Meet The Team

Whatever your requirements, together our team of qualified, professional practitioners can help you towards maintaining good health and managing a healthier lifestyle.

THE TEAM

Edith Maskell - Director and Practitioner

During a very successful secretarial and middle management career spanning 30 years, I suffered the physical and emotional effects of balancing a demanding career with a hectic family and social life. At a particularly "eventful" time in my life, I turned to complementary medicine to treat the resultant stress and quickly became aware of the advantages (and immense satisfaction) from taking back responsibility for my health and ultimately, my life.

I had an interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine since my children were very young. Gradually, I began looking at all the modalities and over the years that ongoing interest eventually became a vocation. I finally set up my private practice in Bromley in 1993 after personal upheavals which involved some very major lifestyle changes.

Now, as proprietor of the Clinic and as a practitioner, I have many aims and objectives. First and foremost, to tailor treatments to individual needs and to raise client awareness of the advantages and importance of self help.

Though not qualified in all modalities, I am a multi disciplined practitioner and should I feel that a client needs care which is outside my own scope of practice I will readily refer to a medical practitioner or another within complementary and alternative medicine. Over the years, I have built up excellent working relationships with local chiropractors, osteopaths, counsellors etc. Working with a team of specialists in their own fields, between us, we achieve our aims and objectives through lengthy consultative processes, scientific screening tests, a range of complementary and alternative treatments, therapeutic supplementation and last but not least, in depth personalised nutritional advice.

Another ambition at Bromley Health Management is to provide a setting where people walk through the door and immediately feel they are in a safe, calm and comfortable environment. Safe in the sense of "safe in our hands", able to trust a caring, skilled specialist with confidence, who has the time to listen and is clearly interested in the long term well being of each client.

It can be seen from my training and others I work with that emphasis is on total healthcare - not just symptoms presenting.

My qualifications are in Anatomy & Physiology, Acupressure and Remedial Massage (incorporating CranioSacral Techniques), Aromatherapy, Bach Flower Remedies, Reflexology, Reiki, Allergy Testing, Health Screening, a B.E.S.T System Clinical Practitioner and a Master Practitioner in NLP & Hypnosis.

I am a full member of the International Federation of Holistic Therapists, the Professional Association of Clinical Therapists, International Federation of Reflexologists, Academy of On-Site Acupressure Massage, British Institute of Environmental and Allergy Therapy, a registered Bach Flower Practitioner, British Complementary Medicine Association, British Institute of Hypnotherapy, Clinical Association of Reflexology and a professional member of BackCare UK and still studying. I am also in the process of writing a book.

These days my special interest is in Health Screening (both Sensitivity - mainly Allergies) and Full Body (Functional Medicine). Over the years I have become more and more convinced that all disease begins in the gut, as a result of poor nutrition (from birth), suppressed emotions, environmental factors and geopathic stress. We need to get back to basics by searching out the cause of dis-ease, by addressing how well (or otherwise) each organ in the body is functioning or has been compromised by all of the above, All that happens when we treat symptoms is "lop off the tip of the iceberg" when the problem lies "deep under the ocean".

The method used for Screening is the B.E.S.T (BioEnergetic Stress Testing) System. I first learned about it in 1994. For a number of years, I followed the System with much curiosity and enthusiasm and observed successful progress grow from strength to strength. In the process I became more and more convinced of its capabilities. The more I work with the System, the more that conviction and commitment grows.

The sustained interest culminated in my training as a B.E.S.T System Practitioner in January 2000 and did my advanced clinical training in Energetic Medicine with the UK Energetix College and also with the British Institute of Allergy and Environmental Therapy.

Other interests, on a part time basis, include lecturing at Conferences, Colleges and Universities around the UK and writing articles for professional journals.

For more than 10 years I have represented my professional association on the voluntary self regulation body for reflexology, The Reflexology Forum (RF). For the last 2 years I have also represented Complementary Therapists Association (CThA) members on the Aromatherapy Consortium (now the Aromatherapy Council) AC, the General Council for Massage Therapy (GCMT), the General Shiatsu Council (now the Shiatsu Regulatory Group) SRG and also on the Reiki Regulation Working Group (RRWG). I am Treasurer of the RF and also the RRWG. I have been an active member on many of the sub committees of those groups including PR and Education and Training.

After many years of hard work by a lot of individuals, the regulation of complementary and alternative medicine gets closer. The current deadline is March 2008. The voluntary self regulation bodies were formed by the professional associations within each therapy in the United Kingdom. This action was instigated by the Foundation of Integrated Medicine, (now the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health - PFIH), the University of Exeter and the Government.

The formation of the various bodies came about after the House of Lords published its findings and concerns in 2000 on the subject of public safety. CAM was advised to organise itself. The first step was to establish standards (National Occupational Standards - NOS) for common training across CAM, to write core curriculi, Codes of Conduct, Ethics and Disciplinary Procedures, Scope of Practice and Standards of Proficiency, Accreditation processes and Grandparenting Schemes. With public demand now higher than ever for CAM treatments, it is also hoped that the regulatory process will have another vital knock on effect. That is, that Orthodox medicine will eventually have no choice but to enlighten itself about the benefits of complementary medicine and finally recognise CAM practitioners as true credible Professionals who can be trusted. As a result, the public will feel safe in "our hands" whilst having the blessing of their GP.

Other European Countries have already gone down this route and in Denmark for instance, large companies, including Lego, the Post Office, at least one Super League Football Club and the Fisheries Industry, employ CAM practitioners on their payroll; for example, one eminent Ears, Nose and Throat specialist works alongside a Reflexologist and happily refers his clients BEFORE considering surgery as an option, particularly with children suffering Glue Ear.

Whilst things are progressing SLOWLY in this Country, reports from clients are that in the UK, we are still at a very different stage. Some GP reactions reported on a regular basis to me are. (1) when they mention to their Doctor the good progress they are experiencing as a result of receiving complementary medicine, (whereas they were previously making NO progress on medication) either the Doctor laughs out loud, or (2) makes comments in a very derogatory fashion such as "well, if you think having your feet rubbed is going to make you feel better, that’s fine ". Interestingly, there are now conclusions being drawn from studies carried out within the NHS that complementary health actually saves NHS precious funding, gives GP’s more time to deal with acutely /terminally ill people and addresses chronic conditions which the medical profession admit they have "nothing in their tool box" with which to help. One GP reports that 10% of his clients use up 90% of NHS funding in his practice.

Whilst there is a shortage of research to evidence the benefits, there is a conundrum; interestingly enough, it appears that nurses and doctors are actively being encouraged to train in complementary therapies and CAM is appearing on the agenda in the early days of medical training; which, even if it only brings about an awareness of the benefits, is a step in the right direction..

The day when the public will be able to demand GP referral for Reflexology or any other treatments in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine or for it to be freely available on the NHS, giving clients a choice, may still be a fantasy for the CAM professional like me but hopefully not too far away.

What a day of celebration that will be and what an achievement for us all.

Welcome to my world.