughout this time, I pursued an interest in complementary therapies, and used them as a layperson with family and friends. It became clear to me after some time that I had a much greater affinity for my 'hobby' than I did for the various types of work I had done. Recognising this, I was finally able, in 2002, to complete professional training in massage, and since then have continued to add further professional therapeutic qualifications to my list.

I have a particular interest in stress, and in 2002 proposed a project using complementary therapies to help those suffering from stress and stress related illness. This project was given funding by the 'Welcome to Wellbeing' Millenium Award Scheme, and I was able to work in communities, and see the difference complementary therapies could make. I have since worked with various community groups, bringing the therapies to carers, people with HIV, and other people who might not otherwise be able to access therapies.

Since gaining my first professional qualification, I have also been working in health promotion for the NHS. This involves giving information to the public on a variety of topics from cancer prevention to mental health, physical activity to healthy eating. This work has been a complement to my therapeutic work, and gives me a great perspective from which to approach wellbeing. As part of my work in health promotion, I have carried out work for the SHAW (Scotland's Health at Work) NHS scheme, performing health checks for employees, and providing information to companies on various aspects of employee wellbeing.

'Treat the person, not the disease'

I am a firm believer in this holistic principle, and find that it empowers people to be approached as a unique individual, with their own unique responses to wellbeing or ill health and with their own priorities in life. I prefer where possible to be led by the client's own perspective than to be prescriptive about wellbeing. I can offer a person assistance and information regarding their wellbeing, but the greatest results will come if that person is motivated to take an active role. This, however, is a new way of being for most of us, who have for years taken a very passive role in terms of health, feeling that health professionals knew more about us than we did ourselves, and that we were ignorant bystanders.

In the traditional medical scenario as most of us experience it, we are given 5 minutes of an overworked doctor's time. We may feel that we are unable to voice our concerns, or that we cannot ask for more background information on our treatment, or simply that we are wasting the doctor's time. The traditional medical model leaves us as very passive participants in our own wellbeing, and Ieaves doctors with an awful lot of work to do.

I try to encourage and support each individual to take personal responsibility for their own wellbeing, and find that people who adopt this attitude are capable of great leaps in physical, mental and emotional health.

When complementary therapies are introduced into a person's healthcare regime, they can act in great support of that person's interaction with traditional healthcare professionals. Complementary therapies can, in addition, be extremely helpful in cases where traditional medicine is often unable to offer a solution. For example, for people who suffer from repeated tension headaches, or from back pain. Or from that constant companion, stress. It is always rewarding to see how the therapies can make a difference to people's lives, and I hugely enjoy being able to deliver them.

Qualifications:

Practitioner level certificate in Bach Flower Remedies.
Entry on the Bach Flower Remedies Practitioner Register.

Certificate in Hot Stone Massage

Certificate in Thai Foot Massage

Certificate in Meridian Therapies (EFT)

Diploma in Hopi Ear Candling

Certificate in Indian Head Massage

COSCA certificate in counselling skills

Certificate in Training Practice

Diploma in Anatomy, Physiology & Massage

Reiki Certificates, Levels I & II

MA (Hons) English Literature, Edinburgh University