John MacDonald

I have availability:

Monday afternoons and evenings

Tuesday evenings

Wednesday afternoons and evenings

Sunday afternoons and evenings

I鈥檓 a Person-Centred Therapist with a deep belief that the relationship is key to therapy, and that together we can build a space for healing to begin where you can feel safe, seen and truly heard. At the heart of my practice is the belief that you are the expert on your own life.

Who I Work With

I work with adults, children and young people who are trying to make sense of themselves, their relationships and what life is asking of them. People often come to me when they鈥檙e feeling lost in themselves, struggling in relationships or overwhelmed by how they鈥檙e feeling.

I have experience working with both adults and young people across education and crisis support settings.

Much of my work centres around questions of identity: the 鈥淲ho am I?鈥� moments that can arise during life transitions, changes in relationships, burnout, neurodivergence or periods of low mood. You might feel lost, disconnected from yourself or unsure how you fit into the world around you. Therapy can offer space to explore these questions gently, without pressure to have answers.

I also support people experiencing depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and emotional overwhelm. I have experience working with intense and complex distress, and I prioritise safety, emotional containment and moving at a pace that feels manageable for you. You don鈥檛 need to minimise how bad things feel, or have it all figured out before coming to therapy.

Relationships are another common focus of my work, whether that鈥檚 difficulties with friends, partners, family members or long-standing patterns such as people-pleasing and putting others first. Together, we can explore how these patterns developed and what you might need now.

Alongside this, I work with a wide range of experiences including anxiety, stress, burnout, grief and loss, the emotional impact of caring for others and neurodivergent experiences, including autism and ADHD. You don鈥檛 need to fit neatly into a category to be welcome here.

Working With Children & Young People (For Parents)

I also work with children and young people, offering a calm, person-centred space where emotional safety and trust come first. Supporting a child can feel worrying, especially when emotions run high, behaviour changes or school becomes difficult. Therapy is not about fixing behaviour or pushing a child to talk before they are ready. It鈥檚 about helping them make sense of their inner world in ways that feel safe and manageable.

Alongside my work as a therapist, I am a primary school teacher and have extensive experience supporting children with a wide range of emotional, developmental and neurodivergent needs, including autism and ADHD. This background helps me understand how distress can show up differently in children, across home and school and how important pacing, regulation and relationship are.

For some children, talking feels natural. For others, it doesn鈥檛. Where helpful, I offer creative and play-based approaches, including Sand Tray Therapy, to support expression when words are hard to find. These approaches are always led by the child and used only when they feel appropriate.

I work collaboratively with parents and carers, offering space to reflect and better understand what a child may be experiencing, while keeping the child鈥檚 therapeutic space confidential and protected.

Whether your child is feeling anxious, withdrawn, overwhelmed, struggling with relationships or school, or finding it hard to regulate emotions, counselling can offer them a supportive place to feel understood.

I offer a free 30-minute session where I can get to know your situation a little better, share how we might work together and see if we're a good fit.