Over the many years of working as a Psychologist and therapist, Anna has become an astute observer of what happens inside someone’s story; understanding, reflecting, probing and re imagining what life could be and exploring new ways of being and relating.

Anna lives from a broad experience of life and she has lived in many different countries. She was born in England, trained as a Clinical Psychologist and worked in the National Health Service. She and her husband lived in Amsterdam, working with expats and addicts, and then had a few months in Bogota, Colombia working with street children. The family then went to Liberia and Anna ran a relief project to train adults working with children who were traumatized by the civil war. In 2006 Anna and Doug and their three teenagers moved to Pennsylvania, USA.

Anna developed and grew her own psychology practice and was an Adjunct Professor at Eastern University. She was a sought after motivational speaker in local private and public schools, churches and business organizations on varied topics in the years between 2008 and 2018.

A particular interest was working with families and individuals on Winning Under Pressure and The Price of Privilege, and also speaking on these challenges. She spoke on Invest in Yourself  at the NEXUS Innovative Philanthropy and Social Enterprise Global Youth Summit held at the United Nations in New York in 2014.  Anna also facilitated creative spiritual retreats for various church groups of different affiliations.

In 2018, after a brief visit to Santa Rosa Beach with friends, Anna and Doug moved to Santa Rosa Beach, primarily because it’s warmer!

PODCAST

You may like to dip into my podcast that Alex - my 34 year old daughter and I created, when she came here from NYC for 3 months during the pandemic. There are now 13 episodes. it turned out to be a very special time - and there are a few guest appearances from Doug, who says they are the best episodes!

Isolating with my therapy mum. You can find us on https://open.spotify.com/show/1FNvqXo5O3g4wcLMaK6ve4 or https://anchor.fm/lexi-balfour

A reviewer described it as

:..a wonderfully raw and healthy mother daughter dialogue that almost accidentally reveals the power of therapy and what its unique language sounds like when it it is applied to relationships.

QUALIFICATIONS

Anna’s formal accreditations are that she is an Advanced Certified Schema Therapist, a member of the ISST (International Schema Society) and a UK Chartered Psychologist and is an AFBPsS (Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society,) and is a Licensed Professional Counselor PA.

She has no art credentials or taken any courses - only a desire and courage, to just ‘get it out’ …whatever is buzzing around inside!