Certified Hellerwork Structural Integration Practitioner
(Hellerwork International)
Advanced Structural Integration Practitioner
(Mana Integrative Therapies U.K.)
Fascial Fitness Trainer
(Dr Robert Schleip & Fascial Fitness Association GmbH)
Dunedin & Christchurch, New Zealand 
021 890 867 
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About Philip
Since starting my practice in 2001 it has been my great pleasure to share the life changing results of Hellerwork Structural Integration with many people around the world.
In my late teens, just when i was starting a career in television production as well as playing and recording music, i experienced an unexpected major surgery. I'm still here today thanks to western medicine ... but the recovery was long and i was left at a very low ebb. Somehow I found the energy and deep motivation to learn how to regain my own health and fitness, with virtually no help from "the health system" ...
I spent a decade researching and trying many mainstream and complimentary treatments to restore my full health and wellbeing. Out of all the approaches and methods that I tried, only Hellerwork Structural Integration enabled me to feel and achieve profound and true long-lasting improvement.
A few years later I was still so inspired that I applied for the Hellerwork Structural Integration Practitioner training. In 1998 i was able to join the only European based training, which i completed in Spain, New Zealand, England, and France. It was an incredible, challenging, and rewarding experience that still enriches my practice and how i can provide for my clients every day.
My first practice was in the City of Bath, then in London at The Life Centre in Notting Hill, The Ability Centre in Marylebone, Holistic Health in Hackney, and the Kailash Centre in St Johns Wood.
I travelled extensively for further training with gifted teachers of Structural Integration - including Sol Petersen, Mark Gray, Hubert Godard, and Stuart Bell. I also completed an Advanced Structural Integration training in the UK.
For my ongoing continuing education I have attended classes with the late Leon Chaitow, with Tom Myers and Anatomy Trains, Dr Robert Schleip and others who are key in further developing our understanding of the body's Fascial network. More recently i have attended workshops with the European Guild for Structural Integration in Turin, Italy, and in Bath, England.
I have more recently relocated back to Dunedin, the City where i was born and grew up, following an unexpected major surgery - the result of a previous cycling accident. I am very grateful to be alive - thanks to western medicine again, and fortunately with my skills I was able to fast-track my recovery and continue with my work.
I have served extensively on the Hellerwork International board of directors. I regularly network with dedicated health and medical practitioners in a variety of modalities.
Certified Hellerwork Practitioners are required to be members in good standing with their Regional Practitioner Association (USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Australia) and to complete their Annual Continuing Education Quota, in order to be annually re-certified.
International Association of Structural Integrators Members adhere to the IASI's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.
Evolution Of Hellerwork Structural Integration
"The body stores the trauma of our lives in muscular rigidity, thereby keeping us stuck in the past. When we release the tension in the body and align ourselves with gravity, we take a new stand in life. This allows us to be at ease with ourselves and in harmony in our relationship to others and to our planet."
- Joseph Heller founder of Hellerwork
As more and more people around the world are seeking out effective and empowering solutions for their ongoing health and well-being, Hellerwork and Structural Integration are undergoing a surge of growth and popularity. This is concurrent with emerging science and research and understanding of the dynamic role of the fascial network of the body. The three main certifying schools of Structural Integration - Hellerwork International, the Rolf Institute, and the Guild for Structural Integration, plus a number of smaller schools, have more recently been joined by Tom Myers Anatomy Trains, and the European Guild for Structural Integration. Professional and certified Structural Integrators now form the International Association of Structural Integrators.
Structural Integration originally began with Dr Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979) a New Yorker armed with a Ph.D in biological chemistry. At a young age she became an Associate at the Rockefeller Institute, studied mathematics and atomic physics in Zurich, and homeopathic medicine in Geneva.
In 1930’s USA Dr Rolf was seeking answers to family health problems. Treatments available seemed inadequate to her. As a result she explored osteopathy, chiropractic, yoga, the Alexander technique and Korzybski’s work on consciousness. With her now substantial knowledge Dr Rolf created a new system of soft tissue bodywork, known originally as Rolfing, but now more widely known as Structural Integration.
With this potent work, she was able to make significant changes to deep structures of the body, offering many breakthroughs for people previously unable to find help. In the 60's she was invited to teach at the Esalen Institute. The more she taught, the more students sought admission to her training ...
Joseph Heller was one of those students. Born in Poland in 1940 he received his early education in Europe, and immigrated to the USA at the age of 16. He graduated from CalTech and began working as an aerospace engineer in the NASA space programme, developing extensive knowledge of structural stress. In 1972, in the midst of an intense involvement with humanistic psychology, Joseph experienced Rolfing. He was so impressed that he gave up aerospace engineering and trained as a Rolfing practitioner with the founder Dr Rolf.
Joseph Heller went on to become a Structural Patterner with Judith Aston and while maintaining a very successful practice, he received advanced training from Dr Rolf, and from Dr Brugh Joy, a noted physician, author, and innovator in the fields of preventative medicine and energy healing.
He became the first president of the Rolf Institute in 1976. With his unique combination of expertise and training in Structural Integration, movement, body energy awareness, and the conceptualization of the human body as an integrated system, Joseph Heller moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1978 and founded Hellerwork.
Joseph Heller has trained practitioners from around the world, and a selected group of trainers, allowing more people to experience the benefits of Hellerwork. He lived and practiced in Mt Shasta California and continued to teach and communicate about Hellerwork until his passing in 2023. Fly High and Rest in Peace, Joseph.