About us

So you know a bit about us, let us tell you how
this all came together and evolved.

The idea to run the ‘Get Your Life Back Workshops’ had been germinating for some time. The challenge was that we had got our lives back to the point where we were very busy running our respective businesses.  We would meet socially and the subject of doing something would come up and then we would  ‘park’ the  idea as we weren’t sure what to do or how to go about it.

Then in late 2008 something happened that shocked both of us
We read that a someone with M.E. had died. She had suffered for 17 years. When we read her story and her list of symptoms, it was like reading our own story, except with a very different ending! So why had we got our lives back when this young woman had lost hers?  As we talked we realised just how much we had done to get well again and how much we knew about recovering from this condition. We also believed in recovery whereas sadly, lots of sufferers of M.E, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia don’t. In fact they are convinced that recovery is dependent on a medical breakthrough and so they wait and wait.


The message was clear we needed to do 2 things.

  • Share our knowledge with the staggering numbers of people who are at home in limbo waiting for the day when they will Get their life back.
  • Offer that same knowledge to those people caring for and supporting sufferers as they are a vital part of the recovery.

 

We put pen to paper and wrote ‘10 ways’ to challenge M.E and get well. It was a free guide.  Next we set up a basic website for people to order our free guide. and then we were going to hold workshops.

It all began in Sussex
We wanted to help more people so we organised workshops in Sussex to teach sufferers and carers how we got well and recovered from M.E, CFS. This was meant to be something we could fit in on a Saturday around our businesses.Then we started to receive emails from all over the world asking for our help but they were too far away or of course too unwell to get to our workshops.

How do we reach people all over the world?
We had started coaching others 1 on 1 by telling them what we did and  helping them identify the phases of recovery. We also did not shrink from being very honest about what we saw getting in the way of their recovery. The results were faster because they had us to support them step by step. That’s when we knew we wanted to offer a step by step fully supported recovery programme and It took a year for us to learn how we could reach sufferers wherever they were in the world and for them to be able to access it.

We had to learn new skills, new technology and get mentoring from those who knew how to create an online training programme.– The Chrysalis Effect Supported Recovery Programme was born.

Then the mission grew even bigger!
Recoverers on our programme were getting great results, moving forward in their recovery, However, we talk about what worked for us and of course our clients were asking which practitioners we recommended. It is usual to need some nutritional help, or support from a movement specialist, as well as other therapies that support recovery – each person responds to things differently.


That’s when we realised we needed to train practitioners to work with our material so that recoverers can have a holistic programme tailored to their needs.


Frustrated Practitioners!
We surveyed practitioners and so many of them were frustrated at not being able to support these clients right through to recovery. Because as we knew from our own experience, they help with their specialism, which may help a few symptoms but its not enough, so off you go and find someone else, leaving the practitioner frustrated they couldn’t help, and the sufferer still desperate for help.


The practitioners were keen to have an in-depth understanding of M.E, Chronic Fatigue, and Fibromyalgia conditions.  They want to support someone through to recovery rather than just treat them by helping a few symptoms and have a client move on searching for the next piece of the puzzle. While not everybody needs this support, the programme is enough for many people. Others need that one to one support of a dedicated and knowledgeable practitioner who can offer a step by step approach to stick with until recovery.

So our mission grew again!
Now we offer training in the form of The Chrysalis Effect Practitioner Training Programme to offer just that. All types of holistic and complementary practitioners, from Nutritionists, to Natropaths, Reiki Healers to Reflexologists and coaches, the list goes on, as these practitioners are in the field of treating someone as a whole, looking at the causes and not just the symptoms. We are honoured to work with some amazing people to enable M.E, CFS recovery worldwide and really transform lives.

So that is how our small idea of helping a few local sufferers has grown to a mission
to make a difference to the 17 million sufferers and their families on a global scale!

Now here are our stories in a bit more detail,
that took us from bed bound to where we are now.


Happy 18th Birthday you have M.E. That was my life, a year of not knowing why I couldn’t get out of bed, being carried to the bathroom by my mum & dad, lifeless, powerless, my whole body feeling like I had run a marathon yet I had been in bed, how was that possible? I had friends to see, a social life to lead, fun memories to make. Yet is was all out of reach, my life was on hold, my teenage years lost forever.


Spending day after day feeling trapped in my own body, constant headaches, sore throats, dizziness, sleeping endlessly, then laying awake, the list of symptoms was endless, and there was no end in sight. After being completely let down by the GP’s lack of knowledge & understanding of my illness, just a diagnosis of M.E, I came across a support group and went along full of hope.


As I walked through the door, I discovered sufferers with walking sticks & wheelchairs, 15 years of living that life. My heart sank & I remember the sheer panic I felt at the thought of this being my life. I walked out of there with a promise. A promise to myself & my family that I would do everything it took to beat this & get my life back. From that moment on, I spent my time and the little energy I had on finding ways to get myself well.  M.E, CFS, Fibromyalgia an endless list of symptoms, they had taken over my life, but I wasn’t going to let it be forever. It took years of seeing GP’s, NHS Doctors, Endocrinologists, Alternative therapists; I would see the light at the end of the tunnel,  only for it to go out and for me to be back where I started.

At the time when I was at my worst I thought, why me? Yes I lost my teenage years, some of my friends and didn’t get the chance to have a relationship, but I know this was part of my journey and along the way I found the strength and passion to want to help others to get their life back, as I have, without having to take 7 years to do it! But I didn’t realise back then that’s what I would be doing.


When I was in my early 20‘s still battling with the condition there were times I could work, part time, so I became a consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics, as I could choose the hours I worked which suited me as my health was the most important thing and I needed to look after it.

I then grew this business and became a Director when my health improved, training, coaching, inspiring ladies, And I loved it for many years, however I found that it wasn’t fulfilling me, and having lost so many years to this condition, my time and energy were very important to me.

I was still running my business, but looking for other opportunities and I came across an investment opportunity and getting some advice from a friend who later invested it enabled her to plan early retirement, so it changed her life, so it inspired me to get more involved, so I set up a business and started promoting it. As part of this business I attended many networking events and lots of opportunities were coming my way. So I quit my Director role within the cosmetic company and was now in a world of property investments, and other business opportunities. I came across Wealth Dynamics, which was an amazing philosophy & training that showed you how by focusing on your strengths and what you were naturally good at, you could maintain your health, balance in your life and create wealth - which would enable you to be able to make a bigger difference.

Overwhelmed, excited, passionate about wanting to help others, but still not fulfilled, my health was starting to be affected as I was being pulled in all different directions by my passion to want to help others and not knowing what to do. And having learnt to listen to my body, I stopped everything for a month and took some time out to re-evaluate everything. This is when I realised that the M.E Programme we had started as something small, really was my passion and having lived through a condition that changed the course of my life so dramatically, I knew that I couldn’t spend my time any other way than sharing what I had leant with others who were searching for a way to get their lives back.

So once I made the decision that this was what I was meant to be doing, having no idea how, where the money would come from to get it up and running to reach people around the world. But I knew somehow if we were meant to do this, then it would happen. And so here we are, our programme still evolving and growing as we are learning and growing ourselves. As we meet more incredible people and experts in their fields along the way that are joining our mission to reach the millions of sufferers out there, we know we are doing the right thing and that the people who want our help, will get their lives back - or maybe even transform them into a life they never even dreamed was possible!

Kelly Oldershaw Professional Biography Includes:

  • Accredited Life & Business Coach
  • Personal Development Mentor
  • Senior Director Mary Kay Cosmetics Consultant Trainer
  • Trained in Thomson International DISC Personality Profiling System
  • M.E. / CFS Expert for Choice Health Magazine
  • Co Founder of The Chrysalis Effect Supported Recovery Programme
  • Co Founder of The Chrysalis Effect Practitioner Training Programme


In 2000 I returned from a long haul trip with my company with a virus that left me feeling wiped out. I thought this prolonged fatigue was jet lag but after a month I was still weak and exhausted, I found my concentration was really badly affected.


This was only stage 1 of a horrible journey. I suffered for 6 years from severe M.E/CFS. with acute insomnia, muscle pain and a head that felt as though it was full of hot cotton wool. My speech and memory deteriorated so much that I was convinced I had a brain tumour. I had endless tests. I still kept dragging myself to work whenever I could but when I returned home I was like an empty shell and could barely move for days.


I lied to people who tried to contact me telling them I had been busy. I was ashamed of an illness that didn’t seem to exist as far as GP’s were concerned. M.E. was finally diagnosed 18 months later. I lost my business, had to sell my home and was reduced to claiming incapacity benefit and descended into a chronic depression. I battled fruitlessly with doctors, I spent money I didn’t have on things that didn’t work and there were times when I felt like I would rather die than carry on. I would cry at the thought of what I had lost, not just for the material things, but for the person I had been. My spark was gone and my energy a distant memory; my life had become small, quiet and lonely. I am now completely well although it took me years to discover the path to regain my health.

Kelly and I met in 2001 when my symptoms were in remission and she joined the direct sales business I was still attempting to run. She came to my house and noticed a book on my bookcase about Chronic Fatigue and asked who in the house was a sufferer. I really felt like an angel walked into my house that day. I still had a long way to go before I had made sufficient changes in my life and got in place the right healthcare to really get my life back. I had relapse after relapse and a final crash that forced me to give up my life as I had known it. I learned so much about the process and that, apart from some specific nutritional support; the secret to health lies within, so it is possible to achieve optimum wellbeing and create a healthy, holistic balanced and joyful life. My experience of M.E. seemed like a curse, I know now that it was a gift.

I am married to Rob, mum of two - son Kristian and daughter Kelly, a lovely son in-law Tom and two adored grandchildren Joshua and Oliver. It was the experience of suffering with M.E. for a 6 year period and my commitment to a long protracted recovery that inspired me to create training and coaching programmes to help others achieve authenticity, health, wellbeing and personal empowerment.

Elaine Wilkins Professional Biography

  • B.A.Hons,
  • Post Graduate Certificate of Education and Training
  • Communications Lecturer Further Education
  • Executive Senior Director Mary Kay Cosmetics Consultant Trainer
  • Institute of Leadership and Management Accredited Coach
  • ITOL Awarded Programme Trainer
  • Co-Founder International Coaching Alliance
  • Trainer and co-ordinator of Coaching initiatives for vulnerable young people.
  • NHS Coach, Trainer and mentor for health workers.
  • Contributor to Women’s Fitness Magazine
  • M.E. / CFS expert for Choice Health Magazine
  • Author of Book -The Authentic Self – Finding M.E.

I have created and delivered over 30 Training programmes including:

  • The Authentic Self- Confident Woman Course
  • Step Out - Step Up’ Women’s 4 day development programme
  • The International Coaching Alliance 6 Day ILM Accredited Coaching Programme
  • Co Founder of The Chrysalis Effect Supported Recovery Programme
  • Co Founder of The Chrysalis Effect Practitioner Training Programme

So Together Our Mission Is To Pioneer M.E, CFS & Fibromyalgia Recovery
And Transform The Lives Of The Millions Of Sufferers And Their Families On A Global Scale.

 

There are frequently asked questions covering how the programme works, and many more once you go through to the 13 1/2 essentials guide