Chiara Berton

Following the completion of her undergraduate study, Chiara took part in a volunteering placement at a women’s centre in West Hampstead. She found it to be a highly rewarding experience and a great way to further be involved with a community where anyone can have access to manual therapy services in addition to other services such as classes in cooking, sewing, English language, gardening and creating a platform to meet new people and form new friendships.

Chiara has a passion for manual therapy as a treatment modality, using a variety of manual techniques to help people recover from common conditions that can affect us all at any stage of life. Her practice utilises a conservative non-invasive treatment approach, with techniques such as soft tissue massage, joint articulations, stretching and manipulation techniques. Chiara can provide help for any number of issues, whether it be muscle tension from stress and long working days, muscular imbalance, sports injury, long-term chronic aches and pains, or pregnancy and postpartum-related Musculoskeletal changes to the body.

With her osteopathic approach, Chiara looks for a long-term solution and will offer safe and appropriate advice and suggestions in addition to treatment. This may include stretching and exercises to be continued at home to further assist recovery.

“Many of us subject our bodies day to day to the stresses of work and life and this can have dire impacts on our general health. It’s well established that prevention is better than cure and I try to incorporate this into my practice. By keeping you at your optimal health, together we can work to minimise the chance of future injury”

Previously Chiara has worked in South London gaining experience treating a wide variety of people, from fitness enthusiasts, hospitality and healthcare professionals, administrators and office workers, software and IT experts, mums-to-be and new parents. More recently she has also taken on further study to better understand how to help treat young babies, children and teenagers.

Chiara is offering treatment to pregnant women to alleviate common low back or pelvic pain. It’s common knowledge that pregnancy can put high stress on the body due to changes in shapes and weight bearing which can cause any number of aches and pains for the mother-to-be. In these cases, Chiara can help to address the new demands on the body as well as help it to prepare for the next stages and beyond.

Through her practice of treating pregnant ladies, she often found that young children often didn’t get the manual therapy they would often need. Her passion to help others has driven her to address this imbalance and to return to university to pursue a Postgraduate Certificate in Paediatrics Osteopathy. She recently graduated from the University College of Osteopathy and Chiara is now offering treatment to babies and children. She is keen on helping children and parents achieve their collective health goals and supporting them through the new challenges of the early stages of life. In addition, she has experience in helping teenagers through their aches such as sports injuries or ‘studying posture’.

Chiara enjoys all aspects of osteopathy and uses different and unique methods of treatment and management depending on the condition that is being presented. Her techniques vary from light soft tissue, joint articulations and manipulations as well as exercises and advice to follow at home. In her approach, she includes patient collaboration in achieving their optimal health goals, such as some simple lifestyle adaptations tailored for each individual.

“One of the primary reasons I enjoy being an Osteopath is that I get to help people using natural and non-invasive techniques to feel healthy and well. There are few better feelings than helping someone to live pain-free and achieve their goals that were previously unattainable due to pain. It’s an incredibly rewarding career”

Chira first discovered osteopathy when she was experiencing her own neck aches and pains. As such she has a particular personal interest in treating upper back and neck pain, whether this is a recurring or chronic problem or is a new episode such as long-term temporomandibular joint problems (TMJ), jaw pain or headaches which can be helped by osteopathic treatment.

Chiara is a strong believer that communication is an important facet of osteopathic treatment. It can help them discover more about their patients and their medical history, and develop a deeper bond with patients, all essential for great patient outcomes.

Over the years she has taken part in a number of highly interesting CPD courses to help her development in Osteopathic and communication skills. Personal highlights include further study with the Molinari institute on women’s health, talks presented by Caroline Stone, a leading women’s health osteopath and Dry needling-medical acupuncture.

Chiara is also a qualified APPI Clinical Pilates teacher and is currently offering 1 to 1 mat-based clinical Pilates appointments in both Bodytonic clinics, in Canada Water and Stratford. Chiara started her pilates journey a few years ago, when she started attending pilates and found it was beneficial not only because she would gain more body strength, but also to be more aware of and in control of her movements. This has kept her injury free and active in her daily routine.

She decided to start her training to share her knowledge of Pilates and movement, and help people to further improve and maintain their health and movement. Chiara believes that the benefits of clinical pilates are for everyone. People who are active, younger folks and the elderly too.

She also enjoys working with rehabilitation and injury prevention by strengthening target areas of the body so her clients can get healthy and stay active.

In the future, she would like to undertake the Women’s health course with Renzo Molinari to further expand her practice and help more women with drug-free therapies.

As well as English, Chiara is a fluent Italian speaker, growing up in the north of the country near the Dolomites. She also speaks a small amount of Portuguese. She has lived in her adoptive country of England now for the best part of a decade.

Outside of work Chiara enjoys spending time outdoors, cycling by the river and in the parks and whenever it allows, longer hikes. In particular, she enjoys spending time in her favourite park, Richmond. When it allows she enjoys travelling especially to hot and sunny climates.

She is also passionate about cooking, baking and eating in the company of her friends. One of her favourite dishes is Risotto with Porcini mushrooms, and she is perfecting her chocolate brownies.

Chiara is welcoming with a smile under the mask, and you will find yourself at ease with some Italian humour!

Chiara continuously strives for excellence in his work, in order to provide the most effective care for all patients and is continuously looking to expand his knowledge in medical acupuncture and shockwave therapy. Additionally, Chiara has completed the following CPD training and has qualifications in:

• “Level 3 Sports Massage Diploma” – ITEC
• “Dry Needling for Manual Therapists” – CPD Today
• “PGCert in Specialistic Paediatric Osteopathic Practice” – UCO