“Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it ”
Joseph Campbell
ABOUT ME
Mark Hammond BA (Hons) DPC PGdip MBACP RCOT
Based in the North East of England, I am a dual qualified Humanistic, Integrative, Psychotherapeutic Counsellor for Adults with a specialism working with Children and Adolescents. If you're wondering what all this means (you're definitely not alone!) one of my chief aims with this website and the writing I publish here is to explain the multitudinous aspects of a variety of therapies and to hopefully demystify/bring some clarity to them.
In my experience as both the therapist and client I see and have personally felt much confusion over who offers what, where you go for that, how you access this and what means what! I am also developing a website - en-psych-lopedia - which will eventually contain a whole host of jargon-busting definitions to help navigate what is an often-times dense and overwhelming world of big, fancy words. In the meantime the below will hopefully shed some light. For now, Humanistic very basically means that I offer empathy and unconditional positive regard for your perspective and Integrative means I am able to draw from a number of modalities rather than offering strictly one way of working.
I am trained in Transactional Analysis and I like to work creatively, drawing from my own passions like music, storytelling and art. Children typically engage in therapy in this manner; there is a lof creativity and play involved! However, that does not mean that children will not want to talk about their struggles, and at the same time, whilst adolescents and adults typically talk, it does not mean that they will not want to engage in play or creativity to connect with their inner worlds.
​
I qualified as a child practitioner in 2021 and subsequently began working for a charity and a primary school. Whilst working with children in school I simultaneously counselled adult clients in order to obtain professional experience and then qualified as an adult practitioner in 2024.
​​​​
What I do
​
Essentially, I offer the chance for you to 'find your bliss station'. I know this sounds a bit hokey but hear me out. I believe that within us all is the way of being that we all wish to arrive at, but that this place can so often feel so distant thanks to external factors cloaked in numerous guises diverting us from our route. Guises like the demands of our responsibilities and the roles taken on or assigned to us therein, from childhood to adulthood. Relational roles and responsibilities as a family member, parent, child or guardian; work, school, finances, friendships, community, gender, age. The list is enormous. With the ever-accelerating pace of life and ever-expanding connectivity to a 'Global Village' with its constant information and social media bombardment it's little wonder you aren't often your priority.
I offer 50 minute sessions that are completely yours; uninterrupted and wholly contained. Don't we all want to be listened to and heard? Attention gets such a bad rap - there's nothing wrong with wanting or needing attention - it is a completely natural requirement of every human being, children especially. How many children are dismissed as 'attention-seeking'? The fact is, children are seeking attention. They are seeking attention for a reason and they must be seen and heard.
During your sessions you will have my fullest attention and together we can explore your world, with compassionate curiosity. Together we can meet with any conflicts and find a way forward, so that you can develop your insight and feed your growth, for yourself.
​
Within my blog writings you will find my philosophy of responsibility and accountability. For me, therapy is about taking the responsibility to 'do the work'; to investigate our inner lives to better understand how we relate to the outer world. This can have a life-changing impact on our relationships and our 'way of being'.
​
'The relationships between observable phenomena are more important than the phenomena themselves' - Claude Lévi-Strauss.
​
Underneath everything are blissings in disguise.
​
EXPERIENCE
6 years' training with the Northern Guild of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 400+ hours working with young children, adolescents and adults in school settings and the charity sector. My main modality is Transactional Analysis.
With the onset of Covid 19 and restrictions I completed a 9 hour course in April 2020 ‘Moving Your Practice Online’ by Kate Anthony via the Online Therapy Institute. I then re-entered my practice with adolescents. In June I then completed 12 hours of training - ‘Introduction to Working Online with Children and Young People’ via Online Events. I have maintained my practice online throughout the pandemic. Over the last year I have completed a vast range of courses including:
Exploring Anger Using Creative Techniques
Jung and Transactional Analysis
Masks and Mirrors: A Look into Transference and Countertransference
Physis, Intuition and Autonomy: Reconnecting to Self, Others and the World
Power, Privilege and Difference in the Clinical Relationship
Rupture Inside a Rupture
Self-harm
The Psychotherapy of Unconscious Relational Patterns
Tracing Trauma
Using Neuroscience to Pull Through the Current Mental Health Crisis with Dan Siegel
Safeguarding Children and Adults
​
Participated in 100 hours of group therapy. This helped develop insight into how I relate to others and the role(s) I adopt in group. This was some of the most enriching work I have done so far in my career and has helped me considerably in how I approach all of my relationships
​
Attended 'Warriors of Light' Shaman Training covering:
Sachamama flow in the South, Earth Keeper connection, initiation rites, the medicine wheel, making shaman water for cleansing, illuminations, sand painting, South/West flow and the elements of Earth & water. Tracking and cleansing, medicine songs, protection rites, Munay-Ki; Bands of power and fire ceremony. 'Shamanic energy medicine will begin to clear the imprints of disease from your luminous energy field, your “life-matrix” and through shamanic energy medicine and soul retrieval you will recover parts of your essential self that were lost to the trials and tribulations of your life' (pertinent to the Campbell quote above)
​
I have led yoga and mindfulness sessions for young carers via a Teeside-based charity. I have practised yoga since 2012 and attended a week-long retreat in Bali in 2019
​
I have published writing in various poetry journals and have had essays/articles published on websites such as Thought Catalog, Sivana East, and Psychreg. I have contributed articles to the UKCP's flagship periodical, New Psychotherapist. In 2023 I was offered a publishing contract via Olympia for a book I have written called Victims, Aren't We All?
EDUCATION
-
Anglia Ruskin University, 2021, PGdip (level 7) Children and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing
-
Northern Guild, 2024, Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling Adults (level 6)
-
Northern Guild, 2021, Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling Children and Adolescents (level 6)
-
Open University, 2016, BA (Hons) Humanities with Creative Writing
-
Certified in Health and Social Care
SPECIALTIES
-
Adults, Children, and Adolescents
-
Relationship Issues
-
Stress and trauma
-
Anxiety and depression
-
Bereavement, grief and loss
As a fully qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP) my work meets high standards of proficiency, professionalism and ethical practice.
​
The BACP Register is a public record of counsellors and psychotherapists who meet or exceed our recommended minimum quality standards. These standards cover training, supervision, continuing professional development and a contractual commitment to the BACP's Ethical Framework.
It was the first psychological therapists' register to be accredited under the Professional Standards Authority's accredited register programme. This government-backed scheme aims to protect the public by helping them to choose health and care professionals who are competent and trustworthy.
​
I am fully insured with Balens, I have an enhanced DBS, and adhere to data protection laws in relation to GDPR.
CONTACT ME
I have access to private therapy rooms in North Tyneside and I can offer sessions online. Contact me to arrange an online chat (no obligation) or to ask me any questions
ADDRESS
Gateshead
Tyne and Wear
UK