Meet the others
Giselle Cooke - Holistic Consultant
Giselle Cooke will need no introduction to those that have read her books, seen her on the TV and listened to her on the radio or consulted with her in one of her pioneering holistic health practices.
There is a new brand of health care out there. It combines the massive power of mainstream Western knowledge with the natural therapies of nutrition, herbs, exercise, meditation and Eastern wisdom. This all-encompassing practice is called Integrative Health. Giselle Cooke's passion for health science has been one of the primary drivers behind the emergence of the Integrative Health & Wellness concept in Australia.
Giselle commenced her training in complementary therapies in 1976. She initially trained in traditional chinese practice with the Hong Kong college, specialising in acupuncture. Whilst working on the Central Coast she found Mr Denis Stewart, considered by some to be the father of herbal medicine in Australia, and asked him to train her in herbal medicine. After completing four years’ part-time study with Mr Stewart, Giselle sought further training in nutritional medicine and spiritual psychology at the Nature Care College of Natural Therapies, then in Artarmon, NSW.
She also lectured the students at this college for twelve years in a variety of medical subjects.
In 1989 she opened a wholistic medical centre, Pymble Grove Health Centre, on Sydney’s Upper North Shore, comprising a large team of medical and complementary medicine practitioners. At that time it was a unique concept in comprehensive health care delivery and has grown steadily in strength and reputation since then to be one of the busiest and most established wholistic medical centres in Australasia.
During this period Giselle also lectured at Macquarie University at the School of Chiropractic, for the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine and to various medical, nursing and other colleges on alternative medicine. She delivered public lectures throughout Australia and in Malaysia, and has delivered papers at numerous complementary medicine conferences in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Amongst her political activities, Giselle served on the executive of the Australian Complementary Medicine Association, was Convenor of Health Network Australia and spokesperson for the Complementary Health Care Council. She belongs to the oldest medical association in the country, the National Herbalists Association of Australia. She is a strong proponent for alternative health care choices , hoping to one day make natural medicines more accessible and affordable for all Australians.
In 1999 Giselle published her first book, “Blooming : Healthy Living for Women Over 40” (Lansdowne - reprinted in 2000) and was commissioned to write the companion volume for women under 40 when she embarked upon her next project of creating a retail herbal medicines outlet. She was also medical editor of “The Complete Guide to Health & Wellbeing” (Lansdowne). Giselle has been a regular contributor to natural health magazines, newspapers, television and radio talk back programs over the past twenty years.
She opened The Modern Apothecary herbal dispensary and teahouse in March 2003. With the support of her team of wonderful naturopaths, her partner, Yvan, photographer & IT consultant and her children Anna and Declan, she brought the tradition of the European apothecary out of the renaissance into the twenty-first century. In July 2004 Giselle moved to the apothecary, where she opened a wellness practice with five other practitioners, focusing on wholistic and natural health and beauty, called Health Alchemy.
The apothecary enabled customers to access practitioner-only and prescription medicines with the advice of fully qualified naturopaths seven days per week, a service which had never before been provided on the North Shore. It also revived the gentle art of tea drinking for enjoyment, as well as offering the benefits of blended medicinal teas to the public. The store operated until July 2009, when it was then transformed into the phone order naturopathic medicines delivery service, Express Dispensary, owned and operated by her apothecary manager, Advaita Chisnall.
After closing her Health Alchemy practice in 2009, Giselle merged her practice with Lotus Dental in Neutral Bay, directed by Dr Prue King, to form Lotus Health, another comprehensive wholistic health centre, offering wholistic dental, naturopathy, acupuncture, yoga and meditation. She participates in teaching for the seminar series at Lotus Health on various health topics from the menopause to insomnia.
Giselle has also committed to undertaking a Ph.D this year in prenatal nutrition, to be supervised by Professor Luis Vitetta at The University of Queensland.
She is working on her two more books on nutrition for the over-60’s and healing stories about her patients’ recoveries. She also hopes to revise her book “Blooming” for the new century, to be published as an e-book, as well as publishing an on-line healthy living magazine.
Giselle's area of expertise includes the following:
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navigating the menopause the natural way
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bio-identical hormone replacement
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natural migraine solutions that work
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hypertension management without drugs
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living without cystitis, without antibiotics
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adult acne and psoriasis cured naturally
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allergy-free forever - a wholistic health solution
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recovery programs for cancer survivors
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healthy conception, healthy pregnancy & healthy parenting
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natural health solutions for children's illnesses
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multiple sclerosis treatments that work
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managing metabolic syndrome
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healthy thyroid management
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liver detoxification programs
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managing period pain wholistically
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assessment of nutritional deficiencies
- and much more....
