A little about me

the face and force behind Inner Wilderness. It’s probably useful to tell you a bit about me, so that you can decide whether to get in touch, so here goes.

Having worked in the corporate world for a long time, most latterly as a Director of Human Resources and prior to that as Head of Leadership Development, I gained over twenty years of experience in developing people and teams. I came to believe that most of us at some point in life could benefit from professional help which is therapeutic in nature (given the multitude of curveballs that can come our way), and I had what I would now describe as soul whisperings about there being other things I wanted to explore. This led me to take a sabbatical which I spent in Central America, and when I returned I decided to retrain in counselling / psychotherapy.

Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, only in dying life: bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky.

Ursula La Guin

Hello.
I’m Liane Maitland,

I have developed my own way of working having trained originally in Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counselling, which draws from different schools of thought. My second training was in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, which takes a neurobiological (body based) approach to working with symptoms of stress and trauma. I am also trained in working with couples, in writing for well-being, and I am a licenced facilitator for an organisation called Gateway Women, which is a global friendship and support network for women who are childless. My most recent training was in something called Systemic Constellations which is a creative, solution-focused way of addressing seemingly intractable issues.

The concepts of truth and choice are central to my work, and I seek to enable people to live the life they want to live, rather than the life they think they should live or have somehow ended up living – as a result of deeply embedded and usually subconscious ways of being in the world. I believe in the transformative power of vulnerability and that there are always options, no matter how constraining circumstances might be.

When asked to describe me and how I work, others use words like insightful, dynamic, collaborative, challenging and supportive – and I think that’s pretty fair! Tough love, deep change, no nonsense! In short, I am an inner wilderness guide and I help people to navigate the challenges of being human, in a way which integrates body, mind and spirit. I work with a wide range of issues – including but not limited to bereavement, depression, trauma, relationship and family issues, and career or life stage issues (including burn out, childlessness, menopause and illness).

I am based in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland and I work with clients in person and online. My clients are UK based and international. I hope this has provided you with a feel for me and how I work. Please get in touch if you would like to book an initial consultation.