Services
Attend weekly*, in-person or online from anywhere in the world via Video call, Chat, Email or Telephone
Psychotherapy and Analysis (for legal age adults)
Personal Development
*ad hoc attendance is possible for up to 12 sessions only. Weekly attendance is recommended and necessary for real change.
“Existential Analysis is fundamentally non-pathologising of people, and views and relates to individuals in human terms rather than via problems or diagnostic labels.”
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Time-limited or open-ended work
Brief to long-term work
Psychosocial assessments and therapeutic support planning as standard
Optional written assessment and problem formulation summaries available
Also available in sessions as standard:
Trauma Work (various methods)
Breath Work and Pranayama
Yoga tuition for stress, tension, anxiety and depression
Makko Ho stretches
HRV Biofeedback Training
Yoga Nidra and other forms of guided relaxation
All forms of meditation instruction
Body awareness and grounding work
Art and Play Therapy
Online or In-Person
You can attend sessions in-person if you live locally in Glasgow, or online via Microsoft Teams if you live elsewhere in the world. Appointments are booked the same way via the Appointments page.
I work online with patients from all over the world* including all parts of the UK, Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other places where English-speaking patients reside or travel. Wherever you live in the world and however you are travelling you can receive effective help and professional support at home or on the move: all you need is a laptop or smartphone with Microsoft Teams installed.
*Exceptions include the USA and other territories. See Appointments page for others.
“Stephen provides a unique service in psychotherapy with in-depth work that you might not get elsewhere. He really opens your mind to new ways of thinking and dealing with the stresses of everyday life and past trauma. I appreciate his honesty and patience. I also love that he teaches meditation which is something I have been interested in for years but never got around to learning. It was great to have a session purely about meditation and I'm sure I will be back for more. Thank you again!”
~ testimonial by N.K.
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Existential Analysis and Integrative Psychotherapy are depth approaches to psychotherapy aimed at resolving the root causes of our suffering, not just techniques to suppress or ease symptoms. Depth psychotherapy relies upon patient and therapist building a trusting, very honest relationship, which allows you to go deeply into your experiences in order to make changes at a foundation level, rather than skimming the surface. This requires a great deal of truthfulness and openness to having your beliefs, habits, assumptions and self-defeating behaviours challenged, and new skills and awarenesses formed for greater self-reliance, self-respect, self-confidence and clarity of purpose in life.
Depth psychotherapy is therefore most suited to very conscientious, motivated people who are willing to face the transient discomforts of resolving the root causes of their suffering by co-creating a safe, respectful, straight-talking relationship.
Depth psychotherapy can encompass not only the inner mental, emotional and embodied realm of problems, but - if you choose - the wider contexts that produce and maintain mental distress: our relationships, workplaces, our histories, our society, culture, the political and economic pressures we feel, and our unmet spiritual needs to make sense of the bigger picture.
If you are really only looking for some quick relief from your feelings, habits and problems in a few sessions, then technique-driven therapies aimed at alleviating symptoms may be better suited to your needs.
Depth psychotherapy can be as challenging or as comforting as you want it to be. Working on your personal authenticity as a person is, for example, perhaps the most challenging level of work, which can include electing to address and resolve your ‘shadow’, or the less appealing aspects of your personality that most individuals make great efforts to conceal, even from themselves. This can be very challenging, but some of the benefits of this deeper work include greater inner peace and personal integrity, enduring security and a surer sense of Self, genuine confidence, greater humility, clarity of one’s true values, a deeper and more courageous trust in your own personal wisdom, and an end to the false social masks that we are socially conditioned to wear in defeat of ourselves.
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Resolve low self-esteem, poor self-image, low confidence
Stop comparing Self to others and people pleasing
Resolve chronic insecurity, lack of personal identity, unstable sense of Self, and narcissistic traits
Clarify and strengthen purpose, assertiveness and direction
Struggles with appearance , body image, eating disorders, sense of identity and Self
Develop greater courage, personal Authenticity, self-empowerment and freedom from subservience to 'authority'
Resolve struggles with loneliness, social isolation, feeling 'disconnected', 'not fitting in'
The scapegoat* and how to stay sane in an insane family, group, workplace, society etc
Outsiders, non-conformists, unique, shy, highly sensitive or solitary individuals
Resolve the root causes of dissociation, derealisation/ depersonalisation
Address self-doubt, self-criticism, deliberate self-harm, self-loathing
Resolving habits driven by jealousy, rage, and destructive envy
Resolve passive-aggression and covert-aggression habits
Change procrastination and avoidance habits
Address body image problems, body dysmorphia and other perceptual disorders
Identify and resolve the underlying causes of self-starvation, eating disorders and addictions
Build self-support and self-reliance skills
Resolve depression, unhappiness in life, lack of personal meaning
Explore and identify the meaning of dreams and nightmares
Come to terms with who you are and your 'shadow side'
Psychiatric diagnostic labels - please enquire about specifics at an Introductory Meeting
healing from child and adult sexual harassment, abuse and assault
addictions** and phobias
sexual addictions and problems e.g. pornography addiction
**except substance misuse - you must have good control over your dependency, with minimal use of alcohol or substances before engaging meaningfully with psychotherapy
*The Scapegoat
Family scapegoating of one or more family members is extremely common. The family project all of their unwanted feelings and qualities onto the child so that she grows up with a perverted idea of her own identity. Scapegoating is one of the most common and corrupt things the group can do to an individual, and is seen in the same mistreatment of adults in the dysfunctional family, workplace, social group, social media circles, and wider society: groups that routinely attack individuals who are different, whistleblowers, dissidents, and people of integrity who dare tell the truth. The scapegoated individual can convince himself that the group's views about him are true, and that his own experiences are false. This is one of the most powerful ways society creates 'mental illness' in family members, partners, employees, patients, and citizens, whereby the individual's mental disturbance is then used as 'evidence' that he or she is deserving of scapegoat status. The real problem is not the individual, but the cowardice, dishonesty, immorality and cruelty of those who stigmatise and scapegoat any person who fails to play the game of the dominating majority.
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A troubled or abusive past or present
Traumatic events (loss, all forms of abuse, rape, violence)
Post Traumatic Stress (associated with PTSD and c-PTSD, DD, DID for example)
Childhood- and family-related difficulties
Living with regrets, guilt, shame, tragedy or loss
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Anticipatory anxiety, worry habits
Stress and panic attacks
Fears and phobias
Anger and aggression
Social anxiety and phobia
Retirement, loss and bereavement anxiety
Generalised anxiety and trauma-related anxiety
Existential anxiety: death, isolation, freedom, meaninglessness
Fear of Engulfment: being easily overstimulated or overwhelmed
Difficulty coping with emotions
Guilt, shame, embarassment, vulnerability and other difficult feelings
Addictions, emotional eating
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All problems, including:
Workplace, family, partner, social group problems
Habits of choosing and settling for the wrong partners and friends
Surviving and healing from betrayal, deceit and infidelity
Healing and being better prepared before looking for another relationship
Difficulties with intimacy, openness, expressing oneself
Coping with a relationship ending
Co-dependency
Insecure attachment/ fear of being alone
Controlling behaviour
Mediation between separated or conflicted partners and family members
Surviving an exploitative/ abusive relationship (including narcissistic or sociopathic exploitation; sexual, emotional, financial and other forms of abuse)
Surviving childhood abuse and poor parenting
Domestic violence (both sides)
Anger, rage, violence and passive-aggression
Bereavement, grief and loss
Sex, sexual intimacy and sexual problems
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Develop and improve social skills
Empathy
Confidence
Authenticity
Non-Violent Communication Skills
Ending subservience and people pleasing
Developing effective boundaries
Developing your interpersonal ‘radar’ and self-protection when engaging with others
Skills in identifying and dealing with highly toxic people, including Narcissistic-Sociopathic individuals
Finding the right partner and avoiding the wrong people along the way
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Existential Awareness Development
Life Assessment and Review
Re-discovering deeper Life Purpose and Meaning
Creativity and Creative Impasse Resolution
Personal Authenticity Development
Present-Centred Awareness Development (a wide variety of practices available)
Grounding: Relaxation, Stress and Anxiety management
Developing Personal Spiritual Practices
Spirituality and Soul: Developing a personally meaningful existential practice
Learning to live by conscience in a society of diminishing conscience
Individual yoga tuition and other body work
Meditation tuition (Mindfulness, Zen, Yoga etc)
Emotional and body awareness development
Non-Violent Communication Skills
Developing Critical Awareness: political, cultural, medical and social dimensions
Cultural narcissism and resolving personal narcissism for greater integrity
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I work with almost every kind of presentation where the patient is suitably motivated, sincere, honest and willing to do the work offered. I have particular interests in the following:
Outsiders, scapegoats, whistleblowers, and individuals who feel that they don’t - or who refuse to - fit into this society
Survivors of trauma, abusive personal and workplace relationships, and adverse childhood events
Creative, sensitive, or spiritually motivated individuals
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Written work is only available to patients currently attending weekly psychotherapy sessions. I no longer provide references or letters in support of benefits or other financial claims after a patient has been discharged.