How Reflex Therapeutics came into being: |
Reflex Therapeutics was founded in 2003 by Keith Hall (pictured) in Brighton, Sussex.
After 8 years as a practitioner of holistic medicine, namely Massage, Aromatherapy and Trager Psycho-physical Integration, Keith met Ulrich Schmidt, the founder of IMF therapy, in Bremen, Germany.
This led to Keith training in IMF therapy at the Heinrich Mann Clinic under the wing of Dr Harald Bennefeld, head of neurology.
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Ulrich Schmidt
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Keith Hall |
“I remember so clearly the first time I saw IMF in action. A man of about 60 years was wheeled into the room by a nurse and his wife in attendance. There were also 4-5 physios present and the head of neurology as well. Herr Schmidt placed the device on the patients arm and instructed him to visualise pulling in nets from his imaginary fishing boat, the man had been a fisherman all his life. |
After ten minutes or so the device was removed and Schmidt told the man to raise his arm and give it his best effort. It was remarkable. The patient raised his arm at least 10cm higher than he had been able to do just moments before. I had goose pimples and the room burst into applause, it was very moving and I shall never forget this first encounter with the work.”
Keith returned to the UK and began to raise its profile but came across problems he didn`t foresee. |
“I had no idea that it would be so difficult to raise the profile of this therapy with healthcare professionals. Some physios were open to it but most saw it as a threat to their own livelihood. Some hospitals wanted to take it for use in their wards but managers told senior therapists there was no budget. Neurologists and Stroke specialists dismissed it because they didn`t already know about it and had an attitude of; ‘who was this therapist from a holistic background to tell them what worked and what didn`t?’ These were people that held to the established belief, now disproved, that nerve damage is not treatable.
Undeterred, Keith has been treating people who have suffered nerve damage since 2003, with considerable success.
“IMF may not be appropriate for everyone because of the motivation levels required. But for those people who are highly motivated, and persevere, good and sometimes spectacular results are achieved.
There is a way to treat nerve damage and the individual is the key, they make it happen, the device is just a tool to accelerate the process, the person is everything.” |
