With over 7 years of clinical experience as an Osteopath working in the UK and Australia, Vanessa has treated a diverse range of patients from babies to adults, using a combination of cranial, functional and structural osteopathic techniques and dry needling. Vanessa is a graduate from the British School of Osteopathy (BSO), the UK’s oldest school of Osteopathy, which is respected throughout the world for providing high quality, innovative and modern osteopathic education. After graduating with distinction, her skills as a clinical practitioner were considered in such high esteem by the BSO that she was invited to lecture there, which she did for 3 years prior to migrating to Australia. In her ‘youth’ Vanessa trained at the Urdang Academy of Ballet and Performing Arts and worked as a professional dancer for 5 years, performing all over the world. Vanessa had to retire early from a job she loved due to a back injury. As part of her recovery she received intensive osteopathic treatment, which inspired her new career direction. The recovery from injury and subsequent osteopathic training sparked a keen interest in the factors that cause injury and how they can be prevented. She has a high level of understanding of human biomechanics, along with the physical and mental stresses and the competitive intensity of performance at an elite level. This has been invaluable when treating a variety of injuries and helped her to utilise her skills to manage patients who struggle with everyday activities because of pain and demands they have on their bodies. Since having children of her own, Vanessa has expanded her knowledge and skill set so that she can pursue another area of interest, craniosacral osteopathy. It is a technique that she has developed a keen passion for and has found it to be of great benefit to a variety of people suffering with stress and anxiety, osteoporosis, as well as pregnant women, babies and young children. Vanessa founded The Willow Clinic in Allambie, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and promises quality osteopathic treatment and a dedicated approach to patient care and well-being.