BellaSanté Holistic Health Centre and Spa

'A spa where you can stop smoking — comfortably'

In the heart of Truro’s downtown, in one of the stately old homes the town is famous for, sits BellaSanté Holistic Health Centre & Spa.
 
Inside this Victorian-era house with its quiet green exterior, you are greeted by warm wood floors with a walnut inlay, 10-foot ceilings, and the solidly impressive woodwork around doors and archways that is the hallmark of century-old homes. The surroundings say quality and comfort, and show that beauty and function are part of a whole. 
 
In the reception area, the brown leather chairs are substantial and inviting. “Would you like a cup of herbal tea? A warm wrap for your neck?” The staff wants you to take a moment before your treatment even begins. 
 
Chantale Haché, owner of BellaSanté, says first impressions are important. She wants this to be an oasis—a reprieve from busy day-to-day life. 
 
“When people walk in, I want them to feel pampered,” says Haché, “to be able to put everything on hold, not just during their treatment.” 
 
Haché’s background is in holistic health and nutrition. When she started the business in September 2004, her goal was to promote overall wellness — helping clients to look and feel better.
 
Business was steady from the start. By the end of the first year, two additional staff members had been hired to keep up with demand, bringing the total number to six. 
 
However, business was not spread out evenly amongst all the centre’s services. “At the end of the first year,” says Haché, “we saw that 70 percent of our revenue was coming from spa services.” She had not planned for the greater demand for esthetics, compared to health services, but she was willing to work with this reality. 
 
“Sometimes in business you have to mould yourself to meet your clients’ demand,” says Haché. “My compromise was to offer the spa services from a holistic health approach.”
 
“Most spas are attached to hair salons,” explains Haché. “There are so many perfumes and chemicals that people with sensitivities can’t even go in the building. Here, all our spa products are dye-free and contain no artificial scents; our nail polishes don’t contain formaldehyde. So even people with sensitivities can enjoy our services.” 
 
For four years, Haché worked at building an excellent reputation for spa services, while seizing opportunities to grow the health side. In the past two years,this has meant the addition of an on-site naturopathic doctor and a psychologist to a staff that includes massage therapists, a nutrition counsellor and a natural therapies practitioner.
 
“At this stage we have established ourselves as the best at what we do — the best place to come for spa services,” says Haché. Now, with a strong client base, she says she is more free to focus on her first passion — new health and wellness programs.
 
“I never want to be stagnant,” says Haché. “I always want to learn and grow and try new things.” 
 
It’s an approach she takes herself, and it’s one she promotes with her staff, supporting them in on-going training in new techniques and services. 
 
She says it works all round—for her staff, for their clients, for her business. “They are learning new things, feeling challenged, and are able to offer new services to their clients.” 
 
In spring 2009 Haché is taking the centre in an exciting new direction by adding three new programs: smoking cessation, pain management and weight loss. 
 
The three programs — Quick Stop Solution, Accelerated Healing Program, and Personal Best — use therapeutic laser treatments as well as counselling and other supports to deal with these health issues in a holistic way. 
 
Therapeutic lasers are now common in a number of medical settings in Canada, as everyday as physiotherapy, sports medicine and dentistry. Therapeutic lasers don’t generate heat like surgical lasers. However their light penetrates tissue and boosts the local cells’ ability to both heal injured tissue and reduce any swelling that may be present.
 
The Quick Stop Solution uses a mind and body approach to help clients quit smoking. The therapeutic laser treatments have an effect like acupuncture in helping to curb physical cravings and ease withdrawal symptoms. Many patients find the laser therapy more comfortable than acupuncture needles, says Haché. 
 
The system really excels, she says, in that it addresses the reasons why people fail in their attempts to stop smoking: anxiety, metabolism and cravings. In addition to the laser treatments, there is a nutritional component, as well as life couching to break the habit of smoking. 
 
There are two treatments within 48 hours, then a third treatment, if needed, within the six-month mark. About 70% of people don’t need the third session, says Haché, because they are smoke free.
 
Because of the uniqueness of the program and the results she has seen in its effectiveness, Haché says she expects her market for Quick Stop Solution will extend well beyond Truro. 
 
“I know that people who are really desperate to quit smoking will travel,” she says. 

The Accelerated Healing Program for pain management is a program developed by the same group of doctors who created Quick Stop Solution. At BellaSanté, this program will be run by the centre’s three registered massage therapists, as part of their regular treatments.
 
“I am looking forward to helping people with arthritis, chronic pain, and sports teams with pain management,” says Haché. 
 
The third new program coming to BellaSanté in 2009 is a 10-week weight loss program. Similar to the approach taken for smoking cessation, the program’s components address the many reasons why people fail in trying to lose weight. 
 
This program uses auricular therapy — acupuncture of the ear using the therapeutic laser — to speed up the metabolism and reduce cravings and anxiety. It also features a fitness program and nutritional planning that comes complete with a menu plan and grocery list. 
 
Haché, who has a BSc in Nutrition and Natural Therapies, says this is the first system she has seen that is complete. “I don’t know of any other program out there that deals with those challenges,” she says. 
 
Haché is looking forward to the launch of the new programs, adding to the services and treatments available to her clients.
 

“I’m really exited about being the first to bring this to eastern Canada,” says Haché. “We’re always looking for services that can improve the health of clients.”