Alison worked in NHSScotland on management, leadership and organisation development issues for over thirteen years. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Alison holds a degree in Business & Management, a Masters in Human Resource Management, and is qualified to British Psychological Society Level B in psychological profiling. She also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, is a member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, and has eight years experience as a voluntary counsellor. Alison divides her time between Edinburgh, where she lives with her partner, and the west coast where she has a small holiday cottage business, 3 grown-up children and 3 grandchildren.