Complementary Therapy and Counselling Centre
Welcome to The Whole Works Complementary Therapy & Counselling Centre – the most established centre of its kind in Edinburgh with therapists practising to high professional standards.
Hidden on a quiet street in Heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, The Whole Works is much more than a therapy centre offering a wide range of holistic approaches – it is an inviting haven waiting to be discovered…
Our therapeutic environment
The Whole Works has the individual client at its heart. Since our beginning we envisioned a warm, welcoming and safe environment, a place that felt both homely as well as being professional; a place for the Body as well as the Soul.
In 1991 we found and then rescued an old townhouse from partial dereliction. Over the early nineties Rob slowly restored and renovated it, replacing windows, floors, walls and staircases while staying true to the building’s original historic details and décor.
It is a building that echoes with the voices of Edinburgh’s past. Our waiting room’s original stone fireplace and pitch pine wood panelling dates to the latter years of the reign of James VII of Scotland! The stone walls - over three feet in thickness - provide a safe, reassuring solidity and the perfect setting for a townhouse devoted to wellbeing, care and healing.
Many say a therapeutic massage feels different in a building where people have lived for over three centuries; a counselling session takes place in a room that has absorbed human conversation, emotion and argument since before the Act of Union of 1707!
We hope you will find it a relaxing place to be, even though we are in the very the Heart of the city.
Central location
We are situated in the center of Edinburgh and easily accessible from the trains at Waverly ( 50 meters) as well as bus and tram stops. Our convenient and central location hopefully removes the travel stress for clients who commute from all across Scotland to access our services.
How we began
The Whole Works has been a family run business since 1991. Both Deborah and Rob worked together previously in a successful and highly innovative community health project in South Edinburgh in the late 1980s. There they witnessed the benefits to the local community of a well-managed and well cared for ‘health hub’ where the local community could access self-empowering, creative and holistic approaches to their health and wellness.
Therapy Of The Month
Reflexology
Reflexology is an ancient therapy that was practiced thousands of years ago by the Chinese and Egyptians. It is a therapy based on the theory that all the organs, glands and systems of the body have corresponding reflex points in the feet, so that they are like mini maps of the body. By stimulating these reflexes, a treatment can clear...
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Therapist of the month
Kim Davidson
Kim is a certified massage therapist with a deep commitment to helping you find relief, relaxation, and balance.
She holds a diploma in the Principles and Practices of Therapeutic Massage, as well as in Anatomy and Physiology, from Scottish Massage Schools. She is a member of the Scottish Massage Therapists’ Organization (SMTO), allowing her to stay connected to the latest standards and techniques in the field.
As a fully insured professional and first aid certified therapist, your safety and well-being are always her top priority.
Her goal is to offer more than just a massage. She specializes in providing therapeutic treatments that are designed to reduce stress, ease tension, and help with pain relief. Whether you’re seeking relaxation, healing from injuries, or simply need a moment of calm to reset, she tailors each session to your individual needs.
She will help guide you towards a more relaxed, balanced, and pain-free state.
Kim’s treatment room is a safe, judgement-free space. Whether you’re craving deep work, gentle relaxation, extra time on a sore spot, or a quiet session with minimal talking, this is your time to choose what feels best and prioritize yourself.
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Over 50 Practitioners
We have fifty practitioners offering a very wide range of therapeutic approaches. You can click on any names below to find out more about each individual therapist on their personal webpage.
Counselling & Psychotherapy
We provide a wide range of services to our clients with over 40 counsellors and psychotherapists working with us, all with varied trainings, skills, experience and areas of specialisation.
Complementary Therapies
In the 80’s, prior to the establishment of The Whole Works, ‘alternative therapy’ was becoming increasingly of interest to the public, though it was insufficiently researched, irresponsibly promoted at times and often inadequately overseen.
Extensive range of services
At The Whole Works we provide a wide range of therapy services, so you, the client, can access all the help you need and under one roof.
The aim is to provide the best of therapeutic approaches, practiced by well trained and experienced practitioners and in the most supportive environment for this to happen: supportive to you, the client, as well as supportive to the therapists themselves so they can work to their highest standards.
We have also been a long trusted establishment where Edinburgh GPs have confidently referred their patients in the full knowledge that the best will be done for them. A strong core of experienced therapists, some of whom have worked together under this roof for over thirty years, provide a solid foundation to a team dedicated to ensure the best results for their clients.
Continuous improvement & innovation
We are continually reviewing and enhancing our range of services and encourage feedback from clients so we can correlate our services to their feedback, improving constantly the support that we offer. We want to inform and educate the public about the effectiveness of many therapy approaches, as well as to liaise ever more closely with practitioners of general medicine, clinical psychology and psychiatry in providing an increasingly client-based service, so you, the client can access the best from both worlds.
Make An Appt.
We hope you will come and visit.