About me
Hello
My name’s Dougal, and I’m a qualified person-centred psychotherapist and counsellor, working in Shrewsbury and online.
How can counselling help?
If you’re on a counselling website, then I imagine you’re looking to explore things in your life that feel distressing and painful.
Therapy can help with this. By being in an environment which is free from judgement, safe and warmly accepting, powerful things can happen. I believe that therapy works through building trust, which enables you to take risks and explore the difficult parts of your life which may not be so easy to do in the ‘outside’ world.
At the heart of all this is the relationship that forms between client and therapist, and this needs to be right for you. For this reason, I offer a free 20-30 minute consultation to see if you get a sense that I might be a good fit for you.
About Me
I trained at the Metanoia Institute in London to MSc level in Person-Centred Psychotherapy, and a few years prior to this, I qualified with a Level 6 Diploma in Person-Centred Psychotherapeutic Practice. As well as my private practice, I work as a counsellor at the NHS and have extensive experience of working in addiction recovery settings too.
I have undergone years of intensive training and personal therapy on my way to qualifying as a therapist and have accrued hundreds of hours of counselling experience. This has involved working with clients across a wide range of different backgrounds, bringing diverse issues to the therapy room.
I am fully insured and registered with the UKCP and BACP and am fully committed to continuing to develop in my practice by partaking in ongoing psychotherapeutic training. As well as this, I have practised yoga on a daily basis for some years, and gain a great deal from this, alongside meditation and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Before training to become a therapist, I taught literature for about twenty years, both in the UK and in Europe.
I abide closely by the UKCP and BACP code of ethics.
Counselling Approach
I practise person-centred therapy. This is a humanistic approach pioneered by Carl Rogers, which places the client as the only true expert in their life, with the therapist there to facilitate the inner journey of growing self-awareness and self-acceptance. I’m not there to advise, suggest, or interpret, but to truly hear you and offer up an empathic understanding of your experience.
Training, qualifications & experience
- MSc Person-Centred Psychotherapy
- Level 6 Diploma in Person-Centred Psychotherapeutic Practice
- PGCE in Secondary Teaching
- BA (Hons) English Literature
Member organisations
school 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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Additional information
- A free 20-minute consultation to see if I could be the right counsellor for you.
- Some concessions available according to circumstances.
