I trained in South Africa, qualifying in 1992, after which I spent one year in the local hospitals applying my trade. I then joined up with my father in private practice where I started learning the truth about how the body works. My father has been a pioneer in the field of biomechanics and functional anatomy, as well as being one of the forerunners in the field of Acupuncture, which he continues to teach to post-graduate students. He is highly respected in his field in South Africa and the world. It was from him that I discovered my ability to think around the problem and to try and solve the cause and not the symptom. This approach has afforded me many successes not normally attained with orthodox approaches.

Over the next 5 years I completed an Acupuncture course and was registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. I have found this a major boost in solving complex problems in the body as it teaches one to look at the body as a whole and not in pieces. It is also by far the most developing technique in the west.

I worked together with my father for nine great years before moving to the UK (couldn’t stand the hot weather!), with my lovely wife Ilza, and since here we have added another member to the Mitchell clan, a son called Torin Kelly (Irish for those of you wandering). After a roundabout tour of east-London and Worcester we have settled in Burton-on-Trent, initially for work reasons, but now feel quite relaxed with the move. I’m sure my mates think it’s because it is beer country!

My approach incorporates a variety of techniques to lay the necessary foundations for the body to repair itself. I am now teaching this approach to other Physiotherapists in the UK, and in so doing Physiotherapy will be moving into the future with more solid roots in the application of soft tissue work.

I have studied and use techniques such as Kinesiology, Bowen, Magnet therapy, Energy therapy, not only in treatment, but also in assessing the faults presented to me. This gives me a much larger source of knowledge to dig into to get answers to complicated situations. My work has sometimes been called ‘spooky’, or ‘weird’ by my patients (all in jest), but it is only because they have been exposed to a certain type of approach, which the mainstream follows. I base all my work on evidence-based techniques, that is, treatment that is scientifically proven. A lot of techniques in Physiotherapy are not evidence-based and I have ensured that I do not use these. Studies have even showed that ultrasound does not work as we previously thought.

I am not interested in quick fixes, but in restoring the body to its normal function. Using Kinesiology I am able to find things that most approaches cannot, and it is these intricate details that often underlie the physical symptoms you suffer from. It also gives me the ability to find faults where there are no obvious symptoms such as pain.

So, if you have ever been told “you have to live with it”, or “there is nothing that can be done”, call me, maybe that is not the case.