Patient Feedback

A treatment with a profound impact

I cannot thank Dr Nick enough for the profound impact he has had on my life following just four months of treatment.

After more than a decade of struggling with persistent lower back pain, I had tried countless treatments with little lasting relief or improvement.

Through Dr Nick’s compassionate guidance and expertise in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, I have learned to manage my chronic pain in a way I never thought possible.

Various practitioners told me to stop or limit the activities I enjoyed and used language that made me feel broken and unfixable. Essentially, I stopped moving and doing things out of fear of making the ‘injury’ worse or experiencing pain.

Dr Nick’s approach and willingness to share information has helped me cultivate awareness and shift my relationship with pain. Over a relatively short time, I have experienced not only physical relief, but also a greater sense of peace and resilience in my daily life.

This approach is the only treatment that has had such big effect on my level of pain and range of movement.

I’m back doing activities I had all but given up on and I now have the tools and knowledge to continue to work on my pain management.

Dr Nick’s knowledge, kindness, willingness to impart knowledge along with his dedication truly made a difference that I will be forever grateful for.

Nicola Hunt

Nothing short of life changing
After five years of chronic fatigue and pain, I’m now pain free and healthy which would not have been possible without Nick. I had a diagnosis that attributed my symptoms to an unregulated nervous system, but no doctor cared to help me fix this.

Nick was the first person on my health journey who wanted to figure out how to help. He assigned me mindfulness practice, which would desensitise my brain to these symptoms that obviously brought me stress and frustration and help me still do things while feeling unwell.

Additionally, it made me realise I wasn’t experiencing all of my symptoms every minute of every day, which was hugely motivating considering I thought they were constant, and when I did feel them, I was learning to accept them. After only a few weeks of this practice, I began to notice that I hadn’t been in pain that day and I didn’t remember the last time my vision blacked out upon standing. I only kept improving from there.

 Nick’s support doesn’t end with assigned practices, so much of the help I’ve received has been through the conversations about my experience with feeling unwell and my mindset around it. He would explain the neuroscience behind the mindfulness and what was happening in my system, which made me aware of various thoughts and habits that I could adjust to help in small ways, and this gave me a sense of control that I found is very important in getting healthy.

Continued sessions helped build my confidence in my health and my brain to functionally operate and after nine months I consider myself genuinely healthy. In less than a year, I went from too unwell to study part-time to applying to a neuroscience degree overseas that Nick both inspired in content and confidence.

I can’t recommend Nick enough if you have any sort of chronic condition, my experience has been nothing short of life changing.

Madison M.

Extreme daily pain – gone!
We are so grateful for our experience with Dr Nick Penney. Our son suffered extreme pain daily, and after multiple doctors’ visits, specialist appointments, surgeries and procedures, we still had no answers and were referred to the Starship pain team. We knew that an appointment there would not be anytime soon, and we needed help more urgently.

Dr Nick responded to my email the same day, and we had a Zoom consultation with him early the next week. He listened and gave us so much reassurance and came up with a plan for us within a few days. The plan made sense, was holistic (not focussed on medication as the solution) and worked with our GP.

We had weekly sessions with Dr Nick focussing on mindfulness – he was always quick to respond to questions and made changes where it made sense. The sessions didn’t just help our son but helped me to be able to help and support him better.

About 3.5 months after we started working with Dr Nick, and with a change in diet, we were so thrilled that our son’s pain just disappeared one evening and has not returned. We will continue to practice what we have learned through Dr Nick, as mindfulness will continue to be very helpful in navigating life in general, not just life in pain.

Thank you, Dr Nick, for giving us hope, and for all your help and support in our journey. Thank you for all your help – we really appreciate it.

Anita

Hysterical laughter
Hysterical laughter is not the usual response to a health professional. But that was how I reacted to Nick’s first question in our initial meeting. He had simply asked, “tell me about your accident and how it has been for you as a person – I suspect you’ve been treated as a collection of symptoms to date.”  Cue the laughter as I realised he was the first health professional to ask about me, not just my damaged parts.

So I told him about the motorcycle track riding accident, the various injuries including two spinal fractures, and the failed medical interventions over three years ranging from spinal injections to spinal fusion surgery that actually made things worse. And how the ongoing pain, coupled with eight Tramadol and eight Panadol doses a day, made me stupid, grumpy and depressed. Long story short – within six months of working with Nick, and practising mindfulness each day, my pain now sits quietly, mostly unnoticed in the background, while the Tramadol is down to one in the morning and one at night – and they’ll be gone soon. I’m not sure who is more surprised – me or my long-suffering GP. Nick, of course, thinks it’s nothing remarkable because it’s what he does every day.

Doug Casement

Invaluable in my recovery
I attended Nick Penney’s eight-week MBSR course, which is one of the best things I have done for my physical and mental well-being. Having suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and Fibromyalgia for over two years I had pretty much given up on getting any "normal" life back.

At the course, the neuroscience that supports mindfulness was explained, but Nick also talked about his own 30-something years of mediation practice – he walks the talk! The classes are kind and compassionate, you learn a whole lot in eight weeks. Mindfulness as a concept is simple and Nick quietly encourages you but doesn't pretend it is always easy.

Mindfulness meditation helps me think about my pain differently and hence be able to think about other things in life differently. Understanding the impact of the mind on my body has been invaluable in my recovery from CFS.

Justine McSweeny

Bailey B (by Bailey’s Mum)
It was great to do the .b course together. We helped and reminded each other throughout the weeks and Bailey didn’t feel like he was doing it alone. Often Bailey would tell me things, I would understand immediately where the other family members didn’t. He really liked having this secret language between us.

Bailey had had a head injury that resulted in concussion syndrome for about a year and a half. However, we didn’t know that at the time. Things weren’t quite right and we couldn’t figure it out. There were several issues to deal with. He started having tics, wearing glasses (where he had five lens changes in a year), couldn’t concentrate, didn’t want to do anything without me, was confused, overreacted to situations daily, couldn’t focus, wouldn’t apply himself – just gave up and stopped trying altogether. His self-esteem crashed, he blamed himself for everything and worried so much it that it prevented him from trying. He didn’t want to deal with or understand his emotions and became angry a lot. He isolated himself from the family and life in general. The school and doctors were no help – just telling us to “give him time”.

After some osteopathic treatment with Nick and then a year later doing the .b mindfulness for teenagers course Bailey’s life changed. This reflected straight back into family life too. He is able to manage his thoughts and feelings. He is patient, calm, confident, focused, determined and inspired. He willingly became involved and engaged in life again. His grades improved, he does not tic anymore, and he no longer feels threatened by his younger siblings’ abilities. He enjoys playing with them and encourages them. Worry no longer governs him.  He's now up for a challenge, sets his own goals and strives to achieve them. He has the ability to control himself physically, mentally and socially and emotionally.  He understands and accepts the consequences of his decisions and does not let fear prevent him from trying.

I am so thankful to Nick. He has awoken Bailey from a dangerous path and given him the tools to cope with anything life throws at him. I have no doubt Bailey will continue to use his skills learned at .b. He already does!

Bailey’s Mum

Something has changed in my brain
“I can’t explain it, but something has changed in my brain, not the medication but a switch. All the ruminating thoughts are gone, I am less sensitive to news and social media, more relaxed and calmer and I’m taking and doing things more slowly. My memory is returning, and I can meditate more easily. Inner peace. I worked hard on creating a routine in the morning and evening as you (Nick) suggested, to calm my mind and body. Tuning in rather than tuning out to what I feel during the day, and mainly noticing I’m thirsty all the time! but it’s good! I actually know what my body wants and what helps and what doesn’t in slowing it down (beating myself up etc.) I’m not saying I am cured but my perspective has changed. I always want to live each day to the fullest, when the secret to living each day well is to be happy. If I really want people to like me, I need to like myself first. So changing my behaviour and thoughts to align with what is important to me. The reading and the podcast you suggested and the meditation are all feeling like they are coming together.”

Jane

.b and MBSR is essential
Doing the .b course is the best way to slow time down and learn how to live in the moment. This course was incredibly beneficial for me to learn how to calm anxiety, stay in the present, learn about the fight or flight responses, and create peace in a busy life. I now practice mindfulness every day. I did this course one year ago when mindfulness was not so “well known”; now I feel like every health magazine and doctor I go to raves about the benefits of practising! I then went on to do the MBSR course. I did MBSR to gain a deeper level of understanding in practising mindfulness – and because Nick is so knowledgeable that every time I speak to him I learn more than I do during a semester of uni! MBSR is useful for managing and potentially “curing” stress. I would say that mindfulness, both .b and MBSR, is essential for improving health and overall life.

Rheia