About
Hi, I'm Ainsley.
I have spent the last three years working with kids and teens across three countries. This is how that happened.
How I got here
It started in a small town in Costa Rica. I was twenty, fresh out of an Associate of Arts, trying to figure out what came next. A family I had come to know asked if I would spend time with their eleven-year-old daughter. The father had watched how I was with people and thought I could be a steady figure for her.
I said yes without knowing it was the beginning of anything. Two years later I understood that this was the work I was here to do.
From there, San Miguel de Allende. I led a weekly group for girls ten and up called Vibe Tribe: a room where they could say anything, week after week. I learned that consistency is often the whole gift. Just being the person who shows up again.
Then Australia. A year across two families, in Sydney and Perth, with kids from newborn to eight. I stretched into new ages and learned what I actually wanted: older kids, real conversation, mentorship woven into the ordinary hours of a day.
Then Europe. Five and a half weeks backpacking alone through the UK and the continent. A version of me that an earlier version could not have imagined.
The work underneath the work
There is a reason I do this.
For a stretch of my life, my nervous system decided that leaving was safer than staying. I dissociated. I had panic attacks. I spent a long time feeling separate from my own body, watching my life from a small distance and unable to explain it to anyone.
Coming back took years and it took practice. Breath. Movement. Learning what was actually happening inside me instead of being afraid of it. Slowly, presence stopped feeling dangerous.
I tell teens this because most of them think they are the only one. They are not. And because everything I offer them is something I practiced on myself first, in my own body, on my own hard days.
What I believe
- Teens are not problems to be solved. They are people in the middle of becoming.
- Nobody needs fixing. Most people need someone to sit with them while they find what is already theirs.
- Consistency beats intensity. Showing up every week matters more than any single perfect conversation.
- The body keeps score, and it can also keep you steady. Regulation is a skill, not a personality trait.
- Honesty is only possible where it is safe. My whole job is making the room safe enough for it.
- Knowing where my work ends is part of doing it well.
The practical details
Associate of Arts, and a continuing education in the things this work actually asks for: nervous system regulation, somatic practice, and three years of hands-on experience with kids and teens in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Australia.
I am not a licensed therapist and I do not present myself as one. What I offer is mentorship: steady presence, practical tools, and a person in your corner. When a young person needs clinical care, I say so and help the family find it.
Come say hello.
If any of this sounds like the kind of person you want in your teen's corner, or in your home, I would love to hear from you.