When I invented reverse therapy, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)—also known as ME—was an incurable disease, which was impossible to understand. We have seen a 10-fold increase in CFS since the late 1970s.

Our success rate is between 78-82 per cent in helping clients eliminate or significantly reduce symptoms of non-specific illnesses such as CFS or irritable bowel syndrome. We are very proud of our record.

It is absurd to call CFS "yuppie flu". People look at a person and say, "She is 31, she complains of having flu all the time, she is working too hard. She must have yuppie flu." We see a lot of young mothers and 16-20-year-olds who are still in college or university, so that is a very inaccurate stereotype.

We see more teachers than any other profession. The government is a bad employer; it loads impossible demands on employees and treats them like robots.

The number one stress-related illness is irritable bowel syndrome. It is an interesting metaphor for swallowing too much rubbish from other people.

I stuck out like a sore thumb in financial services. I am a maverick by temper and I wasn't a good employee. When I started out in risk management there was an intellectual interest, but after two or three years of number crunching, the interest went away.

My wife's illness helped me discover reverse therapy. She came down with a mystery virus, which involved paralysis in the face, the feet, fingers and nerves. It was clear to both of us that there was a deep emotional component for the symptoms—there was a reason she had them.

Most perceptions of CFS are dominated by the medical market and it is assumed it is post-viral or to do with the nervous system or the brain. We argue that it has a much more holistic causality, but so far our arguments have been widely ignored.

When I started out seriously with reverse therapy, in 2002, I naively thought that the results we were getting would attract interest and support and even acclaim and an interest in finding out about what we were doing.

I have helped top sports people recover. Anna Hemmings, the canoeist, regained the world championship after two years out of the sport crippled by CFS.

Normally it is assumed the therapist knows more than the client. We see the client as the expert because they know more about their body and their lives.

Too many directors spend too much time on things they don't need to do. Just spend three to four hours every day focusing on the things that you are interested in and good at and you'll be more effective and healthy, too.