Ascot Vale Practitioners

Natalie is passionate about forming strong relationships and working with her clients to achieve their goals and improve their quality of life. Natalie achieves this through exercise rehabilitation, education, and manual therapy to help clients live active and pain free lives.

Natalie’s passion for physiotherapy began through her journey of being a competitive dancer and enduring multiple injuries. At the age of 15, Natalie suffered a hip injury requiring surgery and it was during her rehabilitation that she realised she wanted to help others return to the things they enjoy doing. Natalie is committed in helping dancers return to dancing post injury through utilising a graded return to class and performance and ensuring they are also strong enough to prevent future injury. As a dance teacher in multiple genres, she has an intricate knowledge of the techniques and its demands. She had the privilege to dance overseas at Universal Studios and Disneyland, and has completed a Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Dance, graduating with Honours First Class.

Natalie has completed a Masters of Physiotherapy Practice and a Bachelor of Exercise Science at La Trobe University. She has gained invaluable experiences in various hospital settings and developed a further interest for post-surgical rehabilitation and working with all ages across the lifespan. Natalie was also fortunate enough to undertake a placement with The Australian Ballet where she was exposed to the strength and conditioning management of professional dancers.

Symmetry Physio has assisted Natalie return to sport and everyday activities post injury, and she hopes to be able to provide the expectational and individualised care to her clients just like many Symmetry practitioners have provided to her over the years.

In Natalie’s spare time she enjoys staying active through taking dance and Pilates classes, and chasing waterfalls. Natalie also enjoys watching musicals and owns three beautiful Samoyed show dogs, her ‘fur babies’; ask her nicely and she’ll show you a photo!

Kayley has a keen interest in the human body, the management of disease and injury, as well as exercise prescription. She is an enthusiastic Physiotherapist who is committed to building relationships with her clients, and working with them to improve their quality of life/accomplish their goals. Kayley has a specific passion for acute sports injuries, post-surgical recovery, the care of children, and falls in older adults.

Kayley graduated from La Trobe University with a Masters of Physiotherapy Practice, where she developed practical skills in both inpatient and outpatient hospitals (The Northern and Royal Children’s), as well as in mobile Physiotherapy services. Kayley uses a mix of evidence-based practice, exercise rehabilitation, manual therapy and education skills to create better health outcomes for her clients of all ages.

In addition to her clinical experience, Kayley has published a research project exploring different muscle strength/function assessments for older adults at risk of falls and fractures. She has completed an advanced dry needling course and also works for the Hillside Sharks Football Club (Senior Women’s teams).

Outside of Physiotherapy, you can find Kayley in the gym, at Pilates or watching the Hillside Sharks. She is also a passionate (but sad) North Melbourne fan. Kayley grew up dancing, coached local netball and played representative netball. She enjoys binging TV shows, reading a good book, travelling, walking her two puppies, and spending time with family and friends.

Zena is passionate in delivering excellent clinical and patient-centred care to achieve the best possible outcomes for her patients. Zena is driven by her strong desire to help individuals restore confidence, function, and reduce pain through individualised treatment programs. She has interests in musculoskeletal and vestibular physiotherapy, as well as pre- and post-operative rehabilitation.

Zena has extensive experience across a sports injuries clinic, hospital inpatient and outpatient settings and community care. Her background includes managing complex musculoskeletal presentations, chronic pain, delivering vestibular assessment and treatment, and running falls prevention and hydrotherapy programs. She has also led individualised orthopaedic exercise classes which involved rehabilitation for total knee and hip replacements, knee and hip osteoarthritis, and post-operative orthopaedic surgery to maximise recovery and strength. Zena has completed further training in vestibular and ACL rehabilitation, dry needling, and osteoarthritic rehabilitation. She integrates education, manual therapy, and a progressive strength training program in every treatment plan.

Outside of work, Zena enjoys going for long walks, training, travelling, and spending quality time with her friends and family. She brings warmth, encouragement, and a supportive energy to every patient.

Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at James Cook University in 2012 and went on to complete a Master’s of Sports Physiotherapy in 2019. Michael is a currently recognised as an Australian Physiotherapy Association Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and is a member of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. Since graduating from his bachelor’s in 2012, Michael has worked largely in private practice and sporting teams, working with clubs such as Melbourne Victory W-League, Football Federation Victoria, Coburg Lions FC and most recently Heidelberg United NPL and WNPL.

Michael has a strong interest in injury prevention, rehabilitation, strength and conditioning and athletic performance. He believes the best cure to an injury is prevention, thus he utilises an objective approach to establish baseline data of your injury which will allow for evaluation of future improvements. As sports and exercise is a passion of Michael’s, he incorporates an active approach to his treatment to ensure future injuries and recurrences are prevented. Recently, Michael completed his level 1 accreditation to become a strength and conditioning coach.

When it comes to clinical injuries, Michael has an interest in treating; acute injuries, tendon injuries, stress fractures, shoulder/hip/knee injuries, running injuries, post-operative rehabilitation and overload injuries.

Michael hopes to continue expanding his knowledge in 2021, where he aims to become a certified golf specialist Physiotherapist where he will be able to work with coaches and offer golf specific screenings and performance programs.