Margaret Dobie

Hello and welcome to my profile.

Research shows that the most significant factor in effective therapy is the quality of the relationship. So, first and foremost, it's essential that you feel comfortable with the person you choose to work with. My work is embedded in cultivating therapeutic relationships of mutual respect. I embrace a no blame stance, where all perspectives are valued. 

I am a qualified, experienced and competent Counsellor, Therapist and Clinical Supervisor. I will provide a safe, respectful, non-judgemental space for you. Together we will explore at your own pace, with warm and open curiosity, the concerns that matter most to you. The process of sharing your own story (from your own perspective) in the therapeutic witness of another life traveller can be both stirring and life-affirming. Engaging with therapy requires consciously taking a brave step into a journey of self-discovery of exploring and meeting yourself.   

I use an integrative approach that’s tailored to each individual client, as each person is uniquely themselves. Together we can look at adaptive behaviours and beliefs that once worked for you, and that may now be creating difficulty, frustration or limitations. The therapeutic journey can invite encounters with personal ‘aha’ moments, unearthing and affirming your own innate understandings and solutions. Finding your own meaning can help grow greater self-awareness which, in turn, provides access to more conscious choices in everyday life. Engaging with the therapeutic process can provide an expansive step toward inhabiting a richer experience of life. 

I work with people aged 5 years and upwards using: talking therapy; working with metaphor, symbolism and creative materials; holding a space where relationships of trust, respect, equal value and acceptance are patiently nurtured. I provide one-to-one individual therapy and family counselling. Individual therapy sessions are held weekly whereas, typically, family counselling happens every four weeks. 

Fees: £50 per 50 minute session for individual therapy. £80 per 1 hour session for family counselling. 

My work is informed by theoretical principles and underpinnings of Psychodynamic and Systemic Training. Psychodynamic therapy works with unconscious patterns and behaviours that arise from the past, and that are being triggered, re-enacted or brought forward in some way in the present. Systemic Therapy is most often used when the Therapist is working together with more than one person, though it's possible and often very helpful to include systemic approaches when working with individuals as well. A Systemic Therapist is curious as to how interactions, communications, influencing factors, culture, beliefs, value systems and much more, shape and impact the group, family or individual.  

I am committed to continuous ongoing professional development and keeping abreast of newly emerging theory and research, which I then weave to enhance my work. I make use of learnings from my own experience of therapy, somatic practices and further study of other therapeutic approaches. My work is monitored and enriched with regular ongoing Clinical Supervision and periodic Safeguarding training.    

I provide a free 30 minute introductory meeting for new enquiries. This gives an opportunity for clients to share a brief outline of what has brought them to seek counselling at this time, and to explain how I work. 

Once a decision to proceed with therapy is reached, we complete a working agreement and then the first session includes a short essential assessment.  

I offer both in person and online sessions.

“When supervision provides a space in which stories and problems are seen as a gateway to a new dimension of reality, rather than merely as issues which need solving, for me at that moment it becomes ‘passionate supervision’.” (Encke, Jochen. 2008. Breaking the Box: Supervision – A Challenge to Free Ourselves. In Shohet, Robin (ed.), Passionate Supervision, p20. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

I like this quote because it signals the potential for transformation, which sits at the heart of the supervisory relationship. I seek to cultivate a relational space based on a high level of mutual trust and confidence where challenging concerns and fearful issues can be bravely explored. I value the shared development, new understandings and deepening of presence that both the supervisee and the supervisor can benefit from, alongside gaining clearer insights into the worlds of themselves and their clients. The supervision I provide is nurtured in practice by my own supervision.  

I provide one-to-one individual supervision and group supervision (up to 4 spaces) for counsellors who work with children, young people and/or adults. If you are interested in peer group supervision, do get in touch.

My range of experience includes providing Clinical Supervision for Trainee and Qualified Counsellors who work with Children, Young People and Adults, using a range of different Counselling modalities. I have an interest, and extensive experience, in working with Counsellors and Therapists who operate within organisational settings and systems, including school and family systems. I have five years’ experience as Clinical Manager in Counselling services, and bring a clear understanding in working with safeguarding and managing risk.

Fees: Individual supervision - £55 per hour

Group supervision - £40 per hour (recommended 2hrs for a group of 4)

In person and online sessions are available for both individual and group Supervision

I provide a free 30-45 minute Introductory Meeting, either in person or online, where together we can explore how we might best collaboratively work together.