About Us

Calma Wellbeing is run by Kirsty Hughes (nee Blain) and Rick Hughes who pull together their 60 years' cumulative experience for the exclusive benefit of you, our clients. 

KIRSTY HUGHES (nee BLAIN) - RGN, DSM, DIHM, MBSR

Kirsty has been a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Pain Management Service of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Woodend Hospital for over 11 years, specialising in acute and post-operative pain management. She has extensive knowledge of acute and chronic pain, as well as widespread multi-specialist nursing experience gained in the UK and abroad over the last 30 years. She has also trained in a number of additional holistic therapies, all of which add to her pain-management toolkit. 

Kirsty commenced nurse training in 1990 at Foresterhill College and after registering as a General Nurse gained experience in a variety of clinical settings; renal dialysis, general medical and theatre nursing, during which time she completed an anaesthetic nursing module through Robert Gordon University (RGU).  After gaining 5 years solid grounding in nursing practice, she moved to Christchurch, New Zealand working as a staff nurse in a busy general teaching hospital, again working in a variety of settings; paediatrics, A&E, medical, surgical and ITU.

A further year travelling allowed her to venture to many more parts of the world such as South America, India, South East Asia, Indonesia and Australia. Returning to Scotland, Kirsty continued to work in theatre, primarily in trauma and emergency theatres. In 2006 she completed a diploma in Swedish Therapeutic Massage through the University of Aberdeen. Later in 2009 she trained in Pain Management and Independent Prescribing through RGU. This gave Kirsty the skills to monitor and manage the impact of opioids and their side-effects. Kirsty's extensive nursing experience in a wide range of settings enables her to apply a multi-specialist approach to health and wellbeing. Whilst informed by sound clinical judgement and best practice protocols, she adopts a biopsychosocial, person-centred and mindful approach to patient care.

Despite a travel experience in Ecuador when she was held up at gunpoint by bandits, Kirsty has a keen interest in nature and enjoys the outdoors, fulfilling her passion for wildlife, adventure sports and expeditions.    

RICK HUGHES - MPhil, MBACP (Accred), BA (Hons), DipC, DipM

Rick recently retired as Head of Service for the Counselling Service at the University of Aberdeen, managing a large team of counsellors and providing a therapeutic service for a diverse and international student and staff community of some 20,000 people. 

Previously, Rick trained as a Counsellor in the mid 1990's, initially in Georgia USA, then at Strathclyde University under Professor Dave Mearns, after which he co-edited his first book, 'Experiences of Person-Centred Counselling Training', which is now recommended reading on many UK counselling courses. He then researched 'Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace' for his MPhil and received an Honorary Research Fellowship for this. He gained experience as a Counsellor in Primary Care, Education and the Workplace, then founded 'Edinburgh Coaching & Counselling' (ECC), headed up Person-Centred Therapy (PCT) Glasgow Ltd and become the Northern UK Counsellor for a global pharmaceutical company. He was lured to the UK's largest (at the time) employee assistance programme provider, taking up a senior role at Independent Counselling & Advisory Services (ICAS). Here Rick specialised as Clinical Case Manager for most of the UK's rail operators, concentrating on trauma support. 

In 2002, Rick became Deputy Chair of the Association for Counselling at Work and was appointed the specialist journal editor for 'Counselling at Work', a post he held for 9 years, editing some 36 editions. He joined the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) in 2008 as their Lead Advisor: Workplace as an advocate, advisor and ambassador for talking therapies in the workplace, for practitioners, business and the UK government. Rick has also been a 'back-stage' therapist for STV, including for a show hosted by Lorraine Kelly (who really is as nice as she comes across on the TV!). 

A frequent contributor to the national media, trade and business press, Rick has published several books - see BOOKS. Rick is a registered accredited member of BACP (counselling) and subscribes to the coaching code of ethics from the International Coach Federation (coaching). As well as developing into an integrative counsellor and coach, he has trained in Narrative Exposure Therapy for psychological trauma support and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

As well as enjoying the outdoors, Rick has enjoyed his hobby of screenwriting, winning a BAFTA Nomination for one of his film scripts. That particular film was produced for a Film London scheme, co-funded by Alesha Dixon (singer and judge on Strictly Come Dancing and Britain's Got Talent) and starred Brianna Corrigan (80's pop group The Beautiful South) and Hattie Morahan (Outnumbered, Beauty and the Beast).