Hi, my name is Vanessa and I am the founder of Holistic Therapies of Canberra. I began my journey into the world of natural therapies in 1997 when I first studied Aromatherapy.

My then husband was, at that time, setting up a massage business in Manuka, called The Therapeutic Touch. We formed a partnership where we worked together for several years before our relationship came to an end.

Drew decided to spread his wings and move to the USA where he still lives and works. I stayed on in Manuka for a while before formulating a move to Chifley where I established Holistic Therapies of Canberra.

I ran the business from my home (where my teenage daughter, myself and our two cats lived) and had three beautiful, colour themed rooms set up for therapies. Other fabulous practitioners joined me to create our centre. We offered various forms of Massage, Aromatherapy, Reiki, Herbal Medicine, Kinesiology and also ran Meditation classes and other workshops. We held several, very successful open days during the short 3.5 years that the business operated in Chifley.

My experience in Chifley was one of the most creative and enriching endeavours of my life. So why did I leave and come to Fadden? Because I needed to regain balance in my life.

I was single when I established the business in Chifley, but then I met a gorgeous man, Myron, who is my new life partner. I found it too difficult to balance family life with the all consuming involvement in my business. So I decided to move out of Chifley and into a house in Fadden which I share with my lovely partner, Myron, my 20 year old daughter, Amy (and often her boyfriend!), and Myron's two girls, Isobel and Julia (aged 9 and 11) who are here with us half time. Plus, of course, our cat Lalita. My ginger cat, Seth, sadly, lies buried in the backyard of the house in Chifley.

I'm still able to offer a large variety of therapies as my training has been across a broad spectrum of modalities. I have a lovely therapy room set up downstairs, near the front door. I'm also now embarking on some teaching and will be offering a number of workshops and classes in Aromatherapy and Herbs. On top of that, I'm developing a range of hand-made products with locally grown herbs and Australian plant extracts. Yum!

I hope to meet you very soon!

Warm wishes,
Vanessa