Shireen Maclennan - Profile

Thanks for looking at my profile and a very warm welcome.

As a therapist , I am particularly interested in working with those you have relationship issues. Much of what we understand about ourselves comes from what others think of us. I have been trained to work with people who feel distressed by their resultant relational perspectives, which can lead to despair from social anxiety.

We are given no choices about the families we are born into. That is not to say that we live with bad people but more that our values and beliefs can differ from theirs. This can cause us to feel confused about who we really are. This feeling of dissonance can lead to us engaging in patterns of behaviour that present as negative during social interactions. Having such experiences with other people leads to persisting difficulties in our lives that affect both our work as well as our home life and most importantly we become convinced that we are useless or angry people. This negative self-image then stops us from engaging with everything in life and we can feel stuck, depressed, anxious and disengaged with our own lives. We can start to feel deep resentment toward others and adopt a blame culture as a result of the injustice we feel. We can also adopt unconscious systems of self-protection (OCD, binge eating etc) which are meant to help us feel safe but in reality achieve the opposite.

There are key times in our lives when such feelings arise after a possible period of absence such as :

Changes in life circumstances, difficulties in friendship issues, young adults and their difficulties in facing an new world of adulthood, Divorce or not having a partner or marriage/ partnership issues, Empty nest syndrome , Death of a loved one and loss of income.

My training helps you untangle those feelings and clarify your perceptions, allowing you to prioritise; to connect or even re-connect with the things that really matter to you. This new knowledge about yourself leads to a more free you, allowing you to choose your response to life instead of having to react to incoming issues and situations.

I have worked for Phoenix counselling which brings people from different walks of life into the therapy room. This broad experience has given me the ability to relate to people in many different ways and this has taught me my craft.

I have also worked at the Kingston Women’s Centre where I developed any understanding of women’s lives and how they are impacted by their place in the world . The deep wounds some of us carry, for example: Body issues linked to love and intimacy, motherhood, menopause and divorce. They challenge us and require attention and reflection which I can help with.

Before therapy, I have previously worked in a highly pressurised sales environment with political parties. I know what work stress is and how burn out occurs and how it affects self-esteem.