Lorraine Prescott, founder of The Healing Tree Therapy, is a beacon of holistic healing whose passion for natural therapies began in her early teens. From reading books about acupressure and aromatherapy to embarking on a transformative personal journey with acupuncture, Lorraine’s commitment to the natural way of life has grown into a lifelong mission. Her journey as a holistic practitioner took flight after a serendipitous encounter with Reflexology in her twenties. Lorraine’s work is not confined to her private practice. Her compassionate approach has touched lives within two NHS Trusts. At Hertford Hospital’s Respiratory Clinic, she helped patients navigate health challenges with calm and ease through energy healing. Passionate about making a positive difference for both people and animals, Lorraine’s story is one of resilience, discovery, and unwavering dedication to holistic health. In this Mystic Mag‘s interview, we delve into her inspiring journey, her philosophy of healing, and her vision for the future of holistic therapies.
What initially sparked your interest in holistic therapies as a teenager, and how did those early experiences shape your journey into alternative medicine?
When I look back, I sometimes wonder whether it was an ‘inner knowing’ – a knowing that there was more to life than was presented; a knowing that we could heal ourselves in a more natural and holistic way. I grew up loving animals and wanting to work with them; I loved nature and gardening – seeing nature do its thing, in its own way. We had a little pond and I used to love it when the tadpoles transformed into little frogs. I found nature awe-inspiring! Don’t get me wrong, conventional medicine definitely has its place, and what can be treated in our day and age makes me feel grateful to live in these times. However, we tend to overlook a more holistic approach. I often say that the Western approach is to fix things after we break, when we need to be taking a more preventative approach and be listening to how we feel mentally, emotionally, spiritually/energetically. I was musing on my journey the other day and realised there has always been a connection to The East – I did Feng Shui in my bedroom; and had painted a dragon and tiger on my walls, as well as a wall hanging with Chinese writing (I can’t remember what the words are, but still have it hanging in my therapy room!). I also started Tai Chi in my late teens and can still recall the feeling I had after the first session – total body and mind connection and relaxation! So, although I didn’t know at that time that this was to be my path, it’s been like a gentle stream running alongside me, guiding me along the way.
Reflexology seemed to leap off the page at you when you first encountered it. What about this practice resonated with you so strongly, and how has it impacted your understanding of healing?
I absolutely LOVE Reflexology!! From all the therapies I do, it’s remained a firm favourite. All therapies have the ability to transform, to release tension and held-in emotions, to rebalance – but I love the true ‘holistic’ nature of Reflexology and am still fascinated by it to this day. Via your feet (or face, hands etc), it’s a microcosm of the macrocosm of the body.
Rewinding quite a few years now and after doing an evening class about finding work that you love, I started to explore working within ‘alternative therapies’ and realised there was more to my life than the corporate career. Digging that bit deeper, I borrowed a book on complementary therapies from the library. Reading about different therapies and just how much was out there to be explored, I was fascinated … but when I came to the section on Reflexology, it really was like it leapt off the page – something clicked and my eyes had been opened to my next steps! Again, maybe it was this inner knowing, but there was no stalling, or weighing things up in my mind. I remember things moving swiftly. I found a reputable Reflexology training school and, that was it, I was on my journey to becoming a wellbeing practitioner, with Reflexology being my first therapy.
What type of services do you offer?
Within The Healing Tree, I work 1:1 with clients (group work to come this year!) and I love the transformational work of holistic therapies. Being able to offer a range of hands-on therapies; energy therapies and talking therapies, I can customize treatments so each client gets the most from each session. I talk about working with clients on their wellbeing journey and I truly feel this is how I’m supporting them. They start their journey with me at point A, perhaps feeling in pain, out of balance, or stuck in their life. As their journey progresses, I tailor sessions to best suit their needs at the time of their appointment. Together, we work to get them to their point B – their destination of feeling well, happy and content. A lot of clients will continue to have maintenance sessions … as looking after our wellbeing should be a lifelong focus.
For those who live further afield and are unable to work with me in-person on a 1:1 basis, I have a free download: ‘How to Become Your Own Wellness Warrior – 5 Essential Health Hacks’ (Become your own Wellness Warrior and start Living Well). My plan is to launch a 6-week online wellness course this year, so people can join me and work on their wellbeing journey without the need to see me 1:1.
In addition to The Healing Tree, my husband and I run CLUB CHI. This is another wellness-focused business centring around Tai Chi Qigong, Gong Bath Meditation sessions and Wellness Workshops. I loved the idea of bringing movement therapy into The Healing Tree and, upon my husband and I both training together in Tai Chi Qigong, we developed CLUB CHI. My husband is a drummer and so Gong Baths were a natural progression for him and, as we love connecting with people and spreading the word of wellness, our Wellness Workshops came to fruition! We originally started our workshops during the covid lockdown, delivering a free Virtual Vitality Day to those who wanted to connect when we couldn’t all be together. We loved it so much, it’s continued in a workshop format, with each workshop having a different theme, but all wellness-based.
My holistic journey has felt a very organic process and our newest business is exactly the same. We Offer Wellness Ltd officially launched March 2024 and is our way of enabling people from any location to be able to connect to Wellness Providers not only local to them, but around the world. The first wellness experience we sold was a customer in Canada purchasing a wellness experience with one of our Providers in Bali! We want to make wellness accessible to all and We Offer Wellness is our way of empowering lives, one wellness experience at a time.
We are always keen to connect with qualified therapists, wherever they are based, and would love to hear from them to be part of our community and help us on our wellness revolution.
Your work emphasizes the connection between mind, body, and soul. How do you approach balancing these elements in your treatments for optimal healing?
I always say there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to wellness and that is probably why I’m drawn to offer a variety of therapies (and this is part of my continued journey of learning and training so I can be of the best service to my clients and our CLUB CHI attendees). Whenever I see a client for the first time, we go through a consultation process. I don’t want to just know they have a bad back or are getting headaches and get underway with the treatment; I want to find out what else is going on for them physically, as well as what might be causing things to be out of balance in our lifestyle, work etc – things which can affect us mentally, emotionally and cause us to be stressed and out of alignment.
This holistic approach really is so important to me and it enables me to tailor treatments to exactly what is needed at that point in time. If we don’t maintain a balance of our mind, body and soul, this is when problems can arise. For example, a person may be highly stressed and all they do to switch off is exert loads of energy at the gym. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t wrong per se … however, when this is your only go-to to relieve stress and the stress levels don’t reduce, yet we continue to pound away at the gym, this is when we can be at risk of burnout. We need to connect to our emotions; we need to listen within our body, to our energy. In the West we often have this ‘no pain, no gain’ approach – it shouldn’t have to be this way to achieve health and vitality. By all means, go to the gym and work out and work hard, but maybe balance that with spending time in stillness, or connecting with nature.
This is where the therapies I offer at The Healing Tree and CLUB CHI can help us to tune into ourselves and really listen to how we feel. Sometimes, during a holistic treatment or a Qigong session, emotions can start to come to the surface. Finally, our body is finding that space to be able to let go – how wonderful! I always tell clients and attendees to try not to resist it and to allow it to come up and release – as it really will serve us better in the long run and ensure a healthy mind, body and soul.
In your experience, how do short energy healing sessions, such as those provided at the Respiratory Clinic, create a noticeable shift in patients’ stress and overall health?
When I first started the voluntary role at the Respiratory Clinic, to be told I would only have a short amount of time to offer some healing, caused a bit of a dilemma. I was used to doing 30-minute or 60-minute treatment times … how on earth was this going to have any positive effect in 10-15 minutes (or less!).
Not having a lot of choice, my mindset was that I would tune into the client and trust that the healing energy was going where it needed to go. I would still scan down the 7 main chakras and see if any particular area needed more attention than others but knew that, regardless of which area I was working over, the energy would flow where it needed. I was amazed at how effective those mini-sessions were. Recipients were saying they could feel the energy and/or felt calm and more relaxed. What a bonus that treatments didn’t have to be guided by the standard treatment lengths most holistic therapists are used to.
This also comes into play when offering taster sessions at numerous events over the years. I remember one lady I treated with facial reflexology/massage at a summer fayre, said afterwards that her headache had gone! Knowing and trusting that, whatever the therapy and whatever the length of time available, it can help the recipient get what they need, as they are open to receive (or sometimes just curious!) and I let the therapy work its magic!
And this is why I do what I do and love what I do. Holistic health is definitely my path and I know there’s more to come – still trusting that I’m being guided along my path.
