Mike McCarthy
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
If you are considering having counselling, then the chances are you are experiencing some sort of difficulty in your life. This could be a major loss or disappointment, relationship difficulties, lifestyle issues, big life changes, lack of direction or work problems. It is the corresponding internal experiences which follow these life situations that make it so difficult. Anger, overwhelming stress, grief, depression, physical problems, shame and anxiety being a few examples. But often these troubling internal experiences are happening, and you cannot attribute it to a specific thing. You may even feel that you have a good life yet be depressed or anxious. You will have your own unique reasons for looking at therapy.
How would we work together?
I offer care, acceptance, and an empathic environment where you can be deeply heard and understood; this therapeutic atmosphere creates conditions for effective therapy to happen. Counselling is a collaborative process. You will bring what is important to you and I will help you explore and understand it better.
There are lots of creative and innovative methods we can potentially use in sessions. However, therapy is much more than a method. It is a human relationship that can support, nurture and help you move forward.
Potential for psychological wellbeing resides in all of us. Counselling is not about “fixing” anyone, but unblocking that which hinders, leaving you in a better place to live the life you want.
How counselling can help you?
Having someone to talk with and confide in, who is there to listen and support you through a difficult time is invaluable. It is your designated time and space where you can be yourself. Often talking about what is inside can bring a tremendous release.
In the sessions, you will have the space to explore what is happening in your world and the experiences that you are having. This exploration can help you better understand your situation, thoughts, feelings and behaviours as well as the potential for new possibilities to emerge. Positive change often follows.
It is a common misconception that therapy is all about difficulties and being stuck in the mud. Even in the most challenging of terrains beautiful flowers grow. You may naturally uncover personal qualities, innate positive experiences, interests and a deeper appreciation of life, yourself and others. This can greatly help you with the issue you came in with.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am inspired by how the process of gently and skilfully paying attention to our experience can create such positive shifts.
My counselling training in other centred therapy combines the understanding and knowledge of western psychotherapy with the wisdom and compassion of Buddhist psychology.
In addition to counselling, I teach therapeutic meditation (mindfulness, self-compassion and embodiment) and sheng zhen movement and stillness meditation. I have explored various spiritual traditions and practices and connecting with nature is important to me. I have also had long term therapy as a client. All of these experiences will undoubtedly inform my practice as a therapist.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Further information
Your next step
If you would like to find out more, I offer a free 20-minute introductory phone call or zoom meeting. We can explore what brings you here, whether I can be of help to you with your particular situation and whether we would like to have the first session. I work with clients who are eighteen and over and live in the United Kingdom. I work online and face to face in Tunbridge Wells.
