Hilary McNair

Sessions available on a Tuesday morning (for any client) or Friday afternoon (children and young people only)

About me

Hello. Is life a struggle for you at present? I feel passionate about coming alongside clients. With over 10 years counselling experience I offer walk and talk therapy alongside phone, Zoom, email and face to face work. I also own a certified therapy dog! I'd love to hear from you.

How counselling can help you?

Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with life's problems. This can feel like a very lonely place to be. We may want to share our feelings with a friend, but sometimes this doesn't feel like enough, or the problem may feel too difficult, personal or embarrassing to share. It is at times like these that talking to a fully qualified Professional Counsellor in a non-judgmental, empathic setting can offer new hope.

About myself

I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Hilary McNair and I am passionate about helping people through the process of counselling. I have over 10 years of experience in this field. I feel privileged to come alongside people in their difficulties, show compassion, and walk part of their journey with them. Sometimes having someone to really listen to you in a confidential setting can bring relief and can provide new insight into your situation. You bring your expertise about yourself and your inner resources and I bring my professional knowledge, skills and experience of the counselling process. Together, in this relationship of trust, we can tackle the problems as a team and try to come to a new understanding. Having someone understand us at a deep level can be a very healing experience.

I have an honours degree in counselling and am co-founder of Counselling World, where we train counsellors and offer CPD to qualified counsellors. I am also currently training in spiritual accompaniment (sometimes known as spiritual direction or soul friend).  You can find out more about my qualifications and experience on my website (https://hmcounsellingblog.wordpress.com/).

I very much look forward to hearing from you.

How I work

My approach to counselling is integrative and relational. As part of this integration, I draw aspects of the theories mentioned below. My core theory is gestalt, which focuses on what is happening in the here and now and includes creative techniques. Sometimes we can fall into unhelpful patterns of relating and responding, which may once have been helpful, but may no longer be so.  In raising awareness of these patterns, new choices open up and change becomes more possible.

I offer Walk and Talk therapy, giving you the opportunity to draw upon nature in our work together.  Research shows that working in nature can be hugely healing in itself.  When walking side by side, it can feel less daunting when sharing deeply personal experiences.

I own a certified therapy dog, Oscar, who will be a very willing co-therapist on request. Oscar is experienced in working in a variety of settings, including a college and a school.  Feedback given indicates that his presence has a calming effect on those he is with.

As well as offering sessions in person, by phone or on Zoom, I also offer email counselling, giving you the flexibility to decide when you respond. This way of working can offer you more time to think about my responses in our work together. For more information, please see my website.

I am currently doing a course on Christian Spiritual Accompaniment (sometimes known as spiritual direction), which I will be offering to clients soon.

What to expect:

It is sometimes hard to take the first step in asking for counselling. It may feel difficult to verbalise your problems. I know what a struggle this can be from my own experience of being a client. Do feel free to email me for more information or phone me to ask more questions. Sometimes it can feel safer to start by emailing or phoning with your questions anonymously, without any obligation to take things further.

At our first meeting you would be able to find out what you want to know about myself, my approach and my experience, to see if this is what you are looking for. You would be able to share what it is that brings you for counselling. It won't matter if you feel muddled about how you put this across, or if you feel very emotional. These feelings are quite normal. You will have the opportunity to share with me what you hope to get from the counselling process and I will tell you what I can offer you. You would be able to decide whether or not you would like to continue working together and we can discuss how many sessions would be appropriate for your needs.