My name is Samantha McEwan. I am a BACP registered psychotherapist and mental health nurse, providing psychological therapy in central Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, and also online via Zoom for my clients who are further afield.

I have over 25 years experience as a registered mental health nurse which has underpinned and enhanced my psychotherapy practice with high standards of clinical, ethical, and professional practice.

I have a deeper understanding of mental health difficulties and their impact, and a higher degree of expertise and sensitivity in working with people who experience mild through to highly complex mental health issues, such as trauma. I consider physical health needs, the effects of medication and take a 'whole person', holistic approach.

Therapy with me

I help my clients 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

My clients experience a supportive, compassionate, and trauma-informed approach from the perspective of understanding and working with the impact of early or adult life experiences on wellbeing, identity and relationships. 

Therapies I integrate depending on individual client needs are:

• CBT-Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
• 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
• Schema informed therapy

Reconnecting with life and future

Often when difficult experiences affect our health and wellbeing we can lose our sense of control, identity, self-worth, strengths and boundaries - therapy can support reconnection with these. 

In therapy I work with my clients to:

• Identify what you'd like to be better or different- and what 'better' looks like for you
• Explore and process emotions and past experiences that may have created difficulties
• Explore impact of experiences that may have changed how you think about yourself, life and relationships or work
• Develop, re-build and move forward with renewed sense of self, wellbeing and purpose