Functional Neuro Health — Byron Bay

Functional Neuro Health is the framework Amanda works within. It starts from a simple observation: the nervous system decides whether the body is safe or under threat, and that decision shapes how pain, movement, sleep, digestion and mood all behave.

When the system stays in threat mode, individual symptoms get treated over and over without resolving, because the underlying state has not changed. Working at the level of the nervous system is an attempt to change the state rather than chase each symptom.

What "threat mode" looks like

A nervous system that has stayed switched on often produces a recognisable cluster:

• Ongoing pain or tension that does not match the original injury
• Fatigue, or the wired-but-exhausted pattern
• Anxiety, overwhelm, or low mood
• Poor sleep, or sleep that does not restore
• Digestive upset, sensitivity to foods, or a foggy, unfocused feeling

These are not separate problems so much as different expressions of one regulatory state.

The PEACE process

PEACE is a five-step framework Amanda uses to assess and work through that state, one stage at a time.

P — Preliminary assessment

Mapping how the system is currently functioning: history, what the body is prioritising, and where the load is coming from. This stage is about finding the pattern rather than treating the loudest symptom.

E — Ease the system

Reducing the threat response before anything else is attempted — breath restoration, vagal work, lymphatic flow and relaxation. Until the system settles, other interventions tend not to hold.

A — Align the hierarchy

Identifying which issue the nervous system is treating as the priority. In practice this is often not the area that hurts most, which is why symptom-led treatment can stall.

C — Correct

Working directly on the pathways that are not communicating well — through manual therapy, vestibular and proprioceptive work, and specific movement retraining.

E — Embed

Consolidating the change with simple practices that can be done at home, so progress does not depend on continuing to attend indefinitely. Building capacity rather than dependency.

Who this approach suits

People whose symptoms have not resolved with standard treatment, and where the picture is more complex than a single injury. Commonly this includes persistent pain, dizziness and post-concussion symptoms, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, anxiety, and conditions described as functional neurological — where the nervous system is producing genuine symptoms without a structural cause being found.

It is also used by people who are functioning well but feel their system is running close to its limit and want to address that before it becomes a problem.

How it sits alongside physiotherapy

Functional Neuro Health is not a replacement for standard physiotherapy assessment — it is the lens Amanda applies across it. Where a structural problem needs mechanical treatment, that still happens. Where the nervous system is the limiting factor, that is where the work goes.

Frequently asked questions