About me
Some men look fine from the outside and are exhausted underneath.
Maybe you're coming out later in life, or after a marriage. Maybe you're not out at work and can't be. Maybe you're surrounded by people and still lonely. Maybe your family stopped speaking to you. Maybe it's ageing, or sex, or something you've never said out loud to anyone.
You might be the capable one, the person everyone leans on, who's never really had anywhere to put his own weight down.
I don't arrive with a technique to use on you. I follow what matters to you, at your pace. I'll also challenge you, most capable men already have plenty of people who agree with them. And if something older is sitting underneath what brought you here, there's room for that too.
You get the same counsellor every session. No waiting list. No limit on how long we work together.
Sessions are 50 minutes, online by video, in English. You don't need an app or an account, just a link I send you. Nothing is recorded, and I keep brief, factual notes only.
If you're not out, or only partly out, tell me how it's safe to contact you and I'll follow it exactly, including what appears in an email subject line.
The first conversation is free. Thirty minutes, no obligation, and you don't need to have anything worked out beforehand.
I'm Mark Clarke. I work person-centred and trauma-informed with gay and bi men across the UK, Ireland, the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
This is not a crisis service. If you're at risk of harming yourself or someone else, please contact 999, 111, your GP, or Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy with Private Practice, First Class Honours - Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP 407828)
How I work
I trained in the person-centred tradition. In practice, that means I don't apply a model to you; I follow what matters to you, at the pace that suits you. My work is trauma-informed, so where something older sits underneath what brought you here, there's space for that.
Experience
I work exclusively with gay and bi men. Most of what I see falls into a handful of areas: coming out later in life or after a marriage, being closeted at senior or public-facing level, loneliness that has nothing to do with how many people are around you, family estrangement, ageing and body image, and sex and desire.
Alongside private practice I work as a specialist mental health mentor supporting disabled students in higher education, and I have previously delivered counselling through an international online therapy platform.
Professional standards
I work under the BACP Ethical Framework and receive regular clinical supervision. I hold professional indemnity insurance and I'm registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller. My practice runs through The Great Thriving LTD, registered in England and Wales, company number 16696328.
I undertake continuing professional development throughout the year.
Member organisations
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
- Coming out later in life
- Coming out after a marriage
- Being closeted at work
- The loneliness of being the capable one
- Success that doesn't feel like enough
- Internalised shame
- Having no one to confide in
- Family estrangement
- Ageing as a gay man
- Desire and sexual confidence
Therapies offered
Fees
£95.00 - £190.00
Additional information
£95 per 50-minute session, taken at the time of booking.
Your first booking covers two sessions, £190. One session is rarely enough to know whether the work is right for you, and two gives it a fair start. After that you book one at a time at £95.
Blocks of four, twelve or twenty-four sessions are available at a lower per-session rate. Unused sessions are refunded if you decide to stop.
Short-notice appointments, available from the next day onwards, are £140.
The first thirty-minute conversation is free, with no obligation.
I don't offer concessionary rates.
Further information
How we'd start
The first conversation is free, thirty minutes by video, no obligation, no assessment and no forms. We talk about what's brought you here and how I work, and we both get a sense of whether this is a fit.
If we go ahead, I'll send you a short agreement and intake form beforehand. It takes about fifteen minutes and covers confidentiality, how to contact you safely, and who to reach if I'm ever seriously worried about you. Doing it in advance means we don't spend your first session on admin.
Availability
Because I work across time zones, appointment times are wider than most practices. Early mornings and evenings are usually available, which suits men whose work makes a standing daytime slot difficult.
I reply to enquiries within two working days.
Working over a longer period
Blocks of four, twelve or twenty-four sessions are available at a lower per-session rate, valid for twelve months. If you stop partway through, the sessions you've had are charged at the standard rate and the rest is refunded. You're never locked in.
Retained support
For a small number of clients I offer a monthly arrangement: a reserved place in my practice, sessions at short notice when something needs attention, and contact between sessions within agreed bounds. I keep these deliberately few so the availability is real. Scope and fee are agreed in conversation.
