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 family members, friends or 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 with mental health needs in the community and in residential settings. These patients commonly also had histories of abuse or neglect in childhood, substance misuse issues, and homelessness traumas.

I’m also a qualified yoga and meditation teacher and trained as a photographer and fine artist. I teach all meditation styles, predominantly Buddhist, and first learned Zen Buddhist Meditation (shikantaza) decades ago, which became my favoured approach. I incorporate aspects of these, and others I have designed myself, in my practice in the service of stress relief, anxiety management, relaxation training, training the mind, and present awareness development. My Fine Arts experience informs my therapeutic use of art, play, creative media, film, and creative writing to help patients access and express experiences that may be too difficult or painful to put into spoken words.  This is especially helpful in allowing both older and younger adults to explore difficult, painful and traumatic experiences in personal, intimate ways that feel less threatening than talking.

☞ My approach to psychotherapy is founded upon a deep, personal commitment to authenticity. By contrast, the kind of attention-seeking I refer to as ‘fake authenticity’ is what seems to be doing the rounds on social media these days. I’m talking about the real thing as a core value for personal healing and evolution in my practice. Authenticity is increasingly relevant in a society that seems to be growing more shallow and lost in its direction by the day. Self-obsession, social media fakeness, and the slick, formulaic self-marketing and ‘identity branding’ so popular today are, for many free-thinking individuals, an unappealing aspect of make-over society that holds no interest for serious, intelligent people in search of something truer and more meaningful. It is individuals who have a burning need for genuine human relating and lack of pretension that the deeper work offered by my practice speaks to more than any other group.

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 most of us 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...when the social world around us seems populated by people addicted to social media memes and A.I. driven advice, our sense of isolation can be compounded.

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 stereotype - with clear feedback and a genuine way of being.

I work in a very transparent, unguarded, and plain speaking 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 as a straightforward person, I will challenge any self-defeating habits, self-deceptions, poor choices, and inauthentic character traits that I believe are maintaining your life problems.

Having someone fearless enough to be honest with you, and support you whilst you tackle your own suffering, is something academic qualifications, titles, affiliations, and a repertoire of clinical techniques alone cannot ensure.