About Brita —
Osteopath, Pilates Instructor
& Lifelong Learner
The person behind the treatment table.
My story
I didn’t start out as an osteopath. For the first part of my career I worked in marketing — and while I enjoyed it, something was missing. I wanted work that felt meaningful. Work that made a real difference to real people.
So in my late thirties I took a round-the-world trip to step back, reflect, and figure out what I really wanted from my life and my career.
The last stop on that journey was Laos — and I never quite made it back. I fell in love with the country and its people, and ended up staying for a year and a half, teaching English to Buddhist monks. It was there that I first encountered meditation and Buddhist philosophy, and something shifted in me that has quietly shaped everything I’ve done since.
The answer to my bigger question had been with me all along. I had suffered from back pain for most of my life, and in my early twenties I was having cortisone injections every few months just to manage it. It wasn’t a solution — it was a holding pattern. What actually helped was manual therapy. And through that experience I had developed a deep fascination with the human body — its complexity, its intelligence, its remarkable capacity to heal. I decided to turn that fascination into a profession.
I enrolled at the European School of Osteopathy in the UK, an institution highly regarded for its comprehensive approach to patient care and clinical excellence. Four years later I graduated with my Master of Osteopathy and the fascination hasn't dimmed for a single day since.
My time in
New Zealand
After qualifying I moved to New Zealand — drawn by the landscape, the lifestyle, and the opportunity to practise in great clinics alongside other osteopaths. I spent seven years there in total, four of them in Queenstown, where I built a patient base and a network of fellow practitioners that I am thankful for.
In 2025 I returned to Europe for a while — but it didn’t take long to realise that Queenstown had spoiled me for anywhere else. Living in a big city again taught me something important: that I thrive surrounded by nature, a slower pace and a community that connects. Queenstown gave me all of that, and I am excited to come back in November 2026.
My philosophy
I believe the human body is a miracle. Every day in my work I get to witness its inherent capacity to heal itself, regulate itself and protect itself — and that never gets old.
But sometimes the body needs a little support to do the hard work it is so capable of. That’s where I come in.
As tempting as it is to focus on the symptoms a patient presents with, symptoms are rarely the whole story. The body is far more complex than that. What I look for in every assessment is the underlying cause of a patient’s complaint, rather than the secondary compensations that have built up around it. Treating the root cause, not just the symptom, is is what gives the body the best chance of lasting change.
I also believe that physical pain is never purely physical. It is an interconnected experience of body, mind and soul. Alongside manual therapy, I weave in elements of mindfulness, breathwork and movement to support not just recovery, but long-term wellbeing.
Outside
the clinic
When I’m not in the clinic you’ll most likely find me somewhere in the mountains — hiking, camping, happily disconnected from my phone and very much in my element. I love the wilderness of New Zealand in a way that is hard to put into words. Just me, my tent, and whatever is out there.
I’m also passionate about art and creativity — pottery, collages, making things with my hands. I recently got myself a handpan and am slowly, joyfully learning to play it. And like any good osteopath, I practise what I preach — yoga and meditation are a regular part of my life, not just something I recommend to patients.
I love good conversations with interesting people and everyone has a story worth hearing.
My qualifications
Academic- Master of Osteopathy with Distinction (M.Ost) — European School of Osteopathy, University of Greenwich, UK, 2014–2018
- STOTT Pilates Certified Instructor, NZ
- iTec Level 3 Diploma Sports Massage, UK
- 200h Yoga Teacher Training — Alchemy Yoga & Meditation Center, Bali
- Visceral Manipulation 1–4 (Abdomen, Pelvis, Thorax)
- Neural Manipulation 1–4 (Neuromeningeal, Upper Body, Lower Body, Cranial Nerves)
- Advanced Visceral Manipulation: Trauma
- Manual Approach to the Brain
- New Manual Articular Approach — Upper Extremity
- Listening Techniques 1: An Integrative Approach to Evaluation
- BLT (Balanced Ligamentous Tension) and Cranial — Jamie Taylor, D.O., NZ
- BLT — Dr Sutherland’s Approach to the Whole Body Part 2 — Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation of Australia and NZ
- CranioSacral Therapy 1 — Upledger Institute Austria
- Structural Cranial Course with Clinical Correlations — Dr. Lisa DeStefano, D.O.
- Integrated Neuromuscular Myofascial Release for the Upper Quadrant — Dr. Lisa DeStefano, D.O.
- Women's Health & Osteopathic Care in Gynaecology — Prof. Renzo Molinari, D.O. (UK)
- Women’s Health — Michael Pye, D.O., NZ
- Pelvic Health: Introduction to Pelvic Health Internals — Dr Melissa Davidson, NZ
- Supported from the Start: Osteopathy for Pregnancy, Birth, and the Postpartum Period — Claudia Knox, DO, MSc Paeds Ost, BSc Ost
- LIFE OF A WOMAN – Osteopathic Support from Childhood to Menopause —Anja Engel-Schulmeyer, MSc D.O. DPO and Stefanie Maierhofer, MSc. D.O.
- ScarWork (Sharon Wheeler Method) — Karin Wiesner, Austria
- Osteopathic Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniations — David Lachaize, D.O.
- Diagnostic Protocol and Osteopathic Treatment — Luc Thoby, D.O.
- Manual Lymphatic Drainage Therapy Level 1 & 2 — Hands On Clinic, NZ