My name is Samantha McEwan. I am a mental health nurse and BACP registered psychotherapist in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. 

Over 25 years of core profession experience as a mental health nurse has underpinned and enhanced my psychotherapy practice with a framework for high standards of ethical, clinical and professional practice. It also means that I have a deeper understanding of mental health conditions, their causes and impact, and a higher degree of comfort, sensitivity and skill in working with people who experience both mild and highly complex mental health difficulties. I also consider physical health and wellbeing and the effects of medication.

I now work solely in private practice helping people work through a wide range of difficulties affecting their mental health and wellbeing in their personal, relational or working lives such as:

• social or generalised anxiety and panic
• depression
• low self-esteem and confidence
• overthinking and rumination
• poor emotion regulation 
• chronic physical illness
• attachment and relationship issues
• binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa 
• childhood trauma such as neglect or abuse 
• chronic or complex trauma and PTSD/ cPTSD
• career difficulties, workplace stress, bullying or burnout

Clients experience a supportive, compassionate, and trauma-informed approach based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy but from the perspective of understanding and working with the impact of early or adult life experiences on wellbeing, self identity and relationships. 

Additional therapies I integrate depending on individual client needs are: 

• ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• CFT- Compassion Focused Therapy
• DBT- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy skills, 
• Mindfulness Based CBT (adapted for trauma)
• Trauma therapy using systemic, somatic and cognitive processing approaches, and attachment focused therapy.

A holistic approach

Our physical and psychological wellbeing are deeply connected. My practice is underpinned by a holistic apprioach that addresses the impact of physical conditions on mental health as well as the physiological symptoms that can occur with anxiety, depression and trauma, for example. 

Reconnecting with your life and future

Often when difficult experiences affect our health and wellbeing we can lose our sense of agency, identity, self-worth, strengths, boundaries and purpose - therapy can help you to foster reconnection with these.