Body and mind are not separate. I see them as two sides of the same coin.
I am a physiotherapist with a long-standing interest in persistent pain and mind-body therapies. I qualified in the Netherlands in 1988, moved to the UK in 1990 and have worked in musculoskeletal care ever since. Wanting to understand persistent pain more deeply led me to a three-year course in Chinese acupuncture at the Chung San Acupuncture School in London, which I completed in 1996.
From 1996 to 2003 I worked as a clinical specialist with the pain management team at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust, where I developed the person-centred approach that still guides my work. I later completed an MSc in Pain at King’s College London and a PhD at the University of Brighton.
I have always valued sharing my expertise with others. For example, I have taught courses on Connective Tissue Manipulation, a technique used to harmonise the autonomic nervous system, circulation and the internal organs. I have also taught acupuncture and mindfulness, and I have been a postgraduate university lecturer since 2016. I am currently employed by the University of London. More recently, I have been invited to teach pain and neurology in Italy and Latvia. It has also been an honour to be able to publish textbooks and book chapters (see below).
The course of my career changed in 2023, when I sustained a painful injury. I had treatment from several healthcare practitioners, and then I tried craniosacral therapy. The treatment had a profound effect on me. I wanted to understand it, so I read widely and completed an intensive training programme to become a Registered Craniosacral Therapist. I now bring craniosacral therapy into my clinical practice.
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Throughout my career I have explored other approaches to health. The acupuncture course broadened my understanding of health and healing. I have practised the Chinese internal arts of Ch’i Kung and T’ai Chi Ch’uan, as well as mindfulness and Taoist meditation. These practices have enriched my clinical work and they are especially relevant to craniosacral therapy.
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Books
My latest textbook on pain is "Pain: A Textbook for Health Professionals", published by Elsevier.
It is also available in Spanish as "Dolor: Manual para profesionales de la salud".