More about Loan

A bit more about Loan …

Where I started from

I was born in Saigon, what is now known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, during the war with the US.  My parents came to live in England in 1962 as my father got a job with the BBC.  They started a new life with their growing family of four which became five.  We were the only Vietnamese family living in St.Albans. Although my father had job security, in my own Hakomi therapy, I've come to appreciate the difficulties my mother had being an immigrant and how this affected her parenting.  We grew up feeling the impossibility of perfection.

School days and education

I was educated at a Catholic primary and then convent school.  So my upbringing was a curious blend of Irish Catholic nuns and priests at school and my father's example of living mindfully.  He was my biggest influence in appreciating the small pleasures in life, long before I'd even heard the term 'mindfulness.'

One of the few times i fell out with him was when I argued with him to study English Literature at the University of Sussex. He wanted me to study business studies.  I won the battle.

Paris days

In 1984 I moved to Paris and lived there for eleven years.  At the time I became interested in complementary therapy.  Ironically, after the argument with my father about working in business, I had got a job as a PA in an American-owned mergers & acquisitions consultancy.  However, after six months, I realised it wasn't an environment I could thrive in. I just wasn't interested in multi-national pharmaceutical companies gobbling up smaller, family-owned businesses. 

The start of my therapeutic journey

A friend recommended Rolfing, a connective tissue manipulation method which worked with the body and mind.  This is when my curiousity around the mind-body connection and how and why people move and behave the way they do, began.  One of the pre-requisites for applying for the training was to show a certain amount of self-awareness as Rolfing could evoke strong emotions and students needed to show they were capable of working supportively.  I underwent three years of psychoanalysis and found there was lot of sadness attached to leaving Vietnam as a child and a sense of loss.

I saved up enough money to train in Munich and certified as a Rolfer in 1989 and then Rolf Movement in 1998.

After I began to practise as a Rolfer I also became interested in acting.  I signed up for physical acting workshops with Monika Pagneux, a German grande dame of physical acting, who worked with the actors in the company Theatre de Complicite.   I relished the feeling of using all my senses, responding sensitively to others and the playfulness that comes with physical acting.

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Settling down

I moved back to England in 1995 and after a 5 month trip cycling around the Paciifc islands and New Zealand, I came back with my partner, settled down and had a family.  I continue as much from my children as they do from me.

I continued to do acting and Rolfing part-time. Over a ten year period my acting work was sparse but varied. I have acted in fringe theatre, on a film set, done photo shoots, performed in an opera and done roleplay in business, for the NHS, TfL and the probation service.  I feel I have a good sense of a wide range of working environments and the sorts of  pressures and stresses involved.  

The importance of feeling connected.

I have been in community groups and worked at a community centre doing fundraising and marketing. I like to feel connected to people and to work as part of a team to make things happen.  I have been part of grass roots campaigns and community groups ever since I was at school. 

Growing up in a minority group means I know how it feels to be different and to struggle with feelings of belonging and acceptance.  

​Hakomi

I was drawn to Hakomi because of its deeply kind and collaborative way of working.  With mindfulness and body awareness at its heart  it felt like I'd come home.

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Nourishment

The things that nourish me are my family and friends, food, writing, the arts.   And my garden.  It teaches me every day about taking one's time and being patient.  There are small miracles happening there every second, every minute, every day. 

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Thank you for reading this to the end! I hope it has given you a sense of whether I am the right therapist for you to work with and that perhaps there are some intersections with your own life experiences. 

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If you would like to have a telephone call or online meeting to get a better sense of whether we could work together, please feel free to contact me.