Gavin McDonald: Counsellor
When? Fridays at Studio 70
Gavin is a qualified Person Centred Therapist holds a Post Graduate Diploma and Psychotherapy from Strathclyde University. He is Managing Director of LPG Counselling, a Glasgow based counselling practice, which he co-founded with Laura Finnell and Paul Johnson. LPG Counselling’s aims are to make therapy affordable; accessible and to promote the Person Centred approach to therapy.
As a Person centred therapist his focus is on learning what it is like to be you. He aims to enter your world so that he can travel with you, on your mental health journey, and can experience with you the difficulties and joys that you’ll encounter along the way. And although he will not advise you which road to take next: he will accept and respect the decisions you make for yourself even in the times you find it difficult to do this for yourself.
He believes that it is through this acceptance of you fully for who you are that provides the support and freedom that you need in order for you to find the strength to heal and grow. With Gavin, you won’t just look at the bits that don’t work but you’ll also look at the bits that do to fully appreciate the landscape that is your life. You’ll work together to get you to that place where you want to be in your life – and if you don’t get you there, he’ll definitely get you started.
Gavin has experience working with a range of clients, of all ages, with a huge variety of presenting issues. His experience has focused, particularly, with working with people who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community and people suffering from alcohol and drug dependency issues. However, he will work with anyone who feels they could benefit from counselling
Laura Finnell: Counsellor
When? Fridays at Studio 70
Laura is a Person Centred therapist and one of the founding members of LPG Counselling. Her counselling journey began almost 15 years ago when, out of interest, she enrolled on an introductory counselling skills course. From then, she went on to study an HNC in Integrative Counselling with a Diploma in Addiction Counselling, completed a BA in Community Education and most recently, a Post Graduate Diploma in Person Centred Counselling.
While she was studying for her HNC her tutor once remarked during a lecture, “the audacity of me to think I know someone's life better than them”. This comment really moved her and has been incremental in the shaping of her practice massively. It's the reason that she was drawn to the Person Centred Approach as she does not claim to know your life better than you do and cannot possibly know what is best for you and will never attempt to try.
She believes with every fibre of her being that you have the capacity to learn, process and grow: her job is to offer facilitation you on that journey. She will listen empathically to you while you try to figure it all out. Life can be messy and complicated and at times, you may feel trapped, scared, unhappy, lost or alone.
Laura is here to sit with you and support you through the difficult parts; the uncomfortable parts; the parts that don't make sense; the parts that no-one else knows; and be there right alongside you, helping you to untangle it all. Together, with Laura, you will create a safe space to explore all these aspects of yourself and find a way out of the maze.
What is Person Centred Therapy?
Person centred therapy was founded by the research of American psychotherapist Carl Rogers and is a branch of the humanistic therapy: it takes a holistic view of your mental health and places importance on the building of a therapeutic relationship with your therapist.
The core philosophy is, that given the right conditions, people will grow and it’s only when these conditions are limited or non existent that people’s mental health deteriorates.