Marion Blain
Counsellor in Glasgow

As an experienced counsellor, supervisor and registered therapist I offer individual counselling in Glasgow including telephone and online. Day and evening appointments are available. Mindful of the needs of city centre workers for a counsellor close to work I offer lunchtime and early morning appointments.

I work with, and welcome, clients of all ages, disabilities, genders, sexualities, relationship styles, beliefs (including priests, ministers and members of religious congregations) and cultures. members of religious congregations) and cultures.

I use two therapeutic approaches, Psychodynamic Counselling and Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy.

Psychodynamic Counselling considers all of your experiences, exploring the conscious and unconscious, looking at how these impact on your daily life and relationships.

Internal Family Systems is a Mindfulness based therapy working with your internal conflicts including those parts of you that seem to hold you back from engaging with the world as you would like.

These approaches can help with a wide range of issues (personal, work or student-related) such as anxiety, stress, depression, eating issues, suicidal thoughts, relationships, bullying, bereavement, addictions (e.g. alcohol, drugs, sex) and sexual identity. However, what you bring to explore in therapy will be personal and unique to you for your own journey of self-development.

I work with any sexuality, gender and relationship style from an affirmative perspective.

I recognise that taking the first step of starting therapy can be difficult and will work sensitively to make this as easy as possible.

"Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it." - Brené Brown

Background & Counselling Qualifications

Training, Qualifications and Experience

Therapeutic Qualifications:
Certificate in Creative Supervision (2020)
Certificate in Psychoanalytic Observation Studies (2017)
Internal Family Systems Levels 1 & 2 (2016)
Comprehensive Resource Model (Level 1) (2014)
Pink Therapy - Gender and Sexual Diversity Therapy (2014)
Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling (2011)
BA Applied Social Studies (Social Work) (1986)
Scottish Council on Alcohol Counselling (1985)

Couples Qualifications

Intimacy From The Inside Out (IFIO) (2018)

Academic Qualifications:

Diploma in Legal Practice (Strathclyde University) (1996)
Bachelor of Law (Strathclyde University) (1995)

Further training:
Assist, Child Protection

My Specialisms

Internal Family Systems

The aim of IFS therapy is to enable you to access your True SELF, in essence to LOVE. IFS does so, not by rejecting or ignoring the parts of us that seem problematic (who have been, on many accounts doing a great job for you over the years) but provides a specific way of getting to know these parts and offering a method to unburden and free them from their extreme feelings and beliefs.

Approach to Counselling & How I Work

About Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a transformational counselling method devised by Richard Schwartz of the Center for Self-Leadership, USA. It offers compassion and hope and a way of understanding your inner Self and the parts that make up your personality. IFS therapy can bring healing and transformation of the personality by empowering the Self with all its creative resources to take leadership of the internal system. By doing so, it can heal hurt and fragmented parts of the mind.

This method is used by therapists of all orientations as well as those interested in personal and spiritual growth and its use in professional practice.


The aim of therapy is to enable you to access your True SELF, in essence to LOVE.

Characteristics of SELF include what is called in the IFS Model the 8 ‘C's which include a felt sense of:

Connectedness Courage Calmness Confidence

Curiosity Creativity Compassion Clarity


Internal Family Systems recognizes that not only do we have a true SELF but all also operate with ‘parts' and sometimes these impact on our ability to operate from SELF. IFS breaks these parts into three working categories Managers (proactive and run our daily life), Firefighters (reactive and want to distract us) and Exiles (they hold the memories, the sensations and emotions of difficult events in the past. You might have forgotten the experience in conscious memory or may have minimized the impact but exiles are desperate to be heard and unburdened and therefore continue to show or hide themselves in many ways.)

Managers:

Trying to be perfect; People Pleasing; Taking care of others; Criticizing yourself and others;

Avoiding risks; Worrying; Apathy; Being Passive and Pessimistic;

Controlling your body or your environment or others;Achieving; Striving; Pressuring;

Denial; Numbing; Shutting down; Withdrawal


Firefighters:

Anxiety; Panic; Hyper vigilance; Digestive problems; Pains; Illnesses;

Cravings and impulses in things like using alcohol/drugs/pornography;

Self -harming, Numbing, Eating too much or too little, Sleeping disorders;

Watching too much TV; Spacing out /dissociating;

Sexual acting out e.g. having affairs; Driving dangerously etc.


Exiles:

Emptiness; Shame; Lethargy; Depression; Pain; Depletion of your energy;
Overwhelming emotion and sensations like rage; Feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy;
Feelings of something being ‘wrong' with you.

Therapies & Rates

Please note the rates detailed below are there to give you an idea of the therapists standard rates, we strongly advise you contact the therapist for more detailed rates and any offers they may have.

Therapy	Appointment Type	Rate
Counselling	In Person	£55 per 50 minutes

Additional Rate Information

I offer supervision to qualified therapists. You will see that my therapeutic background is both psychodynamic and IFS. My supervision training, with Jenni Biancardi, was creative and person centred. My fees for 1 hours supervision is £60 and £75 for 90 minutes.