Hatty Francis-Ehnholm is one of the co-owners of Compass Psychology alongside Annabel Battersby. To find out more about Hatty’s professional background and the services she provides, you can read her Compass Psychology profile here. In this post, she will be introducing herself on a more personal note.
“On Millennium Eve I was partying hard in London! I was just about to embark on the last 6 months of my BSc in Psychology and then I met a Finn who swept me off my feet (yes reader, you have read correctly, a Finn swept me off my feet) and changed the course of my life! I look back at those times 24 years later, as a business owner and a Mum of 4, realising that those sliding door moments are well behind me. However I look back at them with huge nostalgia, a contented smile on my face and glad in the knowledge that I took the risks that I did.
We spent the first 10 years of our relationship moving between England, Finland and Australia, supporting each other in our studies and careers. Finally on Midsummer’s Eve 2010 we arrived back in Finland for good with two tiny children. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, oh Finland you can be a testy friend, but at the age of 46, I am able to look back on it and realise that all the experiences have been important and necessary.
On arriving back in 2010 with my shiny new hard-earned Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Valvira promptly deemed that this education would qualify me to be a Psychologist in Finland, but that my psychotherapeutic skills (this is a huge element of British Clinical Psychology training) could not be officially recognised and I therefore could not support public health clients in therapy. A huge disappointment! Despite this, due to my Swedish skills (my husband and his family and friends are Swedish speakers) I managed to get work with a private health care company called Contextia (now Coronaria) and also with Folkhälsan at their Child, Adolescent and Family Clinic and worked with both adults and children. In 2017, I took up a full-time post as School Psychologist at International School of Helsinki and stayed there for 5 years, eventually becoming part of the leadership team, responsible for community well-being.
After the pandemic, I like everyone was tired and wanted new challenges. I’d known Annabel since 2017 and knew her private business was overwhelmed with referrals from immigrants, migrants and Finns so decided to join her as co-owner at Compass Psychology oy. I also managed to get onto a Psychotherapy training course at Åbo Akademi. I should finally graduate with the protected holy grail title of “Psychotherapist” in January 2026. I am really looking forward to serving the ever growing migrant and immigrant community with the ability to take on KELA-subsidised clients. As someone who was trained by the British National Health Service, one of the few remaining totally public funded health services in the world, the subject of free and easy access to mental health services for EVERYONE in society is still a subject that is close to my heart.
In my private clinic, I work with adults, adolescents, children and families. I am passionate about positive parenting and run regular workshops on this at Compass. I also enjoy supporting neurodiverse clients therapeutically, as well as working with a range of mental health difficulties including (but not exhaustively) anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, bipolar disorder, body dysmorphia, postpartum depression and trauma and difficulties resulting from chronic health conditions. I have a strong collaborative and integrative approach and like to think about how a client’s relational patterns have formed and how these maintain current difficulties. I use techniques from a wide range of therapeutic modalities including ACT, CAT, CBT, IFS, and CFT and carefully tailor my approach to each unique client and the unique problems that they bring. My clinic is currently full, but I will be able to take on some new clients from the Autumn.”