Counselling in Scotland

I am a qualified pluralistic Psychotherapist who thoroughly believes in the power of listening and hearing what my clients have to say. Empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard are at the heart of my practices. I offer a range of treatments and therapies to help clients deal with their issues and challenges. My treatment plans are tailored to suit the individual with their input taken into account.

Counselling is a process that is different for everyone, and I am happy to work with you over the long term or short term, depending on your needs. I like to work collaboratively, exploring together the challenges you face. We can work together find ways to address the past, present and move forward into the future in a positive and healthy way. Being able to untangle some of the problems that trouble us can help lead to better relationships with others and ourselves, and ultimately a healthier, happier outlook. These problems and issues can sometimes feel unmanageable on your own, and this is where counselling can help.

In a society where individualism, competition and oppression of what is different are dominant, it is hard to find ways for our lives to unfold in expressive and mutually empowering relationship with fellow humans and more than human beings. The relational issues passed through generations that had a traumatic impact on our upbringing, the difficulties related to changes and challenges we encounter throughout our lives, the fear that comes with the uncertainty of an unpredictable future, can be addressed through therapy so that we can bring more joy, ease and agency into our lives.

Are you struggling to cope? Are you looking to make sense of things or heal from painful events? Perhaps you would like to feel empowered to make decisions that will best serve you. Or perhaps stories you have about yourself or coping strategies are getting in the way of a life you want to lead.

Counselling and psychotherapy can serve a two-fold purpose. The first is helping us navigate what life serves up – often a crisis or painful experience, while the second is as a tool in continuing self-development. While it is usually the first which initially brings people to counselling, the second can be helpful in exploring areas such as low mood, procrastination or a lack-lustre feeling about life in general. My work is informed by psychodynamic practice and psychoanalytic theory, both of which provide valuable insight into the complexities of human development, relationships, and experience.

So often our difficulties make us feel stuck, bound in place. Sometimes we can see we are caught in a loop, but don't know how to get free. Or we know what to do, but just can't seem to do it. And sometimes we don't even know what is making us feel stuck and where to start. Problems with our health, mood, traumatic experiences, changes to our life circumstances such as our employment or living arrangement, relationships, achievements, habits- any of these can make us feel stuck. Even good things such as weddings or promotions can be a stressor that gets us feeling this way.

My approach to working with clients is honest, genuine, straightforward. I am gentle when required to be and direct and challenging when I’m needed to be. I am warm, engaging and have a great sense of humour! We will work together to make you more self aware and able to find a way forward .

Relationship and Sex Therapy Practice in Edinburgh: Helping you to create positive change in your relationships (www.lauramcnaught.com). I am an experienced and professional Relationship and Psychosexual Therapist. In addition to my private practice, I have several years experience within the Relationships Scotland counselling service and also practised as a Psychosexual Therapist within the NHS. I am warm, friendly and passionate about supporting my clients through the wide range of challenges that life brings to us all.

When you encounter difficult times in our day to day lives it is helpful to be able to talk these through with someone who is trained and objective. To help you explore the issues that matter to you, bringing insight and understanding to enable you to find your way through problems and dilemmas.

As a therapist, I firmly believe that each of us holds the answers to our own issues within. My role here is to help you recognise these and support you in working through them. I will aim to create a trusting counselling relationship throughout our sessions, where you can feel able to express your feelings in an empathic and accepting environment. Through this collaboration, our aim would be for you to gain a deeper understanding of yourself, in turn facilitating the change you are aspiring to achieve.

Throughout our lives most of us will experience some form of emotional, mental or relationship problems. These problems can be related to our work, our home life, our past or simply come out of the blue. Sometimes it might just be a mild inconvenience, but more often it can affect our lives profoundly. Either way it can be hard to admit that help might be needed. And harder still to find the best help. That’s where I come in. With psychotherapy or counselling I can help you discover what the issues are and work with you to fix them.

Welcome to my profile. I believe that successful counselling starts with rapport and trust. From there, having a safe space to be able to talk about what is causing distress to you, is only beneficial if there is a good therapeutic foundation. Over the years, I have had the privilege of providing therapeutic support to children and adults with many different presenting issues. Counselling is a journey with many lightbulb moments and helping find answers in the darkest corners. I have always felt that it is a gift to be able to talk to someone and share your story, which allows growth and change

Sometimes for whatever reason life can become difficult. Often, we can understand and recognise the reasons for this difficulty. However, there are other times when we don’t understand why we feel troubled – we just know that we do. I believe that in either case talking about it with a trained professional would help. As a trained counsellor I have experience in helping people to process and cope with a wide range of issues.

I offer counselling and psychotherapy for both individuals and couples with wide ranging issues. Counselling can be a very important part of managing your mental wellbeing, particularly at this worrying and for some, lonely time. I  provide a safe and confidential therapeutic space, where you can feel listened to and understood, allowing you to explore your emotions, without being judged.

Psychodynamic therapy focuses on both the past and present. The psychodynamic approach looks at how important the role of the unconscious and past experiences is on influencing our current behaviour. I believe therapy can reduce pain from past experiences if you are willing and ready to motivate change within yourself. Whether it's short-term or open-ended therapy you are looking for I can help you gain a greater sense of wellbeing. Giving yourself the time to come to counselling will bring greater self-awareness and with it the opportunity for personal development and lasting change in your life.

Your decision to do undertake therapy is significant; it marks a moment where you have decided you and your life need to be different, and you are willing to do the work of changing. Whether you have come to this work because things have gone awry in the present, you've always had parts of yourself you wished to change, or because you've realised you need to grow to achieve your goals in the future, I want to offer my presence, space, and care to you. Whatever challenge you are struggling with, I am here to facilitate your process of growth, and to discover with you who you are - and help you become who you want to be.

I have an open, friendly and supportive manner, backed by my academic qualifications and many years of experience. I am trained in clinical psychology and holds both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in this area. I hold an MSc in Marriage, Family and Child Counselling. I also holds professional qualifications, and am highly experienced in working with alcohol and drug abuse. In addition I am a visiting lecturer for PhD students completing their final year at Glasgow's Caledonian University, and delivers mindfulness training to individuals, groups and businesses. ​

I offer a safe and facilitative space for you to think about what you need in order to feel better. An important part of that process is the relationship we develop and I will be with you each step of the way. I will listen, empathise, wonder with you, as well as laugh, cry, and get angry. Life is incredibly difficult at times. We could most likely all benefit from a space where we can share ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, and be shown acceptance. More than that, be shown care and understanding of what we are going through. If you feel that you would benefit from that kind of space, then please get in touch.

My name is Kim Wylie and Paisley Counselling is my company. I am a highly experienced integrative counsellor with training in various trauma modalities. My specialism is in supporting adult survivors of childhood trauma. In both individual and couples work, I incorporate protective techniques which enable clients to process their experiences without being flooded by intolerable emotions. Working collaboratively, I attune to each person’s needs throughout our work together. I have a passion for helping people heal and strongly believe that counselling can facilitate clients to realise their aims and goals.