About Ela

Touch first

Touch is very important to me, nearly sacred. As a child, I used touch to "heal" my dolls and teddy bears. Later, I learned massage techniques and practised them diligently on family and friends, and through persistence and experimentation, I became effective. Touch was how I understood care, and that instinct stayed with me even when my working life took a different path.

A scientist who tests

I have an inquisitive mind that questions conventional knowledge, including my own. I love ideas that shake my foundations and push me to re-evaluate who I am and what I want to experience in life. More than once, earthquakes of new thought have brought down the carefully built houses of my beliefs. The whole world has collapsed many times, and each time I have survived and learned to adjust.

I am a tester. If I like an idea, concept, or method, I test it extensively and refine it through experience. It is a fast way to build skill and intuition and to keep refining my techniques.

My main path was science. I earned a PhD in pattern recognition, which meant teaching computers to recognise patterns, and I graduated with distinction. I loved it deeply and spent years at universities in the Netherlands and the UK, finding structure in complexity.

When logic was not enough

Then my three children arrived in quick succession, each with health challenges. The vision of a blissful life with sweet little babies proved untrue, and, honestly, I was not prepared to be a mother. I brought my problem-solving mind to helping them become well, but it failed. Being well turned out to be far harder than any mathematical problem, and I was devastated.

The helplessness was overwhelming. I lacked knowledge, understanding and guidance, and I felt deeply alone, trapped in vicious circles of ignorance and stress. Even doctors couldn’t help. But I intuitively knew my children could get better, even though I didn't know how, so I set out to find a way.

Learning the hard way

I began with books and online courses, reading like crazy. I slept very little for years and got through it thanks to yoga nidra. I tested what I learned on myself and my children, largely through trial and error guided by intuition. I tried multiple therapies and paid professionals, learning what worked and what did not. Some helped more than others, and some were dead ends, but overall it was too little to make a breakthrough. I needed my own way.

Finding Chinese medicine

Among the promising directions I found were Chinese medicine, herbs, and osteopathy, and I began to learn and apply them. Over time, my children benefited tremendously. Their health improved, and their learning difficulties eased too. I was astonished. Compared with many holistic approaches, touch (Tui Na massage, paediatric massage, myofascial release, acupressure) and herbal medicine stood out, and I wanted to learn them professionally, to take charge of the health adventure I was in.

Just as I had understood patterns in data, I slowly began to understand patterns in people. What the body in front of me showed me, what the visual inspection of the tongue, complexion, or ears indicated, how the pulse felt, how the voice sounded—all that mattered. Instead of testing mathematical hypotheses, I explored and tested what bodies presented. I trained in these traditions and, over years of work, watched my children thrive. That experience changed my life's direction. I came to understand how profoundly the body and mind influence each other, and that the split exists only in the Western approach. Real change becomes possible when you look at the whole person and work with the physical body.

From scientist to therapist

As my understanding of wellbeing deepened, I changed course. The shift came when I allowed my mind to explore fully and replaced the joy of contributing through creative thought with the joy of helping others become integrated Selves. It also lets me consolidate approaches and hold together paradoxes across different healing traditions.

Eighteen years on, I am still studying. I read, take courses and continue to learn from the people I treat. As a therapist, I remain a scientist at heart: my curiosity now works alongside my hands, and I observe, question and refine what I do, seeking what helps the person in front of me rather than what ought to work in theory. I can work at depth and breadth, and integrate approaches. That combination is what I offer to help you heal.