EILEEN McShane has been offering people an alternative to traditional medicine for 32 years. The 59-year-old, who works in the Umbrella Centre in the High Street one day a week, says she is constantly learning about new therapies. She has even been asked to cure chocolate cravings. But does homeopathy really work? Julia Collins tries to find out...

What does an alternative therapist do?

I deal with people's emotional and physical problems. I apply the best of the techniques that I have, such as hypnosis or acu-pressure. I have learned how to do "tapping" on patients as they release their emotions.

What is tapping?

It is actually called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. I tap on acupuncture points instead of putting needles in. It is just so wonderful, I can see miracles happen with it. It is like an emotional acupuncture except I tap on the energy instead.

How did you get involved with homeopathy?

I was ill and mainstream medicine wasn't working for me. I was just getting sicker and was in constant pain. I had two little boys and I wasn't strong enough to look after them. I hadn't walked up stairs in 18 months, it was like constant fatigue syndrome.

A homeopath gave me a remedy and after that I felt so much better so I decided to learn more about it and went to college and got the qualifications.

A recent report by the Science and Technology Select Committee said homeopathy works no better than placebo and NHS funding for alternative medicine should be scrapped. Is that right?

Homeopathy as an industry earns so much money that the drug companies have taken fright and instigated a smear campaign against it because the money is being taken away from them.

If, as they claim, it doesn't work then what's the problem? Why do they even care about it? It's not a placebo because it has worked for the past 200 years - and it works on babies and animals and they don't know what a placebo is.

People should be allowed to have free will and buy whatever medicine suits them best.

You've just written a book. What's it about?

It's called A Gateway to Harmony, Health and Happiness and it has 31 different techniques to help relieve stress and get rid of emotional blocks.

There are case studies of how each technique has helped each person.

I hurt my shoulder while treating a patient seven months ago and that stopped me from working so I used the time to write the book.

So people can teach themselves how to carry out the techniques?

Yes, I've even taught my grandchildren how to do tapping. I've also persuaded all my clients to give me their unused teddies and I'm sewing ribbons on them to show where all the tapping points are for stress.

I'm going to take them to hospitals where they can be used to teach children how to do EFT. You can use that technique for giving up smoking, chocolate, dieting, lack of spontaneity, self-sabotage and whatever else is going on in your life.

My party-piece is to put people off chocolate if they ask me to.

What other techniques do you use?

Kinesiology, the Bowen Technique, ortho-bionomy and neuro-linguistic programming are just some of them. I discuss the patient's problems with them and choose whichever treatments will work best for them.

It could be just one treatment or a combination of therapies. I also give free EFT sessions in the Whitstable Umbrella Centre on Thursdays.

I love it because it gives me the chance to give a little bit back. I won't retire until I'm 90 because I just want to help people for as long as possible.

How long have you been doing the sessions in the Umbrella Centre?

Just over six months. I was there all through last summer and it was lovely. I moved to the area with my partner Ken Simpson eight years ago.

What do you like about Whitstable?

I love it that it still quite an old-fashioned attractive seaside town with lots of lovely old shops and wonderful cafes and restaurants. I also love the 20mph speed limit in town because it makes it much safer for pedestrians.

It is great that there's a community centre that people can just pop in to. Everyone there has gone along to spend time with other people in the town.

Is there anything you would change about the town?

I would change the potholes on the way into the town. They just rip car tyres to pieces. And some dog-walkers don't clear up after their dogs properly.

What's your favourite book?

I love Terry Pratchett because he makes me laugh. He was such a good author for my son to move on to after books like Lord of the Rings.

Who would you invite to a dinner party?

I'd invite the scientist Albert Einstein. It was him who said that everything is energy and I spend so much of my time working with energies that I totally understand him. I'd also invite Terry Pratchett, Dame Judi Dench and Penelope Keith.

* A Gateway to Harmony, Health and Happiness by Eileen McShane costs £23 from Eileen now or from Amazon shortly. To order a copy call 01227 366411.