Stephen McLaughlin

I am available for face to face, online, and telephone appointments from Monday to Wednesday between 9am 6pm.

I have additional availability online and by telephone on Thursdays and Fridays between 9am and 7pm.

I can offer a reduced fee to clients who are able to regularly meet online or by telephone on a Thursday or Friday. 

I am a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and Registered Member of Â鶹ԭ´´ (MÂ鶹ԭ´´) with a Post Graduate Diploma and an Advanced Diploma in Transactional Analysis, as well as a qualification in Person Centred Counselling Skills.

I have been in Private Practice for 5 years, and prior to qualifying and entering private practice I undertook volunteer work for over 10 years providing listening services to people in distress. Volunteering through several organisations, I gained experience supporting people who were struggling with a wide range of issues, but especially people who were experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings.

I am available face to face, by telephone, and online. However, I can to offer a reduced fee to those able to work online or by telephone.

I support clients struggling with anxiety, anger, trauma, overwhelm, and difficulty feeling and expressing emotions. I have experience working with suicidal ideation. You may feel stuck or alone, struggling to make sense of your own thoughts or feelings, to recover from past experiences, or how to feel okay in the here and now. I am interested in the stories that we tell ourselves, and how those stories help or hinder us as we navigate through life. I will work with you to better understand your story so that you can make real changes in your life, in your relationships with others, and in your relationship with yourself.

I offer a compassionate, confidential space where we can work together to explore and work through your most difficult thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment.

I work with clients from many backgrounds but make special mention that as a gay man with neurodiversity in my close family, I welcome work with LGBTQIA+ people and with neurodivergent people. I have also been published on the subject of men’s mental health, and this an important part of my practice too.

Some of the issues I support people with include:

· Anger

· Anxiety

· Autism and ADHD

· Bereavement

· Depression

· Difficulty experiencing feelings

· Family issues

· LGBTQIA+ issues

· Low mood

· Men’s mental health

· Overwhelm

· Relationship problems, including partner relationships, family relationships, friendships,

· Self-esteem

· Self-harm

· Stress

· Suicidal ideation

· Trauma

Prior to booking in I offer a free 20 minute telephone consultation in which we can talk in brief about what you are looking for from therapy, and I can answer any questions you want to ask before deciding to book in.

If you decide to book in, we will use the first session to get to know each other a bit, to get a sense of how we might work together and of how therapy can help. We would usually talk about things like what has brought you to therapy, why you are choosing to come now, and where you would like to get to through therapy. People are often nervous in the first session, but I find that as the session goes along those nerves pass, and we get a sense of what the therapy will be.

I do believe that therapy is something that the client and therapist work on together, and that the therapeutic relationship is the most important element of that work. For that reason, I know it is really important to find the right therapist for you. The first one or two sessions are often about getting a sense of if that is me, as well as laying the foundations for a good therapeutic relationship going forward.

At the end of the first session, we would usually make a decision together about whether or not to proceed with therapy. If I feel that I am not able to help, I will be honest about that. Equally, you may decide that I am not the right therapist for you, and it is okay to let me know if that is the case. If we do agree that we can work together, you might decide to book in a further appointment there and then, or you may prefer to take some time after the appointment reflect and make that decision.