A young mum with a passion for helping others has taken a new direction in life by retraining and starting her own specialist complementary health business aimed at helping couples take away the stresses associated with fertility and post conception.
When Claire Gardner from Ashington was made redundant from her job helping to place people with disabilities into work, she decided to look closely at her options and take the opportunity to do something different that she enjoyed. Another consideration to Claire’s career choice was that she wanted to fuel her passion for helping mums and their children, something that developed when she had her own children. (Aidan, 7 and Sam, 3.)
Following her redundancy, she decided that the time was right to pursue her dreams and her career path took her onto a comprehensive, 12 month long course in Reflexology.
Reflexology is a complementary health therapy, which works on the principle that different points on the feet, lower leg, hands, face or ears correspond with different areas of the body. Reflexologists work holistically with their clients and aim to improve their health through the treatment.
Claire’s training led to a Level 5 Mastership qualification that has now enabled her to set up her own business, Family Reflexology.
During the course, Claire took her training to another level by specialising in areas around fertility and helping mothers and babies relax after the stresses of daily life. The course covered in depth reflexology techniques, theory, history of reflexology, anatomy, physiology, treatment planning and she also had to perform more than 100 treatments.
Now, Claire is based in a specialist fertility clinic in Jesmond where she works with couples that are having difficulty conceiving and gives support to women throughout their maternity journey. When a baby arrives, she works with the new mother and her new-born helping them to bond and applying treatment to soothe and relax both mother and baby.
“One of the main things that I am asked to do is show mothers how to incorporate reflexology into their daily routine as this may help with common issues such as colic.
“My work involves helping people to feel well, allowing them an hour of total relaxation and an escape from the stresses of our busy everyday lives. I particularly get a lot out of helping pregnant women relax more. Being able to help people is such a privilege and it’s very rewarding for both my clients and myself,” said Claire.
Laura Lynch from Newcastle who is 32 weeks pregnant said that she was finding Claire’s help invaluable.
“The treatment is really helpful for alleviating the awful symptoms of pregnancy like sciatica and backache.”