Hi – my name is Beth Lawrence. Some of you may already know about me and the story of ‘Osteobeth’ but for those that don’t, this blog is an opportunity for you to learn more about me.
My first introduction to Osteopathy was when I was a few months old. As a baby, I was very unsettled and would scream in pain, in desperation my mum took me for cranial osteopathy which turned me into a calm contented baby – completely amazing!
Growing up I was very active, and soon found a love for athletics. I focused on 100m and 200m and began competitions at the county level. This required dedication to training three times a week, attending the gym and travelling to competitions at weekends. It is no surprise that the intensity of training and competitions lead to injury. I soon discovered that there was a lack of understanding or support in this area, and once injury prevented me from continuing to do what I loved, it sparked my interest in injury prevention/rehabilitation.
I attended Andover College and studied a BTEC in sport, alongside this I completed additional training in gym instructing, coaching and sports massage and qualified in 2012 with a distinction*. My tutor encouraged me to further my education at University, initially, I applied for physiotherapy as this was the most recognised industry at this time. Due to the fact that it was NHS funded, they were oversubscribed with applications, for this reason, I changed my direction and completed a year of sports therapy and rehabilitation.
After this, I began work at a local osteopathic clinic which provided me with first-hand experience of the running of a clinic and the opportunity to gain knowledge in this field from observing the osteopaths with their patients. I began my own osteopathy treatment for various health conditions, which helped me to understand how healing and life-transforming osteopathy can be.
I will forever be thankful for this experience, as without it I would not have gained the confidence to apply for my osteopathy course and go on to pursue a career as an osteopath.
In 2014, I began my course at the British School of Osteopathy (BSO) in Borough, London. The course was part-time and consisted of both lectures and clinic observation which later involved completing 1000 clinical hours in the university’s community clinic, with the focus of offering affordable healthcare for all. In addition to the general clinic, there were specialist clinic’s that allowed me to provide care to specific patient groups such as expectant mothers, children, the elderly, sports professionals and people with HIV.
I graduated in July 2019 from the University College of Osteopathy (UCO) – as the BSO had become a University in its own right and consequently changed its name – with a master’s degree in Osteopathy.
Post-graduation, I was lucky to enjoy securing a job working as an Osteopath in the NHS. I had previously dedicated time to observing the triage team, and understanding more about the processes with in the NHS as well as assessing patient referrals. As a result of this, I was offered a position in Basingstoke, treating patients with spinal conditions in North Hampshire.
This role has consisted of working as a part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside Physiotherapists and Chiropractors.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to many NHS services, I saw this break as an opportunity to start my own business in my hometown of Andover, Hampshire.
I found the perfect premises at Basepoint, a small business park located just outside of the town centre. It was important to me to find somewhere with the best interests of my patients in mind e.g. ground floor, free parking, toilet facilities, clean, modern and spacious!
Despite opening my clinic in a pandemic, it has continued to go from strength to strength and I am so excited to share all my future plans and continue the Osteobeth journey.
Becoming an Osteopath has been an amazing experience, I feel very blessed to be in a position where I am able to provide osteopathic care to the local community.
