Founder
and Clinical Director - Alex Howard BSc(Hons)
Alex Howard is the founder and director of the
clinic. Alex suffered from M.E. for seven years, and spent two
years virtually bed-bound. After reaching the point of near suicide,
Alex made the commitment of doing everything he could to turn
around his own situation and help others in similar situations.
Alex is the author of “WHY ME? My Journey from M.E. to Health
and Happiness,” producer of a number of groundbreaking audio
programmes including “Learn to Relax,” “The
Sleep Inducer,” “Healing M.E. The Holistic Way”
two new DVD’s due out in September “Beat Fatigue with
Yoga” and “Freedom from M.E.” and is on an going
journey of pursuing and integrating into the clinic the very latest
ideas available. Since his recovery Alex has worked tirelessly
and with great dedication to help those affected by M.E., with
the clinic now having a database of over 5,000 people.
Director
of Nutrition - Niki Gratrix dip ION, mBANT
Niki spent a number of years in corporate banking
before deciding to follow her path and retrain as a health practitioner.
Niki’s training, which developed into a mission to integrate
the best of what is available in integrative medicine today, has
seen her travel all over the world and qualify as a clinical nutritionist,
yoga teacher, personal trainer and NLP practitioner. Niki has
read over 1,000 books in the field of health and healing, and
is fast becoming one of the worlds leading experts on treating
M.E. Her protocols for treating the physical components of M.E.
are the cutting edge, and she has recently been approached to
train other nutritionists in her unique approach.
Director
of Psychology - Anna Duschinsky MA(Hons)
Anna suffered from M.E. for a number of years,
and through determination and tenacity was able to make a full
recovery, using many of the techniques now offered by the clinic.
Anna holds a degree from Cambridge University, numerous qualifications
in mind-body approaches, and is known for her caring and compassionate
style. In her role as Director of Psychology at the clinic, Anna
has been responsible for researching all of the latest approaches
out there to treating M.E. from a non-physical view point, and
has been responsible for creating the most cutting edge protocol
we believe to be available in the world today
Visionary
Psychology Practitioners
Ashley
Meyer Dip.Clin.Hyp.NLP.Coach CMP NLP EFT - Advanced
Ashley Meyer first met Alex when he helped him
to proof read one of the early drafts of “WHY ME?” and they have
been friends ever since. Ashley had a very successful career
in the corporate events industry before discovering his real
gift lay in helping and supporting others. Ashley initially trained
as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner, continuing
to develop his therapeutic skills and becoming passionately involved
in Meridian energy therapies (EFT & TAT). He is now a certified
trainer of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and is also one
of the trainers at the clinic’s practitioner training course.
Ashley has worked with the clinic for over two years and has
a very thorough understanding of the psychological aspects of
M.E. With his warm and giving manner, Ashley is a very skilful
therapist.
Sarah
Marshall BSc(Hons) Dip Clin Hyp Coach CMPNLP EFT-Advanced
Sarah had M.E. for over 5 years, ending her
career in IT. Having had her life taken away from her, she embarked
upon on her own journey of discovery about why she became ill,
what was preventing her from recovering her health, and how to
turn that around; this eventually led to a full recovery. Sarah
went on to train in many of the techniques that she has found
beneficial to her recovery. Before joining The Optimum Health
Clinic she had treated hundreds of M.E. patients and brings her
own insights and excellent experience to the clinic team. Sarah
is known for her enthusiasm, and her caring and intuitive approach.
Philippa
Hare Bsc(Hons), Dip.Clin.Hyp.NLP.Coach.EFT
Phil started
out with a successful career with an international market research
consultancy, developing ME in her mid-30s. Deciding to leave
Corporate life to aid her recovery, she accompanied her partner
on a series of ex-pat postings to Africa, during which her
health deteriorated further and she became almost completely
housebound. When she came across Alex's book, she decided to contact
him, and gives much of the credit for her complete recovery to
her own willingness to face up to the root causes of her illness,
with the support of both the psychology and nutritional therapy
practitioners at the Clinic. Building on a new sense of balance
and freedom in her life, Phil qualified as a practitioner with
the Clinic and, as well as one-to-one work, she regularly assists
on the 90 Day Programme. Clients comment that Phil has a calm,
reassuring presence and a gentle, intuitive style.
Linda
Hall Dip.Clin.Hyp.NLP.Coach.EFT
Linda’s original background was as an artist,
before moving into the complementary health-care field in 1993,
working in holistic massage. Linda undertook further training
in healing and counselling, and went on to become a sought after
meditation teacher. Having suffered from M.E. herself for eight
and half years, and originally coming to the clinic as a patient,
Linda draws on her own experience and immense knowledge in the
fields of health and psychology. Linda runs meditation groups
by conference call for the clinic (information at www.MeditationForLife.co.uk)
and also works with patients one-on-one by telephone.
Clinical
Nutritionists
Tanya
Page BSc(Hons) dip ION
Tanya is a clinical nutritionist with a background
in food technology and process engineering. After gaining a 1st
class honours degree in Food Technology at Reading University
in the early 90s, Tanya’s interest in health through nutrition
was sparked when her terminally ill mother appeared to gain some
precious months through eating well. This inspired her to put
her food industry career on hold and re-train in nutritional therapy.
She went on to produce the best dissertation in her year with
her work on essential fats and their role in cancer treatment.
Tanya has a very caring and empathic style.
Sanna
Anderson Dip ION, mBANT
Sanna spent the first 10 years of her career in the financial
industry enjoying the challenges of the corporate world. She has
always been a keen cook and is passionate about good food, but
it wasn’t until experiencing the dramatic effects of a diet
change on her own health that she realised the impact good nutrition
can have on the quality of life.
Sanna joined The Optimum Health Clinic 3 years ago in a support
role as ones of its first employees. She was responsible for helping
to develop the clinic's nutritional protocols, especially our
metabolic typing system. Sanna has always been popular with patients
for her kind and caring style, and this alongside her strong knowledge
of the biochemistry involved with M.E. patients, makes her a truly
effective practitioner.
Support
staff
Caroline
Spencer
Caroline originally met Alex on a retreat where
they had been spending a week together, contemplating, amongst
other things ‘the meaning of life’. On the journey
back from the retreat, Caroline mentioned she was looking to change
jobs. Alex made a mental note that if anything came up at The
Optimum Health Clinic she would be a great addition to the team;
a year later, the role of Operations Manager became available.
Caroline’s excellent organisational skills are instrumental
in maintaining the calm in our busy admin office. She is frequently
the first point of contact with our clients on the telephone;
her compassionate and caring manner make her an invaluable asset
to our team.
Lois
Thorpe
Lois suffered from M.E. for eight years. At
her first appointment with Alex he asked her to build the clinic's
new website, and in the three months it took to complete
the project her health improved from being unable to do any
form of exercise to going swimming regularly and joining a Pilates
class. She enjoys playing the clarinet and looking after her
two cats. Lois is a freelance webdesigner, and if you would
like to use her for one of your projects we can't recommend
her highly enough.
