John Garvey, holistic healthcare practitioner believes a mixture of therapies provides the best cure for his clients.
My centre is situated in Leap in West Cork and I begin work at around 9am taking phone calls. I take clients in from 10 am and can finish up anytime between 6.30pm and 8pm depending on the day.
As a holistic healthcare practitioner I offer macrobiotic counselling, shiatsu massage and scenar therapy. Clients come to me with all sorts of ailments from physical problems such as back or shoulder pain or psychological problems such as relationship difficulties. Basically people come to me when they feel pain and psychological pain can often result in physical pain.
Firstly I interview the client to get a picture of their lifestyle, stresses, exercise regime and diet. Then I begin to make gentle re-adjustments. You never know what the person requires until you begin treatment so I would apply my therapies over the course of a number of treatments.
Macrobiotic counselling involves showing a person how to eat simply and make dietary changes delicately. I would also give the client homework where he or she would be asked to adjust their diet and I would also recommend exercise with simple stretches.
Shiatsu massage is finger pressure massage. The body will guide me as to where there is excess energy or a deficiency of energy.
Excess energy would show up as an inflamed area and an area deficient in energy would be cold or stiff. Unlike ordinary massage shiatsu finds out what is below the surface.
Regular massage touches the skin and lymph we work below the surface. The analogy I use to explain this is; imagine you are in a dessert with no water, there's no point in stirring the sand to the left and right of you but if you dig deep enough you'll find water.
Scenar therapy is relatively new to the western world. It's here about six to seven years and has been practiced widely in Russia for the past 30 years. I describe it as a battery recharger for the body. It's a small electrical device about the size of a TV remote control which I use to touch the body to read vital energy.
It re-balances the energy in the body and gives biofeedback. Energy will only be offered at the rate at which it is required; it would never give too much or too little energy.
I apply all these therapies over the course of treatments where the client needs them. Most importantly I encourage my clients to help their systems heal themselves though these therapies.
(Interview by Patrica Weston)