I’ve always been fascinated by human behaviour.

Long before I studied psychology, I explored themes of trauma, identity, self-worth, relationships and personal transformation through fiction. My early novels, published under the name Louise Hirst, examined how childhood experiences and environment can shape the people we become.

That curiosity eventually led me into the study of psychology. Over the following decade, I immersed myself in understanding human behaviour, mental health and personal development. What surprised me most was discovering that many of the questions I had been exploring through fiction were the very same questions psychologists had been studying for decades.

Looking back, I now see that my novels weren’t separate from my psychology work; they were where the psychology work began.

Today, I write both fiction and psychology under the names Louise Hirst and Louise Ward. Although the genres are different, my mission has never changed:

To bridge the gap between psychology and everyday life, helping people understand themselves through both stories and science.