I built my practice around the questions other clinicians rushed past.
Complex pain rarely has a simple explanation. My approach is built around taking the time to find what's actually driving it, and working with the nervous system rather than around it.
Dr Simone Licciardi
Osteopath | Founder, West Osteopathy
From elite sport to the patients who kept falling through the cracks.
I graduated from RMIT in 2016, then spent my early career splitting time between private practice as an osteopath and hands-on work with athletes at Melbourne Victory FC, Melbourne City FC, Western United FC, and Essendon FC. I founded West Osteopathy in 2021. Every setting taught me something different about how bodies hold pain, how nervous systems respond to load, and where standard treatment plans stop being enough.
Over time I noticed patterns in the patients I gravitated towards. People whose pain kept coming back because no one was addressing the systems underneath it. People whose nervous systems were doing too much. People who'd been through the splint-and-stretch playbook for TMJ without lasting relief. Chronic headache sufferers who'd tried everything. Neurodivergent adults who'd been dismissed, over-scheduled, or asked to mask their way through appointments.
Founding my own practice gave me the space to work the way I already wanted to work: adapting to each person in front of me, and building enough teaching into every session that patients leave with their own tools, not just a follow-up booking.
Three things I do differently.
An honest one to start with: the hands-on part of what I do is only about 10% of what actually makes the difference. The other 90% is what you learn to notice in your body, what you understand about how you got here, and the tools you take away. It's why my online consultations work just as well as in-person for most patients.
Care that adapts to how you learn
Every body is different, every nervous system is different, and every person takes in information differently. I meet you where you are on the day and adapt to how you learn best. No overwhelming management plans, no one-size-fits-all approach. The goal is care you can actually engage with, not care you politely nod along to and forget about the moment you leave.
You understand what's actually happening
Most patients arrive with a diagnosis but not an understanding. Someone's told them "you have TMJ" or "you get tension headaches", but not how they got there, why it keeps coming back, or what their nervous system has to do with any of it. I spend most of a session closing that gap. Because once you understand what's driving your pain, you can start to change it.
A toolbox for real life
I don't want you dependent on me. Together we build a toolbox you can actually engage with: strategies for when things flare up, exercises that stay useful, and the skills to catch tension before it becomes pain. The goal is a body that's resilient and adaptable to whatever you throw at it.
Your nervous system is not a design flaw.
I identify as a neuroaffirming practitioner, and it shapes every part of how I work. Neurodivergent nervous systems present differently. Higher rates of hypermobility, dysautonomia, sensory sensitivity, and interoception differences. Different pain thresholds. Different needs for how information is delivered, how sessions are paced, and how touch is negotiated.
What that looks like in my practice:
- Sessions can be paced to suit your nervous system, from very slow and grounded to more direct
- Sensory adjustments are the default, not a special request (lighting, temperature, verbal cues before touch)
- You don't need to make eye contact, small talk, or mask
- I'll always name what I'm about to do before I do it
- Written summaries after sessions are available if that helps you process
- I understand hypermobility (hEDS), POTS, MCAS, ARFID, ADHD, autism, AuDHD, and the overlaps between them
You don't need to explain the basics to me. I'm already on the same page as you.
What a session with me looks like.
All my appointments run 30 minutes. That's a deliberate choice. It lets me keep the approach specific to what you actually need on the day, without overwhelming you with too much at once.
In your first appointment we go through your history together. Every detail plays its part, even the ones you might think "shouldn't be relevant". We cover:
- Your history and what's brought you here
- A physical assessment tailored to what you've told me
- Hands-on treatment where it fits, and the start of your toolbox
- A conversation about what I've found and what we're going to work on
Follow-up appointments usually cover:
- A quick check-in on how you've been since we last saw each other
- Hands-on treatment tailored to what's actually going on today
- Adjustments to your toolbox based on what's working and what isn't
- Time to ask questions and understand what we're doing and why
I don't push endless bookings. Once we've got you moving in the right direction and your toolbox is working for you, most patients drop in monthly or as needed.
Both online and in-person appointments work equally well for most patients. Because so much of what I do is teaching and coaching, we can cover the same ground on a video call. Choose in-person if you want hands-on work in the mix; choose online if travel, sensory load, or geography is a barrier. If you're not sure which is right for you, ask when you book and I'll help you decide.
Sick of going around in circles? Let's get to the bottom of it.
Book an online or in-person appointment straight into my calendar.