Hi My name is Ailsa and I've been a practising therapist for over 20 years.

This page is rather informal, so you can get to know me a little better and explain a little about me and how I work.

I would prefer to be totally honest with you. I'm not going to promise you the earth, make unrealistic statements and tell you that after you have been to see me for a number of sessions you are going to be cured and live the rest of your life happily ever after. Although saying that you might.

Let's be realistic. Life happens, sometimes it runs smoothly, and sometimes it can get rather bumpy. Sometimes bad things happen and sometimes we can feel so powerless that we just don't know where to turn. Well, that's where I come in. Because sometimes all it takes is someone to work through it with you. Now don't get me wrong, just because I'm a therapist doesn't mean I'm sorted in every area of my life, I don't think I would be human if I was. I believe a good therapist can often learn just as much from their clients as their clients can learn from them. We never stop learning.

Now, I've spent the majority of my adult life searching for answers. Who are we, what makes us tick, and why do some people suffer more than others? And I think at the age of 56 I've learnt a lot. I haven't got a degree in psychology, I'm not a boffin or an intellectual. So, I'm not going to bombard you with psychobabble, I'm of average intelligence with an awful lot of life experience good and not so good which enables me to step into your shoes.

As well as my formal training, I have found life experience to be the best teacher of all and it's been a fascinating journey.
So, I feel more than qualified to help you get to where you'd like to be without being unrealistic. I don't subscribe to a prescriptive way of working, I utilise a number of approaches, tailored to suit each individual client I see. So, I find this to be a lot more effective.

You might also have noticed that I do not belong to lots of training and hypnotherapy and or psychotherapy organisations because until hypnotherapy and or psychotherapy becomes regulated I don't really see the point. But that is just my personal opinion. I like to stay as independent as possible. Having said that you can read a list of my qualifications and training opposite.

How I got Here

My upbringing was shall we say, a little unconventional and adventurous. School for me was a prison sentence, I did what I had to but couldn’t wait to leave. Art school was next but still feeling restless and unsatisfied I ended up once again travelling and working in various industries, primarily the yachting industry.  At 30, still not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I came back to the UK and took up studies in Hypnotherapy, NLP, and Psychotherapy and here I am still 26 years later.

Things I enjoy doing are riding my motorcycle at the weekends, this just clears my mind.  I also have my class 1 HGV licence and occasionally, when I feel a need to have a break from being a therapist, I’ll jump in a truck and have a few days out on the road.  I also love spending time on the water, nowadays it's on the canals rather than out at sea. Walking the dogs and just being quiet in nature, reading, listening to podcasts, and being creative are all pastimes that feed my soul on this great adventure called life.