ABOUT

Elspeth trained as an Osteopath at the European School of Osteopathy over 25 years ago and has worked in Harley Street, Central London since qualifying. To add to her interest in the mind-body connection and the enormous role it plays in a healthy mind and body, she trained as a Health Coach in SE London at the Centre for Coaching.

Coaching creates a pro-active state in the patient increasing their ability to take responsibility for their own health. Some of the relaxation techniques, being similar to hypnosis, prompted her to train as a Hypnotherapist at the Institute of Clinical Hypnosis in London over 10 years ago.

Elspeth feels that she is able to cover all aspects of patient care with her blend of skills which effectively elicit a rapid healing response in all her clients.

Osteopathy, Hypnotherapy and Health Coaching can each be provided and used as standalone treatments. All treatment choices are the preserve of the patient. Many clients have already experienced a number of different therapies over their lifetime. They may also have tried a number of different therapists operating in the same discipline and this can be the case when they intuitively feel that a specific therapy is what they need but the specific therapist does not seem to work for them. This can be due to many factors; poor diagnosis, choice of technique within the discipline and strength or length of treatment. Also some patients in their desperation to get ‘fixed’ may use two or more conflicting types of therapy with treatments being given in too small a timeframe so that the healing response is blunted or too excessive for their tissue type and body generally. Also there may be tendency to not inform each therapist about the other. This can be problematic even when both therapists are informed of the other’s treatment. Not unlike the medical model and use of pharmacology, there can also be side effects from too much physical treatment especially if they are trying to heal on different levels and the conflict overpowers the healing response and the overload negates both treatments.

Fusing the treatments together is a very different experience from the using say two different therapies from different therapists. Where there is experience of the need to treat on many levels, the use of one practitioner obviously has its merits as they can be aware of the efficacy of their individual therapies on the client. The question of trust is evidenced by using the same therapist for a range of different therapies when it is available. This can also happen in a clinical setting where there is more than one therapist available for a particular discipline: in the absence of the normal practitioner, the patient may well use an alternative practitioner in the same discipline. They will also be inclined to use another therapeutic discipline within the clinic itself.

Therapists can use different treatments together. This can include an adjunctive therapy to what they already practice eg the use of electrotherapy equipment together with their hands-on massage of soft tissue, traction, exercises and strapping. This tends to be effective because they are using it within the same context. Other physical therapists may add other treatments which are similar in reach such as Osteopathy and Acupuncture or Dry Needling. This reinforcement of their work whilst frequently inessential does not correspond to the perceived need of holding all the aspects of the Biopsychosocial model in the hands of one therapist who can see the need for each treatment as the process unfolds.

needling but only where one therapy is adjunctive to what they already practice eg physiotherapists using electrotherapy together with their usual exercises and soft tissue treatment or a Counsellor using deep breathing methods

The increasing stress of modern living and the sophistication of treatment options available can for some patients be so confusing to wade through that frequently no decision will be made and often the patient is not able to made a decision at a time when they most need help. The very act of trying to acquire enough information on which to base a sensible informed decision about a treatment protocol is enough to create further stress and the fusion of Osteopathy, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Health Coaching most accurately resembles and answers the need for a treatment rationale which answers the need tripartite treatment model expressed by Engel.