Mary Stack

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MBACP Senior Accredited Counsellor
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Netherhay, Drimpton, Dorset, DT8
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Over 25 years' experience of counselling I firmly believe that my ability to truly 'hear' what the client is saying - or wanting to say - is the key to a positive outcome.   I am told that I have such an ability and I love my work.

I counsel from my home which is in the heart of the countryside overlooking fields. This offers a tranquil place in which to think and reflect.   I feel I have a warmth and ease of manner which enables my clients to feel comfortable in what is a safe and confidential environment.

I offer space and time for you to speak about your difficulties. I will not judge you or advise you but see myself more as a fellow traveller - that together we might understand your concerns whether they be to do with:

  • anxiety and panic attacks
  • depression
  • stress
  • bereavement and loss
  • transitions - from country and culture, change in living circumstances, children leaving home
  • change and upheaval such as divorce or separation
  • abuse and neglect, or other destabilising events
  • those affected by being sent away to boarding school or institutionalised from an early age
  • those in the caring professions / caring for elderly relatives at home

I believe that having the opportunity to talk through and make sense of our problems, particularly in the light of our past experiences, can have a profound and lasting effect on how we feel both within ourselves and in our relationships with other people.

I work differently with each person, according to their need, but fundamental to my practice is the belief that what we learned from growing up in our families plays a major part in how we conduct our lives in the present, often in a most enriching way, but often to our detriment. These would be areas for exploration.

Training, qualifications & experience

Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling - Edinburgh's Telford College

Understanding and working with adolescents - Scottish Institute for Human Relations

I have trained with Boarding Concern to work with those who have been affected by being sent away from home to boarding school at an early age.

Introductory training in Family Therapy which has helped me understand the Individual in the context of their Family System.

I set up the first 'embedded' Counselling Service for pupils in a private boarding school near Edinburgh.

I was on the team of the Edinburgh University Student Counselling Service for 3 years from 2003 - 2006 before moving South.

Private Practice alongside these projects.

Counselling for those struggling with their faith and working with ordained men and women in the estabished and non-conformists churches.

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Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).

Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.

Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.

All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

Accredited register membership

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with


I work with those facing a whole range of life's experiences, e.g. loss or bereavement, moving home/country, those struggling to understand relationships or problems with intimacy. Anxiety and depression, mental health problems and eating disorders.

I have a particular interest in helping clients through past or present traumatic and/or abusive circumstances and those who feel they may have issues stemming from living or working within institutions or being brought up or educated in a boarding system whether from a very early age or later.

I believe that clients need to be genuinely 'heard' and given the opportunity to talk about things they may feel bad or ashamed about and issues which may feel difficult to speak out about.   To understanding more clearly how you may have been related to in the past will shed light on difficulties being experienced at the present time. For example, if you want to know how to manage your anger I would be interested in you telling me how you have learned to express or withhold powerful feelings, what it was like for you when family members became angry, how you responded and how resolution was or (wasn't!) reached. Often gaining some insight into why we behave as we do is the first step in enabling change to take place.

Fees

£50.00 per session

Concessions offered for

  • Unemployed

Additional information

I charge £50 for a 50 minute session for individuals.   

I allow up to one hour for the initial session for which I do charge.

Having the opportunity to talk through your concerns and to focus on what you really need can be a most valuable experience in itself.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

10.00 a.m. -  6.00 p.m. and later appointments available Wednesdays and Thursdays.

I offer FaceTime or Skype counselling as well as face-to-face..

Further information

Published article:

I wrote about my experience of boarding school called "The Making of Her" ISSN 1753 5980 in Attachment Journal New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis Vol. 2 No. 3 November 2008.

I was responding to another article about the effects of boarding school and in response to reading Nick Duffell on the British Attitude to Children and the Boarding School system entitled "The Making of Them" ISBN 0-9537904-0-1.

Chapel End, Netherhay, Drimpton, Dorset, DT8

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Young people
Adults
Older adults
Couples
Employee Assistance Programme

Key details

I am offering counselling by telephone, by FaceTime and by Skype. Please email to request this.

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