Áine Laverty

I came into holistic therapies via the scenic route as a result of Post Natal Depression after my first daughter was born 26 years ago. I still had it when my son was born two years later in 1999.

“When the student is ready, the Master will appear”……a very true saying and one that I’ve lived by over the years.

I looked into many therapies and not all have resonated with me. I’ve cherry picked, if you like and the therapies I do offer, all integrate with one another and yet, they are all stand-alone treatments too.

I've been a reflexologist for 17 years, qualifying in May 2006. Within the 18 months of training to be a reflexologist, I studied and qualified in Levels 1 & 2 of the Bach Flower Therapies, Reiki Levels 1 & 2, attended courses, gained knowledge and skills in Swiss Reflex Massage and Coronal Zone Therapy.

In the years after becoming a reflexologist, it was back to the studying again. Between the years of 2008 and 2013, I trained and qualified in the following: - Reiki L3 Master/Teacher, in Adapting Complimentary Therapy Techniques for use in Supportive and Palliative Care, Beauty Therapy General, Advanced Reflexology Techniques, QCF Classroom Assistant and as a Bach Flower L3 Practitioner. This afforded me the opportunity to work with Charities such as Mindwise, LifeLine, Autism Initiatives and Action Mental Health – AMH and our local hospice, St John of Gods in Newry – all very rewarding experiences.

Following on from that, in 2016, I found myself studying again and back to the hands on therapies that saw me qualify in Indian Head Massage, The Bergman Zone Method of Facial Reflexology, Advanced Facial Reflexology and The Bergman Method of Advanced Facelift Massage.

After a break of a couple of years, I returned once again to study Finger Free Reflexology and began to integrate this into my treatments with great results especially with longstanding emotional and physical ailments including subfertility.

Fast forward to 2020, and I feel like the eternal student. This year I studied for L3 Diploma in Sports Massage, and having passed, I continued on to study L4 Certificate in Sports Massage Therapy in 2021 finally graduating in September 2022.

In September of 2020, I began my Havening journey by attending online training with Stephen Travers. Due to personal circumstances, I wasn’t able to complete the training to become certified until April of this year, 2023. I attended the conference in Dublin and I've come away a different version of me, with a new vision of my future with Havening.

Just to finish off with the other therapies, I qualified in the Bergman Method of Facial Gua Sha Mastery in Stone Medicine, which will take me along with Havening to Croatia to work in September – the hotel has specifically asked for these two treatments to cater for guests from Slovenia and Germany.

My journey thus far with all my therapies has been wide and varied. I've been fortunate to work with, train with and treat so many people from all walks of life and from all parts of the world. I've also learned from these and for me, hands on therapies isn’t a one size fits all kind of job. For me, it’s a vocation; it’s a way of life…a way of giving back, of recognising in others what I've experienced and planting the Havening seed for when they’re ready.

Havening is a new chapter in which I see all the other therapies I have access to, almost taking a back seat and I’m excited for the future.