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Oak Integrated Health Practice

Old Pottery Court, 8A Fore Street, Chudleigh TQ13 0HX

07973 147437

http://www.oakpractice.com

Oak Integrated Health Practice exists as an umbrella to a group of professionals who choose to work together to provide the following to the local and national community:

The practitioners who work from Oak all subscribe to the following ethos:

Latest News

Oak has therapy space available - suitable for psychological therapies, art therapies and body therapies. If you are a fully insured therapist and are interested in joining us either on a sessional basis or to join our team of therapists for shared website and promotion please contact us on 07973 147437 or by email: oak@oakpractice.com.

This space will be used over the coming months to focus on specific complementary and psychological therapies that have been in the news recently. Firstly, we look at guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence1 recommending the use of complementary therapies for persistent low back pain.

NHS to give acupuncture for back pain
For the first time the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence1 has explicitly backed the use of complementary therapies for persistent low back pain.
Patients with persistent low back pain should be offered acupuncture, massages or exercises on the NHS, says guidance.

Non-specific low back pain is tension, soreness and/or stiffness in the lower back region for which it is not possible to identify a specific cause of the pain. Several structures in the back, including the joints, discs and connective tissues, may contribute to symptoms.

The lower back is commonly defined as the area between the bottom of the rib cage and the buttock creases. Some people with non-specific low back pain may also feel pain in their upper legs, but the low back pain usually predominates. Low back pain is a very common problem affecting one in three adults in the UK each year, with an estimated 2.5 million people seeking help from their GP. For many people the pain goes away in days or weeks. But for some, the pain can persist for a long time and become debilitating.

NICE says anyone whose pain persists for more than six weeks and up to a year should be given a choice of several treatments, because the evidence about which works best is uncertain and varies by individual.
NICE has said evidence suggests they help and will be cost effective if doctors stop providing less proven back services like X-rays.

The move was welcomed by some charities and experts but criticised by others.
In addition to taking painkillers, staying active and carrying on with normal activities as much as possible, patients, together with their doctor, can decide to opt one of three complementary treatments.

This includes up to eight exercise sessions or 10 sessions of acupuncture over 12 weeks, or a course of manual therapy, which includes up to nine sessions of spinal manipulation, mobilisation or massage.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, NICE Clinical and Public Health Director said NHS providers now had the opportunity to look at the services they provide and decide what changes are needed. He said: “There is variation in current clinical practice, so this new NICE guideline means that for the first time we now have the means for a consistent national approach to managing low back pain.

“Importantly, patients whose pain is not improving should have access to a choice of different therapies including acupuncture, structured exercise and manual therapy." Patients who fail to benefit from their first choice may be offered another of these options, he said. If that doesn't work, they can try an intensive treatment programme combining exercise and psychological therapy. He said the costs to the NHS would be minimal - in the order of £77,000 - because they are offset by the savings in terms of reducing future disability and healthcare needs and moving away from treatments with little supportive evidence.

The guidelines, which apply to England and Wales, say doctors should no longer offer spinal x-rays or MRI scans or injections of therapeutic substances into the back for non-specific low back pain.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy welcomed the guidelines, as did Dr Dries Hettinga of the charity BackCare. He said: “This offers a real choice for patients. This guideline will help patients understand what treatment and care can help them with their back pain and shows that there can be a positive outlook for treating this condition." But others were critical of the recommendations. Professor Edzard Ernst, an expert in complementary medicine at Peninsula Medical School, said he was surprised by the guidance and particularly by NICE's recommendation of spinal manipulation.

“It feels as though the panel was biased in favour of this approach thus over-rating its effectiveness and under-estimating its risks which can be considerable. In my view, a critical risk benefit analysis of the most reliable data fails to come out in favour of chiropractic. We must remember that no optimally effective treatment for back pain exists."

NOTES
1 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health.

Original story from BBC NEWS on 26th May 2009:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/8068427.stm

Further information on NICE website - http://www.nice.org.uk/CG88


What do we provide?

Psychological Therapies

Complementary Therapies

Art therapy

Art Therapy provides a safe time and space to use art materials, alongside words, as a way of communicating and expressing any issues, thoughts and feelings you may have. You do not have to be good at, or even hold an interest in art to do Art Therapy. Simple marks and scribbles can have as much emotional significance as a fully completed picture. Your images are not interpreted; we look at them together to discover their individual meanings that will have come both consciously and subconsciously from you. I work at your own pace and with what you present to me.

Art Therapy is a gentle and flexible therapy available to anyone seeking to understand, work through and resolve any difficulties they may have had or are currently experiencing.

Is Art Therapy Right For You?
It can be hard taking that first step in deciding whom you need to see as your therapist. If you feel that Art Therapy may be right for you, I offer a no obligation, free 20minute consultation where you can meet me, see the room and decide if you would like to progress with Art Therapy as part of your journey.

Dramatherapy

Dramatherapists work psychotherapeutically and draw on different methodologies, depending on the needs of the person. Work can be in a group or one-to-one and clients scan can be seen at Oak or in other suitable venues. Dramatherapists may work using the following techniques: story making, puppetry, sandtray, mirroring, and mask work. There is absolutely no need to be any kind of actor, only an interest in exploring personal difficulties creatively.
Dramatherapists are registered with the Health Professions Council.

Oak has delivered dramatherapy to the following organisations:

Core Process Psychotherapy

Core process psychotherapy provides a deep but gentle approach to understanding the inner process. In encouraging awareness of how our experience of the present is affected by our past experience and expectations, core process work enables insight and healing. It can help with a wide range of issues from bereavement or relationship problems, to anxiety and depression.

Supervision

Similar to counselling, clinical supervision provides a safe and confidential environment in which to explore issues such as stress and anxiety that arise in the workplace. Sessions can be one-to-one or in small groups and can be run at Oak or in specific work places. A creative, action-based approach is used to facilitate reflection and growth. Oak has delivered supervision to the Bovey Tracey Youth Café staff team as well as to complementary and psychological therapists in private practice.

Aromatherapy

Massage using aromatic oils is used to encourage healing and well-being. This treatment can be useful for improving mood, energy and stress management.

Swedish Massage

Massage has been used as a healing therapy for many thousands of years. More recently modern massage was developed based on techniques originating in Sweden. Swedish massage involves a sequence of movements working superficially and deeper into the tissue layers. Massage can be beneficial to a wide range of ailments and conditions. It is generally suitable to most client groups, including the young and the elderly, those with mental health issues or learning disabilities, the chronically ill and for general relaxation in an increasingly busy world.

Indian Head Massage

Indian head massage is based on the Ayurvedic system of healing which has been practiced in India for over a thousand years.

Indian head massage aims to release the stress that accumulates in the tissues, muscles and joints of the head, face, neck, arms and shoulders. Indian head massage is especially good for relieving stress, tension, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, migraine, eyestrain and sinusitis. Clients report that the experience is deeply calming and relaxing, leaving them feeling energised and revitalised and more able to concentrate. The treatment helps to increase joint mobility and flexibility in the neck and shoulders, improves blood circulation and lymphatic flow, frees knots of muscular tension, relaxes connective tissue, and aids in the elimination of accumulated toxins and waste products.

Reflexology

Reflexology is a specific form of massage usually carried out on the feet or hands. Reflex points are massaged with the thumbs, fingers or knuckles. The stimulation of these points balance specific parts of the body. Other massage techniques are also incorporated within treatments for relaxation.

Reiki

A non-invasive therapy that activates the body’s healing energy, helping to rebalance emotional and physical well-being. Reiki can be both relaxing and energising and can encourage insight and self-healing of mind, body and spirit.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient traditon in Chinese Medicine involving the stimulation of points. This is used in part as a mechanism to aid recovery, self awareness and general well-being.

Shiatsu

A traditional hands-on healing technique from Japan, Shiatsu works in a similar way to acupuncture, using finger pressure (rather than needles), in combination with stretches and massage. Beneficial to both mind and body, it can relieve muscle tension, improve blood and lymphatic circulation and help to rebalance the body’s hormonal, energetic and nervous systems.

Team Building

Tailor-made full and half-day packages are available for general team-building or to address specific issues in the workplace. Other therapies such as massage and reflexology may be included in the package.


The Practitioners

All of the Oak team are trained to professional standards and are covered by professional and public liability indemnity insurance. All of the team are registered with their respective professional bodies, and adhere to strict codes of practice.


Location

We are based in Old Pottery Court, off Fore Street in the heart of Chudleigh.
Please contact Lisa or Sarah on 07973 147437 to make an appointment or for further information.

Fees:

Treatment costs range between £20 and £35. There is a £10 cancellation fee for any appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice.

As part of Oak team’s commitment to offering an integrated approach to health and well-being to all those who need it, an Accessiblity to All concession rate is available. Please call for details.


 

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