Laurie Macdonald
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I have over 25 years experience as a counsellor and psychotherapist working in both the NHS and the private sector and I work with individuals, couples, groups, families and adolescents.
I am integrative therapist so aim to find a therapeutic approach that best suits the clients cognitive style and their issues brought to therapy. I work in both brief outcome focused way as well as long term according to the clients need.
My work with clients is based on the premise that we are all capable of change when we understand how to change, are happy to let go of the old ways of being and fully appreciate the benefits of the new way of being. My role is to help you explore this and bring knowledge of the "how to change" but I do not decide what changes a client should make.
My aim for clients is that they leave a therapy session feeling listened to, respected, valued and understood. I hope that they think they have practical strategies for coping with issues when appropriate, greater insight into "what makes them tick" and a clearer sense of what they want to get out of therapy. We will negotiate what we want to achieve in our sessions and then monitor our progress towards this goal.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications:
1983 British Horse Society Instructor
1988 BSc Hons. Clinical Communication Studies. (Speech and Language Therapy) City University
1989 Diploma in Eriksonian Hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.
1993 Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming
1993 United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy Registrant
1999 BACP Accredited Member
1999 EMDR Certificate
2000 Diploma in Group and Individual Supervision. Casscade
2011 UKCP Registered Supervisor
Experience:
1996 to present.
I have combined working in private practice with work in inpatient private mental healthcare facilities. My clients are GP or Psychiatric referrals although some are self referred and others may come from Employment Assistance Programs, charities or other professionals such as Solicitors and medical insurance companies. I work independently with the many clients and I am familiar with working in multidisciplinary teams for clients with complex needs.
The types of issues raised by clients are varied, often I am working with depression, anxiety, phobias, and relationship issues to name a few. I have also specialised in working with PTSD and the psychological issues that arise from physical ill health or trauma.
I work using Integrative and systemic theoretical orientations so that I am able to use any of a number of psychotherapeutic approaches, finding what most suits the patients issues and cognitive processing style. I teach on the Ethical training course for Contemporary Psychotherapists. I also provide supervision to new therapist/counsellors in training as well as experienced therapists both face to face and on line.
1988 – 1996
NHS Mental Health Rehabilitation Team – Newham, East London. I was working in a multidisciplinary team based in the community and working in inpatient facilities during the closing of the old long stay psychiatric institutions. My role was to assess and provide social rehabilitation for long stay patients coming into the community. I also provided staff training to the Housing Associations providing homes for these patients.
I was The Royal college of Speech and Language Therapists advisor on community Psychiatric care, and was involved in training Speech Therapy, Psychology, nursing and Social Work students in the communication/social disorders of Schizophrenia and the Autistic Spectrum. I also trained as a Contemporary Psychotherapist at this time. In 1993 to 1996 I was a member of the Governing Board of the UKCP.
1977 - 1983
British Horse Society Instructor BHSI I was working in various Equestrian Centres teaching and competing at dressage, eventing and carriage driving. I had great fun running pony club camps, all sorts of shows and competitions. I had to make a change of career folowing a road traffic accident. At the time it was the worst thing that could have happened, now I see it as the opertunity I needed to make the changes I did.
Member organisations
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 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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
I have worked online as both a supervisor and a counsellor for over 15yrs and find that the work can be as effective as face to face work. I use all of the different therapeutic approaches listed below online, although some may be modified in small ways for working online.
Therapies offered
Fees
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Fees may be covered by private health insurance as I am a recognised provider for the majority of medical insurers.
Self funding clients:
£55 per one hour session day time
£75 per one hour session evenings
additional £10 per hour for couples
I also offer a sliding scale of fees for those in need, please enquire when booking.
When I work
Day time 8am to 5pm Evenings 6pm to 8pm Saturday mornings may be available on request
Further information
My therapy room offers a comfortable environment for individuals and couples. My "co-therapist" Macduff (Cocker Spaniel) will often join us in the therapy room but if you would rather he didn't , he is happy to sleep else where, just let me know when you book a session.
There is ample off street parking and I am a five minute walk to the bus stop on the Brighton to Tunbridge Wells route.
I have wheel chair access to the therapy room but there is one step up to the toilet.
Consessionary sessions are offered during the day time, a sliding scale of fees dependent upon your financial situation. Please discuss this on making first contact.
As an integrative therapist I use a wide range of therapeutic approaches. One of the theories I use that is not listed else where on this site is Eriksonian Hypnopsychotherapy. Hypnosis is a creative way of enabling a client to access therapy at a deeply unconscious level. As all learning that is going to become part of our way of being needs to be at an unconscious level this can be an efficient way of doing therapy. The difference between clinical hypnosis and stage hypnosis is the therapeutic knowledge and experience of the therapist and the ethical frame work we use.
If you have a preference for the kind of therapeutic approach you would like me to use, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise I will discuss with you what I think might suit you best.
