Catherine completed her initial training as a massage therapist in 1994. This was an Associate Diploma in Health Sciences (Massage Therapy), a two-year full time course run at TAFE. She is currently accredited with the Association of Massage Therapists.

Since then she has completed many postgraduate workshops to further understand how the body works and how to recognise pain-causing problems associated with soft tissue (muscle, fascia, tendon, ligament). Catherine works to relieve many conditions of pain and also works on people who are not in pain to maintain a pain free life, assessing and correcting any problem areas before they reach the point of pain.

In 1996 she travelled to the USA for two months to work with and learn from an internationally renowned massage therapist, Rich Phaigh. Having the unique experience to see first hand how he works gave Catherine a solid understanding and confidence to help many conditions and to refer to other practitioners when appropriate.

At the end of 1996 Catherine took over as President of the Association of massage therapists for a year, until Lord of the Dance asked her to join them as the massage therapist for Michael Flatley and forty dances. Over 1998 she worked on tour with Lord of the dance and then Gaelforce Dance. Travelling to some 13 countries and working in numerous towns and cities. Where ever possible meeting local massage therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, doctors, and physiotherapists.

Her role was to keep them dancing and to prevent potential injuries through massage, as well as exercise and stretching.

Now happy to stay in Sydney she works at the Spring Street Health Centre five days and works on dancers and singers as required, for example The Australian Ballet, Happy Days the musical, and singers with the Australian Opera. More recently she has set up Swiss Ball classes for strength and rehabilitation and has been working with Athletes competing in the Sydney Olympic Games.

Catherine has a comprehensive knowledge base. Her skills are used when there is pain present and there needs to be some assessment of what is causing the pain or for those without pain to correct structural imbalances before they become a problem.

Her technique incorporates:

• Postural analysis to determine structural imbalances to better determine the effected structures and tight muscles
• Range of motion assessment for each muscle. Each muscle has a normal length and strength, if a muscle is shortened or weak this can be a predisposing factor to injury
• Muscle Energy Technique- originally an Osteopathic technique used to correct joint dysfunction. This technique can be used to correct side bending curves and rotations of the spine as well as restriction in joints of the extremities
• Assessment by palpation of soft tissues- touch is a massage therapist’s area of speciality. Muscle tissue should be soft and pliable, if it is not this can indicate restrictions or adhesions, built up by over use or trauma injuries. Many of these restrictions can be corrected by massage therapy and appropriate stretching.
• Last up dated: April 2003

With the bustle and pressures of life today we have largely lost touch with our bodies. We live with stress, with aching muscles and with pain, caused by dysfunctional posture, occupation and other activities of everyday life.

No one should have to live with Headaches or lower back pain, there is always a reason for all pain, it is the bodies warning signal. Many people who end up with such conditions as arthritis and disc impingement have sometimes been walking around with small amounts of pain for years and never got round to doing anything about it. Life is to be enjoyed and enjoyed pain free !