Ashton Shaw Specialist Psychology Services moved into their new office at 54 St James Street this Spring, so we thought it was about time to catch up to see how business is going and how they’re settling in…

We spent ‘5 Minutes With’ with founder and Director, Kerry Ashton Shaw, to find out more…

Tell us about your business…

Ashton Shaw Specialist Psychology Services is a therapy and training practice specialising in developmental and complex trauma as well as providing mental health training to businesses and organisations.

I started the business as after many years in the NHS I witnessed a slow and steady decline in funding and service provision. I decided to make the move into private practice to spend all my time actually helping people – seeing clients and providing training.

My aim is to develop the service towards a specialist psychological and trauma centre with a multidisciplinary team offering assessment, therapy and training. While maintaining and growing the training provision into businesses and organisations.

Describe your typical daily routine…

A typical day is usually very busy for me! I start the working day at around 8.30 checking e-mails and updating client notes and file. I’ll then spend the majority of the day seeing and meeting with clients, then I’ll dash off and do the school run.

I like to keep active so will usually go on a run or play football where I’ll get some time to myself between seven and eight o’clock. I’ll then head home and spend some more time on emails and admin tasks.

Why did you choose 54 St. James Street?

54 St James Street seemed like a great choice for my business. The building itself looks fantastic and is a really welcoming environment for clients. The building manager Sandra is always so helpful and makes sure we have everything we need.

It’s also home to The Women’s Organisation which offers such an important service for women in business in our region, so its great to be part of that.

What would be your top tips for anyone looking to start a business?

Taking the first steps in setting up a business can be very daunting. Just doing a little bit towards your business goals every day is a great place to start – even on your ‘worst’ day its great if you can just achieve something.

What’s on your reading or watch list at the moment?

At the moment I’m reading the new DDP book: Healing Relational Trauma, along with a couple of child EMDR books in preparation for some upcoming training.

I’m also saving Game of Thrones until have time to watch it. So in a couple of years…(!)

If you’d like to find out more about Ashton Shaw Specialist Psychology Services, you can find them online at www.ashtonshawpsychology.co.uk and on Facebook. You can also e-mail Kerry via info@ashtonshawpsychology.