I qualified as a therapist in 2023 and bring more than ten years of experience working in mental health.
Before qualifying as a therapist, I had already spent many years working alongside people experiencing significant emotional and psychological difficulties within the NHS mental health services on an inpatient ward.
That experience continues to shape the way I work now, particularly my ability to remain grounded, thoughtful and present when the work becomes complex. Very little that is brought into therapy feels unfamiliar to me, and I am not easily unsettled by what people tell me.
Additional training and clinical development
My professional development has included further training and experience in DBT, emotional regulation, trauma informed practice, creative and art based therapeutic work, somatic approaches, addiction and recovery, and working therapeutically with young people.
My wider clinical experience has included working with adults and young people across a range of settings, including NHS mental health services, residential rehabilitation, schools, G.P surgeries and community based services.
How I workThe McLellan Practice is my independent practice. I work online with adults, with appointments available during weekday evenings and at weekends.
The foundation of my work is person centred. You set the direction, and I am not here to tell you what your life should look like. My role is to help you understand yourself more clearly, explore what may be keeping you stuck, and support you in finding ways forward that feel meaningful to you.
Alongside this, I think psychodynamically. I am interested in how early relationships and experiences may have shaped what you now expect from yourself and from other people. I also pay attention to patterns that can be difficult to recognise from the inside because they have been present for so long. Often, this is where the sense of feeling stuck begins to make more sense.
Where practical skills are helpful, I use them. I hold DBT Essentials training and training in facilitating DBT skills development groups, so when emotions feel intense, fast moving or difficult to regulate, I can bring in concrete strategies alongside the deeper therapeutic work. I also draw on attachment theory, Transactional Analysis, ACT and motivational interviewing where these are clinically appropriate.
I also bring somatic awareness into my work. This means paying attention not only to what you are saying, but also to what may be happening in your body as we talk. Sometimes the body communicates something before the words are fully available.
Sessions are conversations rather than a set programme of exercises. Some weeks may involve a lot of talking and reflection. Other weeks may involve slowing down and staying with something difficult without rushing to solve it.
Alongside my private practice, my weekday clinical work is as a substance misuse therapist in residential rehabilitation. This gives me ongoing experience of working with addiction, recovery, trauma, emotional regulation, shame, relationships and the wider difficulties that often sit alongside substance use.