About
We have both an Integrative General Practitioner and a Health Coach.
Take a moment to read their stories.
Hayley Scott
My Story
Born and bred in NZ, I grew up and went to school in Taupo. We were a generally healthy family, and so my only experience with the health services was my local GP. Because of this, when I applied for medical school, my only aim was to become a GP. Throughout medical school and my hospital years, this aim never changed and I was unleashed on the population in 2003 as a GP, gaining my Fellowship with the RNZCGP in 2005
Life moved on and I met my husband who was a dairy farmer at the time. Because of this we moved to Te Aroha, and I started as a rural GP. Rural general practice is a fulfilling career, where I feel part of the community and so 20 years later, I am still here.
During this time we had two children and my husband became a home dad, raising our kids, looking after our 4 dogs and 5 cats, that enabled me to continue with my career.
Rural General Practice, while being a great career, is also very busy. And then COVID arrived. This was a time when I devoted all my time to work, and the rest of life went on the back burner – including looking after myself.
By the time 2024 came around I was exhausted, prediabetic, significantly overweight and inactive. Probably the worst part was that I had lost my compassion for both my patients and my staff. I almost left general practice at this time. I felt the pressure of being the sole income earner in my family and knew that if I wanted to continue to do this, I had to make some changes.
So, I decided to go to a 10 day retreat at Resolution Retreats in Karapiro. This was an investment for me. Over these ten days I slept (a lot!) and they made me exercise and eat healthily. Once the caffeine and sugar withdrawal wore off, and I started to feel well, I began to be able to contemplate my life and what changes I needed to make.
I knew I needed to address my work life balance first and then focus on movement and food. At Resolution Retreats I had discovered Yin Yoga and the benefits of restorative practices. You would think that as a doctor I had enough dietary education to help me, but I realized that good health was about more than eating salad and exercising my butt off.
Then I decided that if I was going to stick to a new lifestyle, I needed something to keep me honest. I decided that committing to, studying and practicing integrative medicine would mean I would have to walk the walk if my patients were going to trust me. I have always been motivated by my career and so it made sense to use this to motivate me now.
So, on top of my busy life, I started a Fellowship with the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine – ACNEM for short. This is a 3 year fellowship full of education and experience to help integrative practitioners with the background they need.
18 months after starting this, I am now ready to start seeing patients. Studying integrative medicine has sparked my inner nerd and reinvigorated my passion for general practice. I truly believe that the way to fix our health system woes, is through good preventative medicine. Integrative medicine and general practice both focus on ways to help us keep healthy, rather than just treating disease.
I am looking forward to my new patients, and especially being able to spend an hour with each patient, in our new purpose built room. Come and join me for a herbal tea and a chat about how we can prioritize and improve your health.
Hayley
Helen
My story so far ….
Kia orana
I grew up in South Auckland. I was lucky enough to have many family members within walking distance, so I was very close to my extended family and best of all my Nana’s scones were never too far away. My Dad’s job took us to the UK and USA for a few years as a child, which I’m forever grateful for. This instilled a zest for travel that has never left me.
My interest in health and wellness was sparked after working many years in the Corporate world that ended up sucking the life force out of me. I had also seen the toll chronic stress can have as I watched cancer take my Dad at a young age. I kept thinking there had to more to life than sitting at a desk all day and for what?? After finding myself in hospital with pnemonia this was the catalyst for change. I took the plunge resigned from my job and embarked on a Therapuetic and Sports Massage Diploma. This is a decision I have never regretted. I have had many opportunities and met many people that I would not of otherwise met over the last 20+ years. My career, however, did take another turn and I found myself back in the Corporate world, where I stayed until once again my health this time physically and mentally plummetted. I was overweight, had high blood pressure, stressed out, depressed and couldn’t cope with life. Due to this I left my corporate job and set about finding out what I needed to improve my health and life. I tried many things which some would call ‘woo woo’, but for me they brought more balance and like minded people into my life. A snapshot of things I tried was Reiki (I am now a level 2 Reiki practitioner), sound healing – gong, singing bowls etc, belly dancing, saw a nutritional clinician and went on a variety of health and meditation retreats, both in NZ and overseas, the most exotic being in Guatemala.
In 2019 I met Hayley Scott who told me about a new pilot scheme for Health Coaches that was being launched. I started my training with PreKure as Covid-19 engulfed the world. On completion of my training I started with Health Te Aroha in 2021 as Health Coach / Medical Care Assistant…..fast forward to today where I still see the occassional patient for Health Coaching and am now the Operations Manager for the practice. This is a nice balance between my interest in health/wellness and business.
My own personal journey for optimising my health continues …..a year ago I was prediabetic, but having made some small changes I no longer am. I still have a way to go, but I have finally started listening to my own advice and am taking small steps with clear goals in mind. I have recently started journally which I’m finding is a gamechanger. It is keeping me focussed on my goals and what I need to do to achieve them. Change is by no means easy, even with all the knowledge in the world, but with the right support it is a lot more achievable.
I’m excited to become a part of the integrative team to help more members of the wonderful community of Te Aroha and surrounding areas.
Arohanui
Helen
Your past is not your potential.
In any hour you can choose to liberate the future.
Marilyn Ferguson
How it works
- Contact us
- We will reach out to you and arrange a initial booking
- We will send a pre-consult questionnaire to ensure we have the appropriate information for the appt
- Receive a comprehensive 60 minute consultation
- We will then spend some time developing a personalized plan
- Start your new health journey with your personalized plan
Ready to start
Whether you’re dealing with ongoing health issues or simply looking to improve your overall wellbeing, we can help prioritize and improve your health.