Jackie Mcnamara
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Hello and thank you for looking at my counselling profile.
You are maybe considering counselling because you are struggling with difficult feelings and emotions.
People come to counselling for lots of different reasons, often seeking help with feelings of low self-esteem, anger, anxiety or depression. Sometimes we experience a sense of `stuckness` in our lives, or are struggling generally with our relationships.
I offer a Person Centred approach to therapy.
I believe that this style of therapy is very effective in helping us to make positive changes in our lives. As a Person Centred therapist, I believe that at a basic level we know what is right for us. However, sometimes we just lose our way and we need a bit of help and support to get back on our path. Talking these things through with someone who understands and accepts us can be enormously helpful in finding our way through confused feelings and emotions.
As an Accredited Counsellor, I have over 14 years of experience and success working in private practice with people who are experiencing emotional pain and trauma.
My own life experiences and personal journey has helped me to develop the insight and awareness which I believe are crucial in an effective counsellor. I consider myself to be a down to earth and practical person and I understand how difficult it can be to face up to and deal with difficult areas of our lives, and things about ourselves which feel frightening or uncomfortable. I also understand how difficult it is to talk with someone about these feelings and experiences. Please be reassured that I can hear your story and experiences and be present with you throughout our work together.
I am committed to the Person Centred approach to counselling. I believe that it is only in the true listening to, and acceptance and valuing of others, that positive and long term changes can happen. However, within this, integrating eg cognitive behavioural techniques such as goal setting or journaling, can be helpful in providing a practical aspect to our work together.
I have also trained in Mindfulness with the Mindfulness Association and can offer Mindfulness and emotion focusing techniques if that would be helpful for you. This can be very useful in working with anger management, as well as generalised anxiety disorder and depression.
If you feel I could be of help, you can contact me by phone or email to discuss anything further. (details below)
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a COSCA Accredited Counsellor, with a Post Graduate Diploma in Person Centred Counselling from Strathclyde University.
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Social Sciences and post graduate qualifications relating to the delivery and management of public services. I have many years of professional experience within the public sector, working with people who are experiencing emotional difficulties such as depression and anxiety and with individuals and families who have experienced bereavement. Within this role, I was committed to influencing change and development in services to ensure that they worked for the people who used them. I left the service to retrain as a Person Centred counsellor because I wanted to work directly with people in a more holistic way.
I have a lot of experience in working with women who have experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse and an understanding of the particular difficulties associated with this.
Very importantly, I have a lot of life experience and a very empathic and understanding approach to the difficulties which people often face just trying to cope with their lives and their relationships. I believe a good therapist or counsellor is not an expert on other people, but someone who understands, through their own experience or listening to others, the difficulties and struggles which most of us face in our lives.
I also understand how difficult it can be for people to take this step and contact a counsellor. My style and approach will be very much based on what you want and need from counselling, and the pace you are comfortable with. I will help you to explore and discover what is right for you. Many people for instance, come to counselling expressing a sense of loss or confusion about `who they are`. Through expressing and sharing their fears and feelings about this, difficult though this can be, insights and a greater understanding and acceptance of self can happen, sometimes very rapidly. It can be an enormous relief just to be able to speak to someone who understands and can accept these thoughts and feelings.
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.
COSCA is the professional body for counselling and psychotherapy in Scotland, and seeks to advance all forms of counselling and psychotherapy and the use of counselling skills by promoting best practice and through the delivery of a range of sustainable services. COSCA Counsellor Accreditation is a pathway to entry onto the UKRC. It is a requirement of all individual and organisational members of COSCA to abide by its Statement of Ethics and Code of Practice and be accountable to the Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
£50.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I charge £50 per 50 minute session online, telephone and 'in person' counselling. I charge £60 for couples counselling.
I am more than happy to speak with you on the phone or by email if you have any questions you would like to ask me about my service or about counselling.
If you wish an appointment urgently, I will endeavour to offer you something within 48 hours.
When I work
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I am currently available for online, telephone and face to face counselling
Further information
I believe that undertaking counselling is one of the most important decisions and investments we can make in our lives. Often, just one or two sessions can be sufficient to help 'turn things around' and feel clearer and stronger.
My commitment to you is to offer you a quiet, confidential and safe space to share and explore difficulties and feelings and help you to find a way forward in your life.
