Michael MacKay is a registered 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 is informed by Person-Centred and Psychodynamic principles, and is underpinned by a belief in an individual’s inherent potential to understand themselves more deeply. He is collaborative, strengths-focused and relational and aims to establish a strong therapeutic alliance, utilising this as a starting point from which to explore the person in context of their relationships, examine strengths and challenges, and facilitate the development of insight and awareness. He integrates a range of approaches into his work, including Relational Psychotherapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, EMDR and Psychoeducation. 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 works with a range of issues including: Sexuality, Gender Affirmation, Trauma, Complex Trauma, 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 domestic abuse 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 domestic abuse, 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.