The Optimum Health Clinic
More than just a clinic…
From the first ever consultation as The Optimum Health Clinic in
2004, the plan was always for the clinic to be “more than just a
clinic.” After five years of immensely hard work, this vision is
being realised in many areas. To help you understand a little more
detail about life at The OHC, here are some of the ways the OHC is
“more than just a clinic.”
1. A board of directors with unshakeable vision
The board of The Optimum Health Clinic comprises of Alex Howard
(Founder and CEO), Niki Gratrix (Director of Nutrition) and Anna
Duschinsky (Director of Psychology). All three came to the clinic
through their own intense personal journeys of growth and development,
having read literally thousands of books in the area, and studied
all over the world, from numerous different teachers and a vast number
of different disciplines.
The three of them, apart from having exceptional chemistry professionally,
are also best friends. They regularly holiday together and see each
other as their adoptive family. It is this bond of friendship that
is at the heart of the driving force behind the clinic.
2. A team of practitioners chosen not just for their professional
ability, but for “walking the talk” in their own lives
The clinic has two departments, psychology and nutrition, each with
four practitioners in addition to the director. Because of the unique
vision of the clinic, it is able to cherry pick the very best practitioners
around. In fact, last time the clinic recruited a nutrition practitioner,
there were over 70 applications.
Once a practitioner joins the clinic, they undergo intensive training
in the clinic's protocols, having to not just become a master
of their own field, but also have a working knowledge of the tools
of the other department. This ensures synergy between departments,
and makes sure that practitioners know if and when to cross-refer
to the other department (or indeed to a treatment outside of the
clinic).
However, in addition to being an exceptional practitioner, practitioners
at the clinic are also chosen for “walking the talk” in their own
lives. With half of the clinic's practitioners having themselves
overcome M.E., there is immense wisdom beyond just psychology and
nutrition.
3. An ongoing commitment to research and development
One of the factors that is perhaps best known about the clinic
is the innovation of its protocols and treatments. These are the
result of a commitment through all practitioners of the clinic
to never-ending research and development. In fact, through the
very patients that many clinics struggle with, the OHC clinic team
learn the most. A policy right from day one was to never give
up on a patient, and when patients don’t respond as expected is
exactly when the team get most excited, as something new is going
to be discovered as they work with the patient to find a way forwards.
In addition to developing treatments, the team have also made a
long-term commitment to validating their approach through in-depth
clinical trials. These are currently being conducted in conjunction
with University of Goldsmiths and University of Bedfordshire, and
preliminary results are eagerly anticipated in June 2010.
4. Integration of all ideas and understanding of partial
truths
A key characteristic separating the OHC approach from virtually
every other clinic around is its attitude to different treatments.
Most clinicians develop a way of treating a certain condition, and
then spend their career collecting more and more evidence for this
being “the treatment.”
Specific examples of this are treatments such as Reverse Therapy
and The Lightning Process for M.E. These treatments have one piece
of a much wider picture, and rather than looking at how their treatments
integrate with others out there and seeking to understand why the
many people not helped by these treatments could be helped by other
treatments, they instead blame the patient for not applying the
treatment correctly.
The OHC team are the only clinic in the world to have studied all
the major different treatments for M.E. and integrated them into
a larger protocol which is patient specific rather than making the
patient fit to the treatment.
5. A sense of community and “family” feel
Support and “holding” can be so important on the path of healing,
and a connection to others on a similar path can be key to this.
Because of the origins of the clinic being in the friendship of the
directors, a sense of family and community has always been at the
heart of the company. Over the years, various ways have been explored
to support this process.
The clinic's various courses and workshops have always been a
key source of new friends and connections, and with these becoming
more and more available throughout the UK there are more and more
opportunities to get involved. In 2008 the clinic also launched www.OptimumHealthCommunity.com a
social networking platform similar to sites such as Facebook, to
allow patients and students to interact with each other freely.
The site has members all over the world, and is attracting new
members all the time.
Additionally, through the clinic's various fundraising projects
for The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation, there are opportunities
to get involved with events such as firewalking and sponsored walks,
where both the clinic staff, patients and their families work together.
6. Opportunities for patients to get involved with the company
with stepping stones back to work
With the constant growth and development over the years, there
have been a number of opportunities for patients and former patients
of the clinic to become involved behind the scenes. In fact, Niki’s
first ever patient with M.E. Simon Limpus went onto become the
clinic's original Operations Manager. Currently working in the
clinic team are former patients Philippa Hare (psychology practitioner),
Linda Hall (meditation teacher/psychology practitioner), Lois Thorpe
(web-designer) Lindsey Oliver (featured in “Freedom From M.E. Journeys
to Recovery” and PA to Niki Gratrix), Lisa Morgan-Davies (PA to
Alex Howard) and current patient of the clinic Steven Wright edits
the clinic's various audio and video projects.
Giving patients the chance to work with the clinic creates an ideal
scenario for both sides. The clinic benefits from having a team
deeply passionate about its work and for those looking to return
to employment, it gives them the opportunity to work in a company
they believe in.
7. A wider perspective on the field of health through the
clinic's foundation
Many clinics are rather insular in that they are cautious about
communicating with others in the field and prefer to keep their “secrets”
to themselves. The OHC take the opposite approach. The team are
active in fundraising to support research into integrative health,
and not just into their own treatments, but also for those of other
clinics. A fundamental belief of the clinic is the world is big
enough for everyone, and the field of integrative health needs to
work together to further its common goals. Of course this isn’t
helped when individuals/clinics come out and claim they have “the
cure” and everyone else is wrong! There are big plans for The Optimum
Health Foundation, so do follow its progress at www.OptimumHealthFoundation.com
8. Education on all levels – Secrets to Recovery, professional
training courses
In addition to its commitment to research and development is an
equally strong commitment to the dissemination of these ideas. Education
at all levels is a core value of the clinic. Practitioners have
fortnightly training sessions with the directors, which are essential
to keep up date with the speed at which new protocols are being developed.
Various resources for education and development are also available
for patients, such as www.SecretsToRecovery.com where
every two weeks Alex either interviews a patient about their recovery
story, or one of the other clinic team about the latest tools available
to help patients accelerate their healing journey. In addition
to this, the clinic has a number of cutting edge audio programmes,
as well as meditation courses that patients can do from home via
conference call.
The clinic also runs a number of professional training courses,
including a series of Home Study courses on the psychology side of
the clinic and fully accredited professional training courses. The
nutrition department is also starting to run training courses on
its approach for qualified nutritionists looking to develop their
expertise treating areas such as M.E./C.F.S./F.M.
9. Visionary admin systems, a virtual office, and utilisation
of technology
In addition to always looking to develop and improve its work as
a clinic, the team are also constantly looking to develop the systems
behind the scenes. All patient notes are stored through a secure
server, meaning that the office is paperless, and practitioners can
work equally as effectively from home, at the clinic, or even when
abroad!
Additionally, the clinic has a number of websites, storing a huge
amount of audio/visual content, and making information easier and
easier for people to access. For example, the Secrets to Recovery
archive has two interviews of forty-five minutes long recorded every
month since May 2007!
10. Marketing through free and high quality information
sharing
Partly in reaction to some treatments and clinics that seem rather
secretive about their treatments, preferring you to invest a lot
of money before even really explaining to you what treatment actually
involves, the clinic takes an approach of marketing through transparency.
With the fundamental belief that the OHC offers the very best and
most effective treatments for M.E./C.F.S./F.M. available anywhere
in the world, it actually makes sense to share as much information
as possible with patients to help them understand this, rather than
be secretive and make unsubstantiated promises. Therefore, the clinic
has a highly detailed information pack.
Once patients have digested the information pack, they can also
book a free 15 minute chat with both the psychology and nutrition
departments. These 15 minute chats are designed to answer all the
questions a prospective patient might have about what they could
expect from treatment at OHC, and what it would involve.
We hope this has given you a useful insight into The Optimum Health
Clinic, and as always welcome any feedback and suggestions.
