Clinical Profession
I have been involved in both orthodox medicine (physiotherapy) and complementary medicine for over 40 years and have remained at the forefront of my chosen profession in the clinical field and education.
I spent my early years in general practice and sports medicine and was Hon. Physiotherapist to the British Amateur Athletic Board as well as to Combined Services Rugby and Royal Naval Rugby teams. Since branching out from sports medicine I have studied many different approaches to therapy and healing including acupuncture, acupressure, homoeopathy, reflexology, chakra energy healing, polarity therapy, biomagnetics, iridology, massage, manipulative therapy, reiki, naturopathy, radionics and craniosacral therapy.
Having this broad spectrum of knowledge, together with an orthodox background has given me great experience in many varied forms of analysis/diagnosis and hence the ability to ascertain the root cause of a condition and not just to palliate its symptoms.
I served in the Medical Branch of the Royal Navy from 1965 to 1979 when I worked in hospitals and on board ship (HMS Grenville) for a year. I spent the last five years of my service time as physiotherapist to the Royal Marines where acute medicine was encountered first hand. I also had a spell as head of the medical team at the Royal Tournament. Between 1979 and late 2002 I worked as a natural medicine consultant from my homes in Devon, Milton Keynes and Lincolnshire as well as in Harley Street, London.
I spent a year as Director of Therapies at Tyringham Naturopathic Clinic (near Milton Keynes) in the mid 90’s and also had the good fortune to work at other practitioners’ practices in London, Northampton, St. Neots and Louth. In January 2004 I took the decision to retire from full time clinical work due to on going aggravation with long term spinal problems. I gave up clinical work altogether at the end of 2011 just prior to cervical spinal fusion and decompression surgery. This has given me more time to write books and articles as well as teaching others the many unique ways of healing that I have devised. In October 2005 I was awarded a Fellowship of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy for my work in the integration of professional complementary therapy into mainstream physiotherapy. I am past Chairman of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Energy Medicine (ACPEM) and am past President of the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP) as well as having been Journal and Newsletter for 5 different CSP Professional Networks. I am devoted to the advancement of professional complementary medicine within the umbrella of physical therapy.
My hobbies are classical music (especially Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner), walking, model making and looking after our dog (named ‘Buster’), sheep, hens, ducks and our 13 acre croft. I have also been a Methodist Local Preacher since 1990 but have little opportunity in conducting worship in a remote part of the Scottish Isles where there are no Methodist chapels. In 2014 I was elected to become President of ACPEM (Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Energy Medicine), hoping to make the role as proactive as I can.
Lecturing and Workshops
This began as far back as 1972 when I gave a talk on Sports Injuries to the local Physiotherapy Branch. Since then I have lectured at 6 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) annual conferences plus 16 CSP Specific Interest Group annual conferences. I have also lectured widely on the continent.
In 1979 I founded, with my wife Andrea (also a chartered and state registered physiotherapist), Moorlands Natural Medicine Teaching Centre at our home in Newton Abbot, Devon. I then commenced to specialize in running weekend experiential workshops for fellow professionals. These were mostly in acupressure and reflextherapy but diversified into radiesthesia, naturopathy and homoeopathy.
I have organised and taught at hundreds of workshops and seminars in most areas of the UK and Europe. For many years I have taught the 5/6-day workshop ‘Healing with the Chakra Energy System’. This has undoubtedly influenced scores of delegates into changing their working practices. I took a break from giving workshops for the early part of 2002 whilst settling into a new lifestyle in Skye but commenced again in 2005. Up to now, I have concentrated on teaching post graduate courses to medical professionals. In 2015 I decided to take a break from organizing and initiating workshops (41 years is a long time) and will rely on people asking me to give one. They will be rewarded with a free place.
Writing
I have written hundreds of articles over the years on various aspects of healing for lay and professional publications. I was journal editor in both the sports medicine and acupuncture groups of the CSP for many years and have been the newsletter editor for the Cranio-Sacral Therapy Association of Chartered Physiotherapists. Non-physiotherapy publications include an article for Virgin publications called ‘The orthodox alternative’ and one on ‘Christian Healing’ for the Guild of Health. I have recently had 2 articles published in the journal ‘Spiritual Lifestyles’ on ‘Aspects of Energy Medicine’ and ‘Light Touch Reflextherapy’.
As most of you will realise, there is a huge gap between writing articles and books. In 1998, the medical editor of Butterworth Heinemann asked me to suggest titles in Professional Complementary Medicine. This resulted in the publication of ‘Complementary Therapies for Physical Therapists’ in 2000 for which I wrote 2 chapters. At the same time, I had been commissioned to write 2 books on Clinical Acupressure. These were published in 2000 and 2001. As from July 2007 I own the copyright for these two books and continue to sell them at seminars and my web site..
My third book titled, ‘Healing with the Chakra Energy System….Acupressure, Bodywork and Reflexology for Total Health’ was published in October 2006. This describes in detail how the therapist can use the chakra energy system with acupressure, cranio-sacral therapy, reflexology and hands on/ off healing. The sequel to this book ‘Acupuncture and the Chakra Energy System – Treating the Cause of Disease’ was published in July 2008 in the USA and September 2008 in the UK.
An A4 size, spiral bound practical workbook entitled ‘Reflected Energy Pathways – a practical workbook for physical therapists’ was published on 20 March 2008. It includes acupoints and reflex points on the limbs, spine, abdomen, skull, face, tongue, teeth, ear, hands, feet and eyes. This was an absolute first!! A second reprint was carried out by Lotus Publishing in June 2009 containing all the same illustrations but with a different cover and binding.
In February 2009, Lotus Publications approached me to write ‘ The Concise Book of Acupoints‘. This book was published in September 2010. I took over the production of this book in 2020 and reprinted it under my imprint. I completed the manuscript of ‘Light Touch Reflextherapy‘ in March 2012. It describes the many and various ways of using the reflexes of the body in healing. It was published mid May 2012. This was followed by a look at two other chakras – the Soma and Hridaya in an article that may be used in a future tome. The next book was an ‘e’ book through Amazon Kindle- called ‘Acupressure and Homoeopathy Combinations in the Treatment of Common Ailments‘. This is a book for the lay person describing how these two disparate forms of complementary medicine may be used together to ease 25 common ailments and pain syndromes. This is available as a pdf download and is now available as a paperback in a revamped edition.
‘Distance Analysis and Healing – My Way!” was published on 24 April 2016 and will also be available as a pdf download. This has been followed by BOOK ONE of the book ‘The Holistic Spine – Reflections and Associations’ that was published in Summer 2017 and the A1 colour poster of the same name was reprinted. BOOK TWO was published in October 2018. A composite and revamped book may be published as a hard copy in 2021 The next 2 books in the pipeline are ‘Lesser Major and Minor Chakras with Acupressure and Reflexology’ and ‘ Clinical Acupressure and Reflexology in Spinal Conditions’. The first one should be published in April 2021.
Away from medicine, I have always been fascinated by the art forms that depict the Christian Cross (something Freudian here) I have collected hundreds of examples over the years and would like to publish them in a booklet.
Who knows what will follow after that!! It has been suggested by many of my colleagues that I write a potted life history of the struggles that we had in the early 1970’s in attempting to learn, practise and teach complementary therapies that were very much ahead of their time. It will include my life long struggle with a spinal deformity that has significantly influenced my life and chosen pathway. Above all, though it will be humorous and anecdotal, reflecting the fun side of medicine and the incredible things that people say and do. It may be called ‘A life in the day of…’.