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MTC Association AGM |
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Opening: Verse written by Maxene Hewitt spoken by Jan Rayson Present: 10 people present Apologies: 8 people sent their apologies Confirmation of Minutes of the last AGM held on 30 May 2007
President’s Report: Judy Dixon From the opening refurbishment of new wing culminating in Dinner at Karralyka, it has been a very full year. It seems Centre has reached a coming of age and at the dinner there was a lot of good will Donations continue to come in from our very generous donors. There have been many fundraising events during the year including market stalls, ongoing raffles, piggy bank, Wild Oak dinner, purchase of gift vouchers. Everyone, patients, staff, practitioners, have had their mind on progressing the Centre Reaccreditation AGPAL means that we have a well run Centre that is approved by the Government with thanks to Jenny who put in a lot of work to achieve this. Working bees have done a lot of the garden and outdoors work but still work to do Quarterly meetings between practitioners and committee – last one not well attended – but probably an indication as to how well everything is going.
Refurbishment of Garden Room which is now a reasonable place for various therapies and meetings. The plans for the next stage for an art and eurythmy wing we all need to hold in our minds Thanks to Paulo for carrying the medical work, this is the backbone of the Centre Thanks to therapists, committee and to the wider community for everything. And Joanna Galgano who has planned a lot of events. Treasurer’s Report Bob Ley 2007 was expected to be a challenging year due to potential costs associated with completing the new building and servicing the resultant debt. It is pleasing to report that the final result was modestly above expectations, due to a considerable extent to the generous support we continue to receive. In managing the centre’s finances we focus on three critical measures: Our primary objective is to achieve an overall surplus of income over expenditure, which is essential if the centre is to continue to operate. 2007 saw a pleasing result with a surplus of $13,147, $3,500 above budget. As expected, this was well down on the previous year due to the impact of interest costs and some extra incidental costs flowing from the building project. Our second objective is to ensure that the income gained from practitioner rents and government subsidies covers wages and other costs of running the centre. This ensures that membership and fundraising proceeds are used for long term improvement, not expended on day to day running. During 2007 the operations provided a moderate surplus which could be applied to further debt reduction. Our third financial objective is to raise sufficient funds from donations, membership and fundraising to allow continued expansion of our facilities and provision of a wider range of services to our clients. We again enjoyed strong support from donors during 2007, particularly from the Gabriel Trust, and are most gratified by the generosity shown. At current interest levels each $1,000 of donations not only reduces our debt by that amount but also saves us an ongoing $85 per year. Building projects always carry an element of risk but strong project management by our architect resulted in the final cost of the building being slightly below the contract amount. Overall, the centre remains in a quite satisfactory financial position. Our debt at end of year was $358,000, which is a manageable and with continued support we can reduce this to more moderate levels and position for further enhancements. The budget for 2008 projects a further improvement in position and some very generous donations already received will provide a further boost. Reports of the Medical and Therapeutic Work: Dr Paulo Moraes In Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first mortal woman. She received a box from Zeus that she was forbidden to open. The box contained all human blessings and all human curses escaped. The evils escaped and haunted humanity in the form of illness and distress; the blessings were lost – except one: hope, Zeus knew that without hope, mortals could not endure. (Focus, Park Atwood Newsletter - UK – Dr Maurice Orange) Jerome Groopman (MD) – in “The Anatomy of Hope” says “ for the power of hopeful thinking to be acceptably acknowledged in modern medicine, there must be a biological mechanism that describes how the feeling of hope can contribute to the recovery from an illness, in addition to an attempt to describe its reach, or its limits. However, hope has an additional element that involves a sense of possibility for the future. It is not a passive state of mind; rather it involves a reasoned act of the will by which a person acknowledges the obstacles in the path to a better future.” Dr Orange goes further to say: the dynamics between doctor (I would include therapists too) and patient is an example of how hope has a psychosocial and a spiritual dimension that needs to be considered. Hope is not solely an inward resource and in hope we resonate with external sources of support. “Hope is truly on the inside of us, but hope is an interior sense that there is help on the outside of us” (Lynch). In
dealing with disease, this is what patients search in coming to us, at the
MTC. As Orange refers, we Nurses, Therapists, Psychologist, Doctors
(currently 15 health practitioners at the MTC) have at least one important
role as “sustainers of hope”. Obviously with our individual and
combined therapeutic impulses (medicine, word – listening & speech,
breath, colour, voice, touch, movement) working together to generate right
therapeutic impulse for hope to live on. So it has been in the last 12
months. Last but not least – The MTC has been Reaccredited (for the next triennium) with AGPAL under RACGP standards. Jan Rayson reported on her nursing work and her recent upgrading of skills.
All Therapists were asked if they would like to report on their work. The following is what was received. Nursing Report Michelle Nicholls The Melbourne Therapy successfully passed another Accreditation milestone this year. As always, I find that going through the process of making sure every facet of what we offer meets the required standards of care, a worthwhile (if not slightly stressful) event. It was with quite a bit of confidence that I could show the accreditors through the main nursing department. Now that we are in our new building, we meet their requirements even better than before. We have a great Nursing team at the MTC. Wolfgang Devine works Friday mornings (and Mondays as well for the next month (April/May) while I go overseas for a conference) Jan Rayson, our wonderful Anthroposophical Nurse, works every Wednesday. Jan has been busy studying this year (and most of 2007) to provide an even higher standard of care. Cancer Support Group Michelle Nicholls Last year saw the Cancer Support group deep in meditation for most of the first half of the year. The positive benefits of meditation are now very well documented. Meditation seems to work not only in the prevention of cancer but also in allowing someone to live to their fullest whilst journeying on with that experience. The second half of the year was just as rich with a visit from a Laughter Therapist, a Music Therapist and a Storyteller. New people have joined our group in the last twelve months and some have moved on. Our two English roses, Janis Skok and Sam Pant both died only months apart. We miss them. Eurythmy Therapy Michelle Nicholls This year I am enjoying mentoring a colleague as she trains to become a Eurythmy Therapist a well as working with lots of patients at the MTC. It has been a busy twelve months but a very enjoyable one. Exploring the Word in Colour and Speech Katherine Rudolph In this year one to one and group sessions and workshops have been given in my affiliation with The Melbourne Therapy Centre. The emphasis has been on quality rather than quantity. One to one and group sessions and workshops for children and adults have been offered. (‘Thank you’ to Joanna Galgano for her help in the organising of ‘Playdates’ for ‘The Caterpillar and the Rose’ Workshop.) Special research and new exercises for healing the lateral lisp have been initiated. Some of the treasure of experience gleaned over the last 30 years has now become of benefit to those who need it, both at the MTC and in my practice in the wider community; Anthroposophical Therapeutic Speech, Therapeutic Painting, Clay Modelling and Picture-making with Coloured Clay, as well as Therapeutic-Artistic Representations. Carrying the Whitsuntide Festival at the Anthroposophical Society can be included as a recent healing experience. The theme of ‘Humour as Healing’ as experienced in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot was offered. One can laugh at human foibles presented with love, and thereby objectify one’s own dilemma. More participation would have been desirable. The Madonna Theme in therapy with painting and poetry exercises has also been presented. ‘The Drama of Eleusis’ by Eduard Schure was used as workshop material carrying the impulse of ‘The Munich Conference 1907’. This impulse presents a tremendously positive therapeutic experience for mankind in our time as well as in the centuries and millenniums to come. The first six months of the year were dedicated to translating the three main lectures given by Rudolf Steiner in this conference and giving a lecture-workshop tour in Sydney and Coffs Harbour, N.S.W. Although my therapeutic work could have been developed more during that time, the sacrifice will be seen to have been worthwhile. The theme of the plant in painting comes forth as a major therapeutic impulse arising out of the wisdom of the conference, as well as the musical intervals with their vowel concordances. A lecture, presented for the AAMA meeting here in Melbourne, also hearkened to wisdom gleaned from that conference. The AAMA theme was concerned with a therapeutic understanding of the Mars and Venus columns of the First Goetheanum. A hexameter-poem made in relation to the columns of the First Goetheanum can be viewed on my website as well as numerous other innovations. Please visit www.exploringtheword.com.au. Massage Barbara Rapson The last twelve months have been very busy. I attended the annual Australian Association of Massage Therapists conference held in Adelaide in May 2008, and the IPMT held just south of Newcastle NSW in July 2007. The MTC hosted the Australian Anthroposophic medicine Association conference and AGM of which I was one of the organisers. I am grateful for the people who come to have treatments with me. Each case brings something new to discover and to contemplate. There is often a series of people who come with the same or similar condition. For instance, so far this year there have been a number of people coming who are exhausted, often parents with young children. I seems o be harder now for parents as there are so many outside forces to be met daily that it is not a surprise that at the end of the day parens are tired. My main aim is to nurture them and strengthen them so they are able to take on the ongoing task of raising a child. It is wonderful being in the renovated rooms, very quiet and peaceful for everyone. Thank you to everyone involved in making this happen, a great achievement. Along with others from the Centre I will be attending the fourth International Postgraduate Medical Training again in Sydney in July. Massage Phoenix Heiss For those of you who haven’t met me, my name is Phoenix and I am a new Massage Therapist at the Centre. I have a long term connection to the Melbourne Therapy Centre as I was a student of the Steiner School. My first memory of the centre is of an emergency visit after an accident I had in grade three. Many, many years have passed since then and it’s wonderful to find myself now working at this beautiful and rare medical clinic. Since leaving school I have worked in a variety of professions and have lived in both in Australia and California USA. My American husband and I moved back to Australia a few years ago and last year I began my studies as a massage therapist (a long held ambition) at the Southern School of Natural Therapies in Fitzroy. During last year’s course I was required to do a volunteer placement of 50 hours - I thought about where I would most like to be and the Therapy Centre came to mind. I called and spoke with Barb Rapson, who was very interested in having a massage student at the Centre. I volunteered at the Centre one day a week for approximately four months, providing free therapeutic massage. Many of the patients I saw would not ordinarily have been able for afford a regular, or even one off massage. I am grateful to the MTC for helping me to give back the local community. As my time at the Centre was so positive, I applied for a professional position once I graduated. Happily I was accepted and here I am. Currently I offer Therapeutic massage on Thursdays. Therapeutic massage assists with muscle relaxation, stress reduction and circulation. It helps people to be aware of their own bodies and to improve the immune system. I work with the intention of guiding people to make positive choices for their own wellbeing. I have received much positive feedback from my patients and I really enjoy each day at the centre. I am continuing my studies this year in Remedial Massage and look forward to continuing the journey at the Melbourne Therapy Centre. Breathing Therapy John and Jocelyn Wilson Greetings all. Jocelyn and I are so happy to now be working one day and night per week at the centre offering our Remedial Breathing Method to anyone who feels that their established breathing patterns might be contributing to their symptoms and illnesses. We have been warmly welcomed and kindly supported in our work by Paulo, Jenny, Leeanne and Joanna for which we are most grateful. This has not just happened out of the blue since there had been some beginnings to the process which go back 10 years or so. Around that time Margaret Piper expressed her wish to me one day in Church to see us working at Warranwood after hearing about the courses that we were running at the Christian Community in Hawthorn. Also at that time I did the first presentation to the MTC’s Doctor and Therapists on our ‘Less is more’ breathing method, as we called it at the time. (It is still a good description – even though Rudolf Steiner’s insights on the breath and nasal sinus nitric-oxide were not part of our method then as they are now). In 1999, one of the Centre’s Patrons - Prof. Marc Cohen - approached me to teach a major trial of the Buteyko Method for asthma at the Alfred Hospital / Monash University which I did in 2001/2. Since 1997 we have given workshops in Hawthorn every 2-3 months, the Yarra Valley and Mansfield Steiner Schools, the Dornach Medical Conference in 2005/6 and over the last 12 months at the Christian Community Churches in Auckland and Perth with a course planned for Sydney in July. We are grateful for the work of Dr Konstantin Buteyko, 1920 – 2003, which focused on carbon dioxide and the breath, and for work done by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on paranasally produced Nitric Oxide, which together have enabled us to more fully use Rudolf Steiner’s insights on carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the human breathing system in order to offer a substantial and developing breathing therapy. I write to introduce myself, Jocelyn Wilson, and to thank the MTC for the opportunity to work together with John Wilson, in the group sessions conducted on 4 consecutive Tuesday nights each quarter at the MTC or earlier by request. I qualified as a Buteyko Breathing Method Practitioner in 1996. I became interested in the Buteyko Breathing Method when I heard that it was developed by Dr Buteyko as the successful treatment for his own hypertension, and I also suffered from hypertension, and have found the remedial breathing exercises to be of great benefit. The Buteyko breathing method is more widely known as a drug- free treatment for asthma, and there have been many clinical trials documenting the excellent results of the Buteyko method. The breathing exercises are also very beneficial for sufferers of sleep apnoea, snoring, and insomnia. Since 1996 John and I have conducted courses from Retreat House, Cheltenham, Sandringham, the Apollo Bay and Lorne Community Centres, India, Germany, the Anthroposophic Medical Conference, Dornach 2005 and 2006 and regularly from The Christian Community Church Hawthorn, and also Auckland, and Hastings NZ, Perth, and Sydney in July this year. I have found that the Buteyko breathing exercises have been most helpful for children whom I work closely with during the Clinic/s who suffer from asthma, blocked noses and concentration problems. Children from 6 years of age can easily learn with the ongoing support of a parent or guardian. It is fun and simply explained. The breathing method helps children not to suffer the symptoms of asthma so often, and enables the reduction of their dependence on drugs. The Clinic/s also help parents to be able to recognise the early signs of symptoms, and know what to do before an attack happens, and works well for children, due to their not having the damage caused by too many years of strong medications. The children are taught how to overcome their symptoms naturally, and enable parents and children to understand how their asthma medication works, and to be able to develop good asthma management for fewer symptoms and less need of medications as they grow up. The main focus of the Clinic/s is to work with the parent and child to encourage nose breathing all times, although they will find it hard at first. Mouth for eating and speaking - nose for breathing! Always take their preventative medication, the dose as prescribed by their doctor. Always have the relieving medication (bronchodilators) with them. Record how often attacks occur and what the circumstance may have been prior to the attack Sleeping on the left side, not on their back, the mouth tends to drop open and mouth breathing at night then occurs and an asthma attack can follow. Nose breathing at night - parent to pinch the mouth closed when child is sleeping. Exclude margarine at all times, polyunsaturated cooking oils, carbonated drinks and artificial colourings and flavourings, white bread, sugar from the diet. Breathe using the diaphragm, not the chest as much as possible. I welcome your enquiry to attend the Clinic/s and I look forward to meeting you and your child at the Melbourne Therapy Centre Report by Architect: David Morgan David recounted the meeting with one of our patients in the waiting room who comes and sits there even when they aren't sick to sit as it is such a wonderful place to be. David presented final reports of building costs and adjustments to original contract. David thanked the committee for the opportunity to work with them to bring the project about. It has been challenging but deeply satisfying in bringing this part of the vision to realisation. There were questions regarding the noise between rooms, cracks appearing in walls and door sticking. These are being addressed. Election of Committee Members: Barbara Rapson re-elected for a further 3 years Nomination received from Deanna Cooper who was elected unanimously |
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