Michael MacKay is a Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy who holds Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy and Master of Social Work degrees.

Michael’s approach to psychotherapy is collaborative, strengths-focused and relational. He aims to establish a strong therapeutic alliance and utilises this as a starting point from which to explore the person in context of relationships, examine strengths and challenges, and facilitate the development of insight and awareness. He offers shorter term counselling for specific challenges as well as longer-term psychotherapy focused on growth, learning and exploring patterns which may be holding you back.

Michael’s approach is informed by the principles of psychodynamic theory – this means exploring attachments to significant people in your life, considering development throughout childhood to adulthood, and bringing awareness to patterns and ways of relating.  He also utilises Interpersonal Psychotherapy – an approach which sees challenges and possibilities for change in the context of important relationships and transitions, and is particularly effective for issues such as depression and mood related challenges.

Michael works with a range of issues including: Sexuality, Coming Out, Gender Affirmation, Post- Traumatic Stress, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress , Depression, Anxiety, Grief and Loss.  Michael is also passionate about LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing and believes that, whatever the issue that may bring someone to therapy, LGBTQ+ communities should have access to affirming support which recognises the impact of stigma and celebrates our identities. He also has a particular interest in supporting people living with HIV.

Michael also works with both victim survivors and perpetrators of intimate partner violence and has extensive experience in using evidence-based approaches to facilitate safety and change. He utilises a trauma-informed, victim survivor-centred approach when working in this space. Critically, when working with perpetrators of intimate violence his approach is accountability-focused, recognising that taking responsibility for one’s behaviour is fundamental to change.

Michael is also a social worker registered with Social Work England.   His experience as a social worker helps to recognise the impact of social and contextual factors which may impact mental health, support clients to see how these factors may be contributing to challenges and identify pathways to change.