Mike McDonough

I am a BACP Accredited counsellor based in Tottenham, London. I am experienced in supporting people dealing with anxiety and depression, relationship problems, low self-esteem, shame, bereavement, trauma, the effects of childhood sexual abuse and sexual diversity issues, among others. I am a gay cisgender man and I work with individuals.
Whatever difficulties you are experiencing in your life right now, I am willing to explore them with you in a safe and confidential setting. I have a very good track record of helping clients to manage their depression, anxiety or other difficult feelings, accept themselves better and enhance their emotional well-being. I work with clients in English or French.
As a counsellor, I believe in the central importance of establishing a working relationship in which my client feels safe and understood and in using that relationship as part of the therapeutic process. I am also interested in exploring the influence of childhood and other past experiences on a client's current difficulties and in working with the unconscious. This enables me to help clients understand themselves at a deeper level so that they can bring about long-lasting change.
I am doing an advanced training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in order to be able to work with clients at greater depth. I am interested in a wide range of psychoanalytic thinking, including those approaches that are critical of classical Freudian or Kleinian psychoanalysis and of the discipline's history of misogyny and of oppressing sexual minorities. I draw on the strands of psychoanalytic thinking that are questioning of traditional views on gender, sexuality and many other issues.
As part of my psychoanalytic training and my wider self-development, I am engaged in learning about the impact of institutional and societal discrimination, including racism, and reflecting on my position as a white, cisgendered and non-disabled man within this system.
Being an Accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) means that, in addition to having completed a a BACP-recognised course, I have achieved high standards of knowledge, experience and development.
I have extensive experience of working with gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people and supporting them to manage any difficulties they may be experiencing. Many of the individuals I see struggle with low self-esteem, shame, relationship problems, difficulties with intimacy, addictive behaviours and past traumas. As a member of Pink Therapy, I am committed to working with people in a way that respects gender and sexual diversity and that is accepting of non-traditional relationships.
I have worked with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and with people affected by bereavement, including traumatic loss (e.g. as a result of suicide, very sudden illness or accidental overdose).