John Mackessy

John Mackessy


Registered Member MBACP (Accredited)

Contact information

Phone number
07809 158 919

Contact John


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Supervisor - London

London N1
07809 158 919
Sessions from £80.00

Features

  • Flexible hours available
  • Concessionary rates

Availability

My availability for individual supervision is mainly weekdays during the daytime, and my individual practice is online.

Some concessionary spaces are available during daytime hours.

For group supervision I may well be able to attend on site in the London area.

About me and my therapy practice

After over a decade as a therapist and counsellor, I trained and qualified as a supervisor in 2012 and since then I have supervised therapists, psychologists and counsellors from many different modalities - Psychodynamic, Gestalt, Person-Centred, TA, Integrative and others.

My own practice is Integrative but I do not try to force an integrative perspective upon my supervisees, and so I have provided focused supervision to those working within modalities (both individually and in groups). I've also worked with mixed modality groups, which was an enriching experience. There are modalities where I don't have the depth of knowledge or experience to be the right choice as a supervisor and I will be honest about this if we come to discuss the possibility of working together.

My approach to supervision is to support the autonomy and practice of the supervisee. That doesn't mean a lack of input from me, but it does mean that I am aware that I am not the one in the room and that the supervisee actually has a living relationship with their client which needs to be respected. There is also far more that they'll be aware of re their clients than they can ever articulate to me. So, although I own my clinical responsibility as a supervisor, I don't try to do 'therapy by remote-control'. 

If we think about the three dimensions of supervision (the formative, normative and restorative), there will be times when supervisees need different things from me. Sometimes, particularly for trainees, they may need to draw upon my depth of experience and knowledge, but equally they may need to be 'cared for' in times of difficulty and self-doubt or just to say 'I haven't got a bloody clue what's going on!' or 'I'm feeling overwhelmed'.

I try to balance these three dimensions in supervision so that my supervisees know that my care is for them as well as for the clients. This involves support but also some challenge and helping supervisees to challenge themselves and to deepen their practice.

Practice description

Most of my supervision sessions begin with a grounding exercise to bring us back into our bodies and the here and now.

The structure of the session is something that we agree during contracting and can vary somewhat depending on the supervisee's modality and needs.

It's usually better if the supervisee 'drives' the session, i.e., they're largely setting the agenda, and for this to work it's usually helpful if they've done a wee bit of prep and come with a sense of what they may want to explore and what they may need from the session.

In that regard, too, we'll both need to make sure that there is space to discuss and keep an eye on any safeguarding or other significant client concerns.

I've provided supervision in a number of settings beyond private practice, including universities and charitable organizations. The nature of sessions within groups again varies according to the group and its needs.

My first session

I normally suggest an initial talk, and sometime more than one talk, about your supervision needs etc., for which I do not charge.

Different people need different types of focus and attention in supervision and it is helpful to clarify and agree some of this before the supervision itself begins.

I've worked with a number of supervisees who have previously experienced quite authoritarian or even abusive supervision, which can include unboundaried, uncontained or 'wild' supervision. So a space to begin to unpack some of this and to talk about one's hopes and fears re supervision can also be very important.

What I can help with

Abuse, ADD / ADHD, AIDS/HIV, Anger management, Anxiety, Autism spectrum, Bereavement, Cancer, Child related issues, Cultural issues, Depression, Development coaching, Disability, Eating disorders, Health related issues, Identity issues, LGBTQ+ counselling, Life coaching, Loss, Menopause, Men's issues, Mood disorder, Personal development, Post-traumatic stress, Redundancy, Relationships, Self esteem, Self-harm, Sexual identity, Sexuality, Spirituality, Stress, Trauma, Women's issues, Work related issues

Types of therapy

CBT, Existential, Gestalt, Humanistic, Integrative, Interpersonal, Narrative therapy, Person centred, Phenomenological, Psychodynamic, Relational, Solution focused brief therapy, Transactional analysis

Clients I work with

Adults, Groups, Organisations, Trainees

How I deliver therapy

Long term sessions, Online therapy, Short term sessions, Telephone therapy, Time-limited