My private patients come from all walks of life, with all kinds of life struggles, histories and diagnoses. Patient needs include the full spectrum of everyday life struggles, relationship, anxiety, self-esteem, and mood problems, to serious psychiatric disorders. Patients often have histories of neglect, abuse and trauma in childhood and adulthood, with problems that manifest in their adult lives from chronic insecurity and anxiety, to depression, to mood and relationships problems, and fears and emotional disturbances often focussed on the growing insanity of our world.

Many of my current and recent patients are mental health professionals, doctors, nurses, NHS consultants, artists, musicians, actors, emergency services personnel, military veterans, and other professional and non-professional people from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe, who have been looking for a psychotherapist who is more immediate, direct, personal and who can perceive and understand their struggles quickly, and guide them to solutions. I neither look up nor down to anyone, and treat all people as being of equal value, regardless of social, economic, or employment status.

I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland and have travelled extensively around the world.  Most of my learning about human distress and struggle has come from the wide variety of people, cultures, beliefs and situations I have encountered in my life, not least via events and periods of suffering, trauma or adversity that I have personally survived and worked through to a place of healing. 

Like many of my patients I’ve also lived through the kinds of experiences that can leave us feeling wrecked, overwhelmed or at the end of our rope: bereaved, unloved, alone, shamed, stigmatised, abused, deceived, betrayed, exploited, humiliated, furious, depressed, hopeless, and worthless.  I’ve experienced times where I felt too anxious, uncertain or troubled to talk about my experiences. Or worse: where I encountered people and services who clearly did not know how to understand me, nor meet me with genuine compassion when I made the effort to reach out to them in a fragile state, thus compounding my primary struggles with further insult, shame and vulnerability.  This is an all-too common experience for many people who, in a vulnerable state, turn to family, friends, medical and mental health services for help, only to find themselves labelled, medicated, stigmatised and feeling even worse about themselves.

I have several years experience working in the judicial system, with victims of serious crime; with bereaved people, and with persons both in the community and in residential settings who have mental health needs, substance misuse issues, and homelessness traumas.

I’m also a qualified yoga teacher and trained as a photographer and fine artist and incorporate aspects of these in the service of stress relief, anxiety management, relaxation training, awareness development and the therapeutic use of art, play, creative media and writing to help patients access and express experiences that are too difficult or painful to put into spoken words.  This is especially helpful in allowing both adults and younger people to explore difficult, painful and traumatic experiences in ways that are less distressing than talking.

Plain, honest words and relationships heal us. Pretentiousness, deception, and lies tend to disturb us and even make us ill. But compassion, straight-talking and genuine openness are becoming increasingly rare in this world. We get more and more robotic, mimicked, scripted responses from services built upon ‘winning formulas’ these days (even worse now with A.I.), instead of genuine human connection and common sense.

Many services now offer cliched help delivered by practitioners who have learned to play a role comprised of affectations and false sincerity. I’ve seen professionals as a patient who operate like this, and it has made me literally want to run out the door! I have developed my own, unique methods founded on genuine interest in resolving human distress, and also out of an aversion to offering cliched techniques commonly replicated on the internet by people who want to make a name for themselves.

Forming a real relationship with your psychotherapist is the most important part of any psychotherapy that is serious and that requires depth and nuanced understanding. Honesty and being real, after all, are what we crave as human beings, especially when we feel that we are the only person in the world who feels or thinks in our particular way...

In my opinion it is crucial for anyone seeking psychotherapeutic help – particularly when we are shaky and unsure – to find a psychotherapist who ‘gets you’; who sees and understands your struggles very quickly, and who actually talks openly with you as a person - not a therapy stereotype - with clear feedback and a genuine manner.

I work in a very transparent, unguarded, and straight talking way, and invite you to do the same so that we can get to the heart of the matter and avoid wasting your time and money. I don't pathologise or stigmatise my patients’ life struggles, but I do challenge self-defeating habits, self-deception, poor choices, and inauthentic character traits that are maintaining your life problems.

If you want to do more than manage symptoms, or develop ‘positive thoughts’ about your pain and suffering, then any psychotherapist you see must also have survived and healed from their own traumatic experiences and tortuous life struggles, in my opinion (many, in my experience, have not). Many patients are looking for someone who is willing to avoid the cliches, pretentiousness and role-playing that increasingly plagues our society today. Someone who is willing to be real with you. Why? Because people who haven’t suffered enough and come out of the other end of their suffering with some greater wisdom will typically fail to meet you honestly where you are in your pain. And because authentic people have the courage it takes to be unafraid of strong emotions, painful truths, and the kinds of frightening or embarrassing experiences that accompany trauma, social isolation, stigmatisation, lonely terror, and the shame of abuse, from which others may shy away or respond clinically or academically.

Having someone fearless enough to be by your side whilst you tackle your own suffering, is something academic qualifications, titles, affiliations, and clinical techniques alone cannot ensure.

We have more than enough people in positions of power today, who are abusing the innocent. And the charities my practice supports are all founded on principles opposing abuses of innocent people around the world. Like many, I’ve personally experienced abusive relationships: in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. And I’ve worked with hundreds of survivors of physical, sexual, emotional, narcissistic, financial, and ritual abuse, sexual and workplace harassment, rape and assault. Sadly, decent, kind people are routinely mistreated every day of the week by those who refuse to take responsibility for their behaviours. And whilst I encourage straight talking, honesty, openness, and authenticity in my patients, I have a zero tolerance policy towards the poison of abuse that starts in dishonesty, contempt and disrespect towards people who don’t deserve it. So, I don’t work with individuals who choose to use their energies against me or the work I offer.

To this end, I have a detailed agreement and set of clear, written boundaries that outline how we can work together with mutual transparency, real respect, and honour, so that we do not cause one another unnecessary stress or emotional distress. Our agreement helps you achieve your aims in therapy, and provides patients with clear guidance, certainty and security right from the start of our work that ensures that we work collaboratively instead of at cross-purposes. Getting our boundaries right with one another also provides an example to patients who are also fed up being mistreated by others, and who want to protect themselves from all forms of interpersonal poison in our society.