John Lyndon

Online and in-person sessions at an accessible counselling room in Glasgow city centre. Times include mornings and early evenings, Tue-Fri.

I don’t believe you’re broken. There are troubling things happening in the world right now and the experiences we describe as anxiety, depression, and burnout are rational, understandable responses to a society that expects us to live in ways that hurt us.

I’m a counsellor because I’m deeply interested in the people around me, and in their stories. I know how much it means to all of us to be listened to with real attention and care, so that’s what I try to offer in every session, with every client.

My approach is never about offering you answers or imparting wisdom, it’s about being your companion as you work things out for yourself - and I believe fiercely that everyone can do exactly that within a therapeutic relationship defined by safety and a complete absence of judgement.

To me, counselling is most effective when you as the client have a clear sense of the human being sitting across from you, and you can feel my empathy and my valuing of you as a whole person. I won’t put on any kind of persona in our sessions; I’ll just be me. I’m not going to try to catch you out or make you feel silly - I’m going to take everything you share with me seriously and take real care to understand your experiences.

I’m often told by clients that I’m a warm, calm presence. Those are useful qualities for this job, but I think they come from a real love of people. I’m warm because I find it easy to like and value everyone, even when they’re telling me things that feel hard to admit. I’m calm because I’ve been doing this work and volunteering for mental health helplines for a while now and I know that I can hear about someone’s most painful experiences without being overwhelmed.

If you’re coming to counselling, I know it’s probably because there’s something in your life you’d like to change. I want to help you find that change without ever making you feel like there’s something wrong with you.

I offer a free introductory call of up to 30 minutes for you to get a sense of who I am and how I work. It's really important to find a counsellor who feels like the right match for you, so that what I invite you to pay attention to in that initial conversation. I'd also encourage you to meet with a couple of other counsellors so you can choose the person who feels right to you.

In that initial call, we can talk about what you hope to explore in your counselling sessions, and consider some questions like how often you'd like to meet, and whether you'd prefer to work in person or online.

If you decide to go ahead with me, I'll send you counselling agreement – effectively our contract for working together – and I'll see about arranging a full first session with you.