Zaira McIntyre

I am a qualified teacher and integrative counsellor MBACP (Accred) with experience of working with young people for over 19 years. Ranging from teaching in schools, universities and GP surgeries, to working in disadvantaged areas of Brazil, I have endeavoured to help improve the lives of young people through education and therapeutic interventions.

Since 2013, I have provided 1-1 and group therapeutic support for young people suffering from anxiety and depression as well as other problems commonly affecting young people today. I have worked for a variety of NGOs and social projects and provided support for young people with English as a second language who have special educational needs and mental health issues. I have extensive experience in providing both long and short-term focused therapy, and in risk assessment. I am committed to upholding personal professional indemnity insurance, CPD, personal supervision and BACP membership.

I have always been fascinated by human behaviour; what motivates and drives us to do the things that we do. I graduated from Leeds University with a joint honours degree in languages. I then undertook a Post Graduate Certificate in Education enabling me to teach languages at secondary level. I completed a BACP registered Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Child and Adolescent counselling at Terapia, validated by Middlesex University. While studying and working as a teacher, I sought to gain a deeper understanding of children's barriers to learning and achieving their full potential, which are generally associated with their own self-limiting beliefs. This motivated me to embark on a course in Integrative Counselling.

Through immersing myself in psychodynamic and other theories, I have gained invaluable insights into how unconscious forces arising from early life can affect our inner world and the development of our adult self. I believe that we can derive enormous benefit from the process of understanding ourselves and others, and this knowledge has inspired me to make this the focus of my working life as a counsellor, with a particular interest in self development.

My aim is and always has been, to help and support young people to live enriched and fulfilled lives and to maximise their opportunities to reach their full potential.