Ally Stott
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome, I offer a holistic Wholearth approach to my work as a Psychotherapist and Craniosacral therapist. My approach is relational and grounded in embodied awareness and deep listening. It weaves together depth psychology, ecology, relational mindfulness and spirituality.
We all feel challenged or overwhelmed by our life circumstances at times. It is healthy to seek support and guidance along the way. When life feels challenging we may find ourself reacting, thinking and behaving in ways based on our past experiences and conditioning. In sessions we open to, allow and gently investigate the suffering you are experiencing by turning towards your direct bodily experience, without any agenda. Old wounds or unconscious layers and sensations may begin to surface. These expressions are simply received for what they are.
In time, old life-limiting patterns of thinking, relating and behaving, that stifle your wellbeing, creativity and inhibit your relationships with yourself, other people, Earth and the wider than human world, naturally begin to unfurl. As the suffering loosens its grip, more of your true, authentic being becomes present in the world accompanied by a greater sense trusting the rightness of life. The natural radiance of who you are, our shared essential nature, becomes obscured by the suffering we experience. It is however never lost, and always waiting to welcome us home.
What you bring to sessions can be explored both inside the room and outside in our broader nature. Art materials, walking, movement, reflective practice, working with myth/story, images and dreams can all inform the process, and support you in finding ways to live with more ease, natural vibrancy and greater meaning in your life.
Training, qualifications & experience
I initially trained as a mindfulness-based, integrative psychotherapist at Karuna Dartmoor, (formerly the Karuna Institute) Devon, where I now teach. I established my private practice in 2008 having previously worked as a mentor, artist and facilitator. I have worked in a diversity of therapeutic roles within the voluntary sector and for the NHS, with individuals and groups bringing an embodied mindfulness orientation. I later trained in Earth-based spirituality and Shamanic healing, then Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. For many years I have worked alongside people living with life-threatening illnesses, and their families, including being part of the Maggie’s Cancer Care team in Oxford.
My holistic Wholearth approach naturally developed through time spent on Dartmoor, exploring this matter of being human. Through this depth exploration and study came the realisation that our human lives and the healing we seek are completely interwoven with the lives and well-being of all other beings.
I have designed and facilitated online and in-person training for other therapists and practitioners with an interest in; healing the sense of separation we feel, ecological awareness, relational mindfulness and depth psychology. I collaborate with Karuna Dartmoor offering group, residential gatherings for people interested in creatively exploring Ecotherapy, relational mindfulness, Spiritual Ecology and Earth-based spiritualities.
In 2019 I established a year-long, soul inspired course for women, called Woven, guided by the Celtic Wheel of the Year. This programme integrates many ways of being that are naturally healing and support our psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical, health and well-being, including; creativity, meditation, creating a conscious community, walking, embodied awareness, personal reflection, living more in alignment with the natural rhythms and cycles, and gratitude for the Earth.
At the heart of all my work is healing our sense of separation, finding what gives meaning to our lives and living in alignment with this.
I have recently returned from Sabbatical which was a time of letting go, renewal and listening to my inner guidance for the current expression of my work in these changing times.
I am a UKCP registered psychotherapist with Masters Degrees in Core Process Psychotherapy and Critical Theory (Arts), and a B. A. in Fine Art. I have a Diploma in Craniosacral Therapy.
My own healing journey and creativity have informed and shaped the work I offer and the pathways of my life. For over 20 years I have been engaged in meditation practice; this contemplative, embodied approach is woven through my work and informs the retreats and workshops I regularly run. I have deeply explored the significance of our pre and perinatal experiences (our time in the womb and our birth experiences), and as a foster carer, I am sensitive to matters around attachment, loss and healing. I value and draw upon diverse perspectives of understanding health, wellbeing and healing, and offer a safe, creative space for people to come and explore what really matters.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Spiritual Accompaniment & Spiritual Counselling
Therapies offered
Fees
Free initial telephone or online session
Additional information
I offer an initial free 15/20 minute phone call or online session.
Sessions then last for an hour and are on a sliding scale of fees. At times some concessionary places are available, please contact me to discuss this.
When I work
Individual sessions happen on weekday daytimes