Dr David Mickel MBChB MRCGP- Founder and Director
David qualified as a Medical Doctor in 1992 before going on to specialise in General Practice in 1996. He developed an interest in CFS/ME and Fibromyalgia during this time and became frustrated by the lack of success of conventional and alternative treatments for the conditions. He spent a number of years researching and experimenting with a variety of approaches and methods until he finally developed the process of treatment now known as Mickel Therapy®. He founded the organisation Mickel Health Initiatives Ltd with the aim of offering high quality treatment and education in the theories and processes that he and the team have developed and evolved over recent years. He currently provides a private therapy service in Elgin treating CFS/ME and Fibromyalgia, IBS and other ‘Energy Disorders’ such as IBS, Anxiety and Depression as physical conditions. Dr Mickel works part-time in General Practice and as an Emergency Medical Practitioner in his local hospital A&E department as well as doing distance Mickel Therapy by phone and Skype.
He travels internationally to provide training, seminars and workshops.
Dr Mickel can be contacted through info@mickeltherapy.com via General Manager Julia.
Dr Francis Teeney - Managing Director
Dr Francis Teeney is a Psychologist at Queen’s University Belfast where he is a member of the Social Issues and Health Cluster. He is also a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen. In his role as Managing Director of Mickel Health Initiatives Ltd, among other duties, he holds a special portfolio for advancing research and developing academic and medical networks.
In 2004, Francis became Project Manager for HUMAINE – an EU funded 34 partner/ university worldwide network analysing emotions. Indeed his work in this emotional based research is reflected in is current investigations into the role of emotions in energy disorders such as ME/CFS. His recent activities involve identity and victimhood involving collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and Queen’s University Belfast. Francis was involved in the Northern Ireland Peace Process, held numerous workshops and seminars for victims emotionally affected by the conflict, is an NLP practitioner and is to the forefront in forming an academic research consortium into the causes and treatment of ME/CFS. With the assistance and guidance of his close friend and colleague, Professor Roddy Cowie of Queen’s University School of Psychology, his objective is to develop a greater understanding of the role of emotions in human health and well being.
Dr Teeney can be contacted at f.teeney@qub.ac.uk
Julia McNeill – General Manager
Julia was brought up in Alness, but is now living in Inverness Scotland. Julia is a creative person and has always enjoyed working with the public. At one time she was a partner in a small business venture.
Julia was a client of Dr Mickel and received treatment from him. Dr Mickel recognised that she was a self motivated person and had excellent people skills, and so he asked her to come and work for his company.
Julia has been working for the company since 2005 in an administrative role, In 2007 she was made Chief Administrator and in 2011 was promoted to General Manager
Julia is an integral part of the company as her role is essential for the day to day running of the company. Julia ensures all enquiries are answered. She is also involved in making changes to the website, overseeing the accounts and organising and co-ordinating training events ect.
Julia says that she loves her role in the company as she gets so see every aspect of Mickel Therapy as she has interaction and involvement with every level of the company, from discussions with the founder of the company Dr Mickel, the board of directors, the supervisors, the therapists and the public.
She is regularly involved in discussions with Dr Mickel and the board of directors, as she will be used to implement their plans for the company. Also as she is in regular contact with all therapists and with the public, she is able to hear both commendations we receive and the concerns people have, as a result she is well qualified give suggestions that will make a real difference for everyone involved with Mickel Therapy.
She also has regular contact with the therapists. Part of that role is to keep everyone informed with what is happening within the company. Therapists do have direct contact with their supervisor, however she is used to co-ordinate supervision training events.
For Many people Julia will be their first contact with Mickel Health Initiatives. As Julia is a people person and is happiest when she is talking, she really enjoys this part of her role. She is happy to listen & talk to anyone who calls. She is able to discuss Mickel therapy and how it would help their lives, also address any concerns they may have. Many of the questions and concerns raised were things Julia felt prior to having treatment with Dr Mickel, so she can be empathetic in this regard. After these discussions she will put clients in contact with their local therapist for them to begin their treatment.
Julia McNeill can be contacted at – juliam@mickeltherapy.com
Kim Knight – Global Training Director
Global Training Director and Marketing / Training Director Asia-Pacific
Kim Knight was one of the first Mickel Therapists trained in New Zealand in 2006. At that time she was coming to the end of her 12 year own journey of searching and discovering answers to chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression. She completed the training purely to learn more about these conditions and had no plans to be a therapist. Little did she know where this would take her!
Since 2006 Kim has been working in private practice as a skilled Mickel Therapist, using both Mickel Therapy and other cutting-edge health modalities to assist people to recover from long-term chronic illness without medication or supplements. She has an innate ability to help people understand the real root cause of their illness remarkably quickly, and then give them the tools to recover their health.
Based in New Zealand, Kim has played a pivotal role in promoting Mickel Therapy in Australasia, speaking regularly at health expos and giving presentations to both the general public and medical community. She is passionate about helping people understand the true meaning of disease (dis-ease) and giving everyone the tools to look after their own health. In 2011 she was nominated for New Zealand Woman of the Year for contribution and innovation in the arena of health and science.
She also educates and teaches via online health teleseminars which enables anyone anywhere in the world to participate in seminars via the internet. In 2011 she ran the first ‘Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Illness Recovery’ telesummit which gave people experiencing these conditions the opportunity to participate live from their home. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and more events are planned.
Her role in the Mickel Therapy management team encompasses two key areas:
TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
- Running global online training seminars in tandem with Dr Mickel and other therapists. This includes seminars to the general public, Mickel therapists and the medical community.
- Overseeing and delivering Mickel Therapy training in Australasia and Asia
- Supervision of new therapists in Australasia
- Assisting in the continuing improvement, enhancement and development of the Mickel Therapy model
PROMOTION
- Raising the profile of Mickel Therapy globally to the general public and medical community
- Assisting Marketing Director Saul Levitt with the development and implementation of the Mickel Therapy global marketing plan
Kim Knight can be contacted at kim.knight@mickeltherapy.com or info “at” mickeltherapy.co.nz
Read more on www.artofhealth.co.nz and www.mickeltherapy.co.nz
Saul Levitt – Marketing Director
In 1998 Saul was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, suffering for over 6 years with the condition. In 2006, Saul discovered Mickel Therapy while spending a year in Australia and a month later went on practitioner training in New Zealand. This helped him over some of his lingering symptoms which included Fibromyalgia, food intolerance’s and IBS.
Having recovered from CFS, he then shifted his attention to practicing as a Mickel Therapist. Having suffered from this condition has been invaluable in his empathy and ability to help clients achieve their highest level of good health.
Saul is a senior Mickel Therapist and has successfully worked with clients all over the world including USA, Sweden, Australia and the UK. He has also assisted in training new Mickel Therapists and is always looking for ways to innovate in his therapeutic work.
Saul has a BA in Marketing from the University of Plymouth and over the past decade has held a range of positions in large and small, private and charitable sectors. With a long track record in marketing and online, Saul is excited to take on the role of Marketing Director.
Saul is interested in the effect of laughter on emotions in the body and immune system. He takes a keen interest in Dr Lee S. Berk’s research at Loma Linda University’s Schools of Allied Health and Medicine. To this end he is exploring the use of laughter within therapy sessions building on the work of pioneers in this field such as Dr Madan Kataria.
His role in the Mickel Therapy management team includes:
- Marketing Mickel Therapy worldwide
- Developing the Mickel Therapy website
- Promoting client success stories
- Finding innovative ways to use social media and new technology
- Developing a webinar programme with Kim Knight
Saul Levitt can be contacted at saul.levitt@mickeltherapy.com or www.intuitivehealth.co.uk
Holly Tomas – Supervisor
Holly comes to Mickel Health Initiatives though the ex-client route. She suffered from M.E, IBS, Depression and Anxiety for 27 years, from the age of 14. She attended the first ever Mickel Therapy training course in 2004, and has been treating clients, including children and young people, ever since, both locally and via email for overseas clients.
In the past, when symptoms allowed, Holly trained with the London Adventure Playground Association, working with local children in the Holloway road area of London, as part of an inclusion programme. She then specialised in working with children with special needs for the Handicapped Adventure Playground Association, including severe cases referred on by Guys Hospital Psychiatric clinic and with groups from special schools across London.
Holly also trained as a CRUSE bereavement counsellor and Client Centred Counsellor, working for Derwent Rural Counselling Service in Derbyshire, alongside her work for a crisis helpline based in Buxton.
Holly then moved to Scotland, where she continued to pursue a music career, running ‘open mic’ sessions for singer-songwriters and poets in Edinburgh. She loved the mentoring aspect of this; trying to support people reach their full potential is one of her aims in life!
She then went on to be offered a placement at No 21 Counselling Service in Edinburgh. She also held two voluntary roles simultaneously within Children 1st, as a Family Support Worker at Baird House (working with transition groups, offering games, outdoor pursuits, music and arts sessions for children), and secondly, for Parentline as a phone counsellor.
Within MHI, Holly has worked alongside Dr Mickel for the past 5 years as an assistant trainer in both New Zealand and in the UK and has recently accepted a role as supervisor. Her particular area of interest is preventative care, offering emotional coaching for both adults and children.
She loves her job as a Mickel Therapist – supporting people back to full recovery not only gives her great joy, but makes sense of her lengthy experience of M.E.
Holly Tomas can be contacted at holly.tomas@mickeltherapy.com
Clare Caldwell – Supervisor
Clare Caldwell has extensive experience as an Advanced Mickel Practitioner. She also works as a distance practitioner providing the therapy by phone email and skype.
Clare Caldwell lives in the Highlands of Scotland where she has a practice at the Centre for Complementary Therapies in Inverness and a clinical treatment room outside Beauly.
It was the nature of the area she covers that led her to become a distance practitioner. So many of the clients she saw were unable to travel the huge distances to Inverness from the north of Scotland and the Islands that she quickly realised there was a need to provide the therapy in this way. She also worked for many years as a volunteer on a telephone helpline which gave her the unique experience to prepare her to provide the therapy in this way.
Clare has found that the therapy is just as successful by phone and email as in face to face sessions. Many clients even prefer the therapy delivered in this way
She qualified as a Mickel Practitioner in January 2006 and as a Complementary Therapist in 2007, working also in Reflexology, Massage Therapies and other energy healing techniques.
Clare qualified in Institutional Management in 1979 at the University of North London and worked in NHS management for many years. Her final job in management was as a Hospital General Manager in a London teaching hospital.
Clare experienced the symptoms of ME for 15 years. She was severely debilitated and was mostly wheelchair and bedbound during that time. She was always convinced there must be a cure and tried many therapies with little relief until she happened upon Mickel in 2004. She returned to symptom free health in just seven sessions.
Since then she has worked hard to raise awareness of the therapy and has recently qualified as a supervisor of other Mickel Practitioners and assists Dr David Mickel in the training of new Mickel Practitioners.
Clare is part of the management team where she is using her extensive experience of the therapy and her previous management skills and knowledge to assist the team. Their aim is to raise awareness and promote research into Mickel Therapy and the disorders it can help.
She works with people from many parts of the world and is interested in exploring how our cultural conditioning and expectations affects our health and the way we respond to the symptoms of illness.
Clare can be contacted at clare.caldwell@mickeltherapy.com