About Diarmid
I am a member of the British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Scottish Massage Therapists Organisation and adhere to the professional codes of ethics of each organisation.
Whilst living in the USA from 1998 to 2002, I gained a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). This course of study included a two year placement in an urban counselling centre, now called the Centre for Somatic Psychotherapy. I first experienced Hakomi in the course of this degree and that taste of the method inspired me so much that I decided to take the full, four year training and master Hakomi upon my return to the UK. I am now fully trained by the International Hakomi Education Network, a team lead by Ron Kurtz, the creator of the method.
Whilst in San Francisco I also completed training in Swedish Massage at the San Francisco School of Massage and received a certificate which met the standards for the Scottish Massage Therapists Organisation. I have since worked in clinics such as The Harvest Clinic, Shiatsu Natural and Recharge in the West End of Glasgow.
As part of my Counselling Psychology degree I went through more than two years of personal therapy on myself, which helped me to grow and understand myself more clearly. Hakomi training is mostly experiential with trainees learning by doing the work on each other, so this training has also provided me with a lot of deep personal therapeutic experience, absolutely essential for being able to help other people and understand the nature of a therapeutic process.
Between 2005 and 2008 I worked as a stress management therapist in South Lanarkshire, using both counselling and massage skills to help local people reduce the stress in their lives. Since leaving that job I have been building my private Practice in Glasgow’s West End.
I like to bring personal authenticity and a sense of humour to my work where appropriate, as I feel these elements are essential in any healthy human relationship. My style is thus creative, experimental, playful and informal whilst needless to say maintaining essential professional boundaries at all times.
I am a keen meditator and am deeply inspired by the Buddhist path of compassion and awakening in my work and my life.
