Like many practitioners, Jaimi was drawn to the health care industry after experiencing first-hand how osteopathy helped treat the many sporting injuries she endured growing up.

“Seeing how an osteopath can work with you and help you to get back to your pre-injury self is something that inspired and appealed to me and made me want to study osteo.”

For Jaimi, it’s the holistic approach of the discipline she enjoys the most. “The impact you can have on one area of the body can influence other areas. I love being able to see the positive effects you can have on a patient when treating them as a whole rather than just focusing on their symptoms.”

Previously, Jaimi has worked as a sports trainer at a football club as well as in a podiatry specialty shoe store where she was regularly involved in lower limb gait analysis.

Jaimi believes that a multidisciplinary clinic like CSSM gives practitioners the opportunity to work alongside other disciplines to achieve the best outcome for patients.

Away from the clinic, Jaimi enjoys spending time with her English Staffordshire bull terrior. “I like being active, going to the gym, playing netball and taking my dog on runs.” In summer, you will find her enjoying her spare time at the river with family and friends.

Myotherapist & Remedial Massage

17 years of dance training, 12 years of tennis and 7 years of competitive rock climbing fuelled Kelsey’s interest in sport and associated injuries. “I’d always been interested in health and fitness and Myotherapy was a great transition from Personal Training into the treatment and rehabilitation of a lot of the issues I saw in the gym. It came with a stronger understanding of the human body.”

While sport is her passion, Kelsey believes that creating solid foundations of strength and rehabilitation are key components in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, whether you work in an office or as an elite athlete. “Having participated in a fair few sports over the years it’s given me a better understanding of the demands the body can be put through, the movements required to succeed and the difficult task of taking time away from the sport you love when injured.”

Kelsey employs a hands-on approach when treating muscular pains and joint dysfunction, complementing treatment outcomes with modalities such as cupping, dry needling, trigger point therapy, and taping. “Shoulder joint issues really fascinate me because they can be unpredictable and complex. I really enjoy the process of breaking down why the injury has occurred in the first place and rehabilitating the joint structures.”

Kelsey believes we never stop learning and is currently studying physiotherapy. “I’m keen to incorporate my myotherapy knowledge into what I’m learning as a student physiotherapist. I don’t want to abandon my myotherapy roots, but use them to better my outlook and understanding of treatment and rehabilitation.”

Away from work, Kelsey is an avid participator in rock climbing and has competed in both state and national events. “I can also be a great couch potato when I need some down time and enjoy meeting up with friends.”

Educated at the University of South Australia, Vaughan has gained a wide range of clinical experiences since completing his studies and moving to Melbourne in 1998. Sporting and family commitments helped to shape his core range of clinical interests.
Originally drawn to Podiatry after having his own knee pain cured by orthotic management, Vaughan values how much more enjoyment can be gained from sports when you have no pain associated with playing them. Likewise through watching his three children’s development, Vaughan is determined to minimise any pain associated within childhood development.

Vaughan’s philosophy regarding treatment is to address the cause of the pain biomechanically, and instill a treatment plan that will enhance every patient’s enjoyment of life’s endeavours.

After 15 years of international competitive Taekwondo, I sustained several injuries. “I was always so fascinated by how the human body functions and heals – seemingly myotherapy was the perfect fit.  An enthusiast about health, fitness and being the best version of yourself is a key factor”. 

Adele feels that analysing the main components of people’s everyday lifestyles and interests allows her to identify and provide specialised ways for a specific individual to help aid in strengthening, rehabilitating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adele enjoys working with people “to help get them back to the activities they love”.

Adele executes this through a “hands-on approach”, which includes trigger point therapy, dry needling, cupping, myofascial release and treatment of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. Adele is a firm believer on educating her clients about their condition and what their recovery process will entail to improve their ability to manage, maintain and overcome their injuries. 

Adele has worked with NICA (National Institute of Circus Australia) and amateur basketball, netball and football leagues across Melbourne. 

In Adele’s spare time, she loves to participate in pilates, rock climbing, hiking, baking and spending time with family and friends.

Ella has always been interested in the human body and the biomechanics of movement. “I really enjoy physical activity and sports, and I love being able to help people recover from injury or pain so they can also continue to do what they love.” 

Ella has a keen interest in sports injuries, running injuries, neurological conditions such as stroke, and post-surgery rehabilitation. Prior to joining CSSM, Ella worked in an acute hospital in Sydney where she further developed her interest in neurological physiotherapy. “I am fascinated by the nervous system and how it interacts with the musculoskeletal system and the entire body.” 

Tailoring exercise and rehabilitation programs to suit each client and their goals is central to Ella’s approach to physiotherapy. She has a strong focus on educating her clients to help them understand their condition and encourage them to take an active role in their treatment, and to help prevent further injuries. “I love working with people who are really motivated to return to sport or a certain activity.” 

Working with such a close team of practitioners at CSSM, Ella says the team consults and learns from each other to provide the most appropriate care for clients. 

Away from the clinic, Ella enjoys running, playing netball, basketball and tennis, getting out of the city to the farm and catching up with friends and family.

As of November 2020 Emily will be on Maternity leave until further notice.

Senior Osteopath

Emily has always been interested in the human body and leading an active lifestyle. “In learning about the different types of manual therapy, I really liked the concept of treating the person as a whole through osteopathy and aiming to solve the cause of someone’s pain or problem rather than just offering short term, symptomatic relief.”

Patient education and advice, in addition to hands-on treatment, is key to Emily’s treatment approach.

Emily is particularly interested in treating headaches/migraines, neck pain and pre/post-natal care using dry needling, Pilates and pain management strategies.

“Headaches including migraines are such a common and often debilitating condition and I’ve always found treating these conditions particularly satisfying as patients have often tried many different approaches with limited success prior to seeing an osteopath. I find the holistic and multi-faceted approach of osteopathy really well suited to treating these complaints.”

Emily has undertaken extensive training in dry needling. “I find it to be a very effective technique particularly for more complex cases and when other treatment modalities have been unsuccessful. I use this in conjunction with other forms of manual therapy as part of a treatment and very rarely in isolation.”

Since becoming a mother, Emily’s interest in pre and post-natal care has increased. “I understand the importance of not just pain relief during pregnancy but in optimising health and wellbeing during pregnancy for the best chance of an optimal birth and recovery.”

Having worked alongside experienced practitioners of many modalities, Emily has a broad understanding of the limitations of manual therapy and when referral and co-management may be necessary in order to achieve the best patient outcomes. In addition to manual therapy, Emily incorporates exercise prescription, postural and lifestyle advice into her management strategies, having undertaken further studies in Clinical Pilates and Nutritional Medicine.

In the future, Emily hopes to undertake further study in pain management strategies. “There’s growing numbers of patients dealing with persistent pain. These complaints form a significant part of our patient load and it is an area of research that I believe warrants further understanding.”

Away from CSSM, Emily enjoys being outdoors, spending time with her young family, drinking coffee and most recently, baking cakes!

Practice Principal & Senior Osteopath

Travis is an Osteopath and the founder of CSSM.

Travis chose osteopathy because he has always liked the hands-on approach to treatment. “That, together with the high level of study and knowledge in areas such as anatomy and movement, which is inherent within the osteopathy program, really excited me.  I had already done four years of study in health before commencing osteopathy and I had the opportunity to do other things.  But I chose to pursue osteopathy, and another five years of study because of the ability of the skills I learnt to help people in a meaningful way.”

Travis enjoys treating most injuries of the “active” person.  “One of the biggest areas of interest is treating teenagers.  There is a perception that kids and teenagers are just little adults – this is a massive misconception. Growing athletes have a unique set of needs.  We are seeing a lot of kids and teens suffering significant injuries from a young age.”  Recent studies have shown that in Australia, the highest increase in knee reconstruction surgery has occurred in teenagers between the ages of 12 and 16. “The impact of that on their future is scary.”

After working at a few other clinics, Travis found that health care suffered from a lack of direction and, CSSM was born. “Osteopathy was a relatively small profession with just a few hundred of us in Australia.  I saw the opportunity to bring osteo to the masses.”

Ever since, Travis has been keen to make osteopathy accessible as a health service that can deliver a patient focussed approach to care, giving meaningful evidence-based treatment and management to patients.

“We started as a one man show, and have grown to a team of over 20.  As part of this growth and expansion we have added a team of other modalities such as physio, podiatry, myotherapy and Pilates to the clinic – a centre of excellence for the management of musculoskeletal injury.”

Travis describes CSSM as an extension of his family. “I am just as passionate about our team and the community we treat as I am about few other things.  Doing what we do and doing it well, is my biggest objective.”

The CSSM philosophy is to provide a level of care that exceeds the norm and ensures the best outcome for patients.  “Our standard appointment is what most other clinics call an extended appointment. It is a source of amusement to us when we see other clinics promote their guarantees of extended care.  From our perspective, you do not need to guarantee it, if it is what is ingrained in you.”

Just as families continue to grow, Travis hopes CSSM will too and continue to serve the community. “As a larger clinic, we are able to offer more specialised services to our patients, such as our running gait analysis and pre-pointe assessments.  We hope to continue to grow this suite of programs (golfers and cyclists stay tuned).  From there, we also hope to spread our reach to other locations when the opportunity presents itself.”

When he’s not working within the Practice, Travis looks forward to catching up on some much needed sleep. “CSSM is all-consuming but nothing is more important than watching my kids do their thing and celebrating their achievements. If I get the time, I do enjoy hitting the trails with some mountain biking and trail running through the Dandenong’s. I love the solitude of being out there working up a sweat, lost in my own thoughts.”

Movement is Medicine

Kobi Phelan is a physiotherapist and a strong advocate for the role of exercise therapy in the prevention and management of musculoskeletal conditions with a particular interest in lower limb injuries.

Kobi understands the importance of tailoring treatment and rehabilitation to each patient on an individual basis when returning to sport and activity. With this in mind, Kobi places high importance on actively involving her patients in the design and implementation of their injury rehabilitation.

“I really enjoy seeing someone through the ups and downs of long term rehabilitation, and get a huge sense of satisfaction when these patients are able to return back to their desired activity.”

In the future, Kobi hopes to continue to evolve armed with the latest research and treatment techniques.

In her spare time you’ll find Kobi at the gym, taking her dog for a walk, or completing DIY jobs around the house and garden.

Senior Osteopath

Alice initially studied nursing before her interests diverted to Osteopathy. “I quickly realised that nursing wasn’t for me, but I enjoyed healthcare. I did a bit of investigating and found that osteopathy gave me the opportunity to work autonomously, stay in health care and chat all day!”

Studying, performing and competing as a ballet dancer from a very early age has given Alice a unique perspective and keen interest in dance and other sports related injuries and rehabilitation.

“I have a strong interest in Women’s Health particularly pregnancy and post-partum related back and pelvic pain which formed the focus of my Master’s Project. The management of headaches is something that I also have a keen interest in, it can be life changing to get headaches under control.”

Away from CSSM, Alice sits on the Occupational Health leadership committee for Osteopathy Australia. “I feel that I’m doing my part to promote Osteopathy in Australia, and to develop the profession moving forwards. My hope for Osteopaths is that there will be a broad range of job prospects and that the community will see more osteopaths outside of private practice such as in  sporting clubs, hospitals and workplaces. It’s a fabulous profession. Watch this space!”