Hello! I’m Carolyn.
I love supporting people to find balance in their life while coping with emotional and physical challenges.
I’m a wife and mum to 2 boys, continue to work part time within the NHS alongside my private mobile physiotherapy business (House Call Physiotherapy) and this my wellbeing business. I have a long term condition – fibromyalgia so I understand from personal experience how it feels to live with persistent pain. I love spending my free time walking with our family dog, enjoying the quietness of being in nature.
I qualified as a physiotherapist just under 20 years ago and more recently completed training as a life coach. And before all that I studied Philosophy. So I’m a bit of a mixed bag! I have my feet in a number of camps when it comes to wellbeing which is why I am so passionate about approaching things from a whole person, wholehearted perspective.
I’ve never been a physio that was all about exercises and manipulations and an extra couple of degrees of movement. Maybe because of my background I was always more interested in what an injury or illness meant for that person. I remember going for a job interview and being asked about outcome measures to show that a physio treatment had made a difference. I answered that the only outcome that is relevant is the patient’s view on whether or not their situation is better than it was prior to working with the physio. What is the point in a test showing that someone is stronger or has more movement at a joint if they still can’t do what matters to them? Any intervention should be to help achieve what matters to the client or patient.
Throughout my career, I have always had an interest in long term, persistent and complex conditions. I increasingly found that these are the very people that I love working with, people with functional disorders, behavioural changes, complex multiple problems and challenges. Whose quality of life was really being influenced by their health.
As time went on I would hear myself saying that I don’t do much “real physio”, I spend a lot of my time listening to my patients, exploring why they do or don’t do certain things, the behaviours they or their families have adopted, their beliefs around their condition etc. Listening to really understand, asking questions to dig deeper and work out a plan together.
This is what I really enjoy doing and the results can be truly life changing for patients. So I decided to complete a life coaching qualification as this seemed to really fit with this aspect of my work.
I still felt there was something missing. Something that explained the range of symptoms that clients would present with that had no clear or identifiable medical or diagnostic explanation. That explained why people could have similar results from investigations or similar conditions but the impact could be so different for them. And then I found SIRPA!(Stress Illness Recovery Practitioners Association) and I am currently studying with them to enable me to fully integrate this approach into my practice.
I often hear from clients that the doctor or surgeon says they are fine, they have discharged them from clinic, there is nothing more they can do. The trap that a lot of western medicine practices have fallen into is “treating” the injury or illness or disease but not the person. “Treatment” comes under specific specialisms where specific problems are treated but often not in relation to other problems an individual may have or indeed in relation to that person as a whole.
Having the “traditional “ physiotherapy knowledge and skills gives me such a deep understanding of the physical challenges clients face while my wellbeing coaching SiRPA skills allow me to confidently approach issues and beliefs that neither predominantly physical or psychological practitioners may feel able to do.
Ultimately this gives my clients the best outcome. My approach is truly looking at the whole person. We are not just physical beings or just emotional beings. An issue or ailment which primarily seems to be either physical or emotional will inevitably impact on the other aspect too.
…”Because wellbeing is about our physical and emotional elements being In Balance”
I’ve developed a range of strategies through professional training and extensive experience as well as living through a number of personal emotional and physical challenges that can help you find balance.
I’d love to hear your story and work together to help you achieve the life you desire and deserve xx.