Practice Principal
I first became interested in the health of the human body after a close member of my family lost her life to cancer whilst I was in my early teens. In the years following that experience, two questions kept niggling away at me:
Why do some people seem to be able to stay active and healthy right throughout their life, whilst others seem to struggle with one problem after another?
Is our health really at the mercy of bad genes, bad germs or bad luck, or can we actually do something to help ourselves sustain optimal health and wellbeing throughout life?
Since then, one of the most important things I have learnt in my (ongoing) search for understanding is just how much we shape the quality of health we experience in life through the choices we make about the way we eat, move and think. I guess it is only natural that I now work in a health care setting where everything we do to help people live healthier lives is underpinned by our “Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well, Stay Well” message.
Training & Professional Background
I am originally from Melbourne, Australia, and graduated from the five year chiropractic undergraduate training program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 1991.
After graduation I spent six months working in country practices in rural Victoria before moving to Sydney and joining a busy family orientated practice in Parramatta, NSW.
I worked in Sydney until 1998, during which time I gained invaluable experience working with families, sporting groups and the general business community surrounding our practice, but I had always wanted to travel and experience life in the northern hemisphere, and – after six years of Sydney sunshine – I moved to the U.K. and joined Steve Hewitt and the team at The Osteopathic & Chiropractic Centre.
I was originally only planning to stay in the U.K. for two years, but I found the people and the area of the North East to be so much to my liking (despite the dark winter evenings) that I am settled here with a young family. I became the practice principal of The Osteopathic & Chiropractic Centre in 2003, and look forward to continuing to enjoy life in the North East for many years to come.
On Wellness
With so many people experiencing increased levels of stress, spending large periods of time sitting, and pursuing less than ideal dietary habits, there are declining levels of health in the U.K., and I find it incredibly sad and frustrating that for so many people obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers Disease and so many other “lifestyle” diseases have become a “normal” part of life or an “inevitable” part of ageing.
I believe that the only true solution to this ever growing issue of chronic illness lies with educating and empowering people to make changes in the way they eat, move and think, and I have seen people achieve fantastic changes in their health and happiness when they have taken this message to heart.
They – together with my own desire to help myself and my family enjoy optimal health and wellbeing – inspire me to keep on learning, to keep on promoting the fundamental principles of good health, and to do our best to offer the people under our care high quality natural health care that is not just concerned with addressing symptomatic concerns, but on helping people stay as active and healthy as possible no matter what their age or stage of life.
