Counselling

Jump to: Couples Counselling | Individual Counselling

Dr. Mackay's approach involves an integration of several therapeutic frameworks: Gestalt, Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler and Client Centered. She has extensive training in Integrative Psychotherapy. She has level II training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).

Dr. Mackay presents her work at conferences in Canada , USA , Australia and Europe .

New! The B-Sort for Intimate Relationships:

Evolving out of her research, Dr. Bea Mackay developed a powerful exercise for individuals who are conflicted about remaining in or leaving a relationship. She has successfully used this exercise in its print media format with her clients for many years. Recently she has worked with Registered Psychologist, Dr. Warren Weir, PhD, and a computer programmer, Angus Mackay, Eng. to develop the exercise into an online Internet self-help programme.

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Couples counseling

"My goal in couples counseling is to help a couple develop a good working relationship so they can work through whatever life hands them."

In every relationship people have differences. Having differences in an intimate relationship is normal and healthy. How the couple works through their differences determines the quality of their relationship.

Often couples have good intent with each other but get locked in a pattern that is negative and hurtful. Dr. Mackay's goal in counseling a couple is to help couples build on the strengths in their relationship and shift negative dynamics to positive ones.

Dr. Mackay views a couple as a team, and as their coach, she helps them develop good teamwork so they can enjoy a winning relationship.

"Respect for each other is the basis of every session."

Dr. Mackay's role in couples counseling is to:

• create a safe non-critical environment.
• make each session productive.
• explain, not blame.
• help a couple interact in a positive productive way.
• support each person in the process.
• see and understand each partner's side clearly.
• identify the positive aspects of the relationship and build on them.
• teach communication skills.
• facilitate positive change.
• help a couple get unstuck and back on track.

"When couples talk about the past or the future they are really dealing with their relationship in the present ."

When a couple is able to resolve issues from the past, their relationship in the present improves and each is more willing and able to invest him/herself in a future together. When a couple's relationship changes for the better in the present, forgiveness for past hurts and mistakes is possible.

Tip: Let go of the need to be ‘right'.

Couples get caught up in who is ‘right' and who is ‘wrong'. There is no value in being ‘right' if it is harmful to the relationship . (If you are killed in a car accident it does not do you any good if you are ‘in the right'.) Instead, talk to each other about what is said (words) and done (behaviors) in terms of whether or not it was helpful or harmful, a problem or not a problem, appropriate or inappropriate, hurtful or not hurtful, etc.

For more tips on improving your relationship go to: www.B-Sort.com

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Individual Counselling

"I love helping people help themselves. "

People become distressed or conflicted in many ways. The issue may be within him or herself or in relation to someone else – intimate partner, boss, co-worker, parent, sibling, friend or other. The issue may be with some area of life such as work, family or spiritual.

When people are disturbed they experience stress.

Symptoms of stress can emotional - depression, anxiety, panic attacks, difficulties concentrating, nightmares, sense of detachment, grief and loss, etc.

Symptoms of stress can be physical - such as hives, headaches, urinary tract infections, psoriasis, asthma, tension, pain, high blood pressure, etc.

Dr. Mackay's role in individual counselling is to:

• provide a safe non-judgmental environment.
• validate and understand a client's point of view.
• help clients access and express deeper underlying thoughts and feelings.
• provide support and encouragement.
• help clients resolve inner conflicts.
• help clients access their own resources.
• provide positive feedback.

In many cases clients are aware of what the issues or conflicts are about. Psychotherapy involves working through issues by helping clients to reexamine them in depth and by resolving conflict. Without judgment, I help clients to access their own resources, develop deeper awareness of their thoughts and feelings and gain an objectivity and clarity of the issues involved. When clients think and feel differently, new solutions emerge.

Some clients have repressed or “buried' their conflicts. Or, they may have trauma from an earlier time in their lives that is interferring with how they want to live their lives. They may not even know that they are depressed. They may be focused on their physical symptoms. Some clients have a vague sense that something is wrong but do not know what it is or how to deal with it. In this case psychotherapy involves bringing the conflicts back into awareness. It involves healing any trauma that comes to the foreground.

With empathy and understanding I support clients in facing problems that they may have difficulty facing. I help them deal with conflicts that they may have given up ever resolving. It is much easier to address issues when you do not have to do it alone. In this way, by making positive productive changes, people are able to enhance their lives.

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