“My name is Rachel McIlree and I have been a counsellor for 20 years. In recent years I have been based in the Counselling Unit at the University of Strathclyde, returning to where I had once been a student myself, although in those days of course it was the Jordonhill campus. I now enjoy being part of the team of tutors on our MSc courses, here at Strathclyde.

Since qualifying as a counsellor I have been lucky to work with many fascinating people in a wide range of services – as a counsellor, a supervisor and as a trainer. Initially trained in the Person-centred Approach this continues to the be the theoretical base for how I practice and how I make any sense of myself, others and the world. I am also a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and until recently have been involved in delivering CBT training too, developing a special interest in respectful discourse among therapeutic modalities, learning from one another as well as noticing and valuing important and significant differences.

I think this outlook has grown out of my experiences in my first field of study which was Theology. This established an enduring curiosity as to how we might better relate to differences we meet in one another, and also within ourselves, whether these encounters are welcome, wonderful, baffling or particularly difficult. I am appreciative of all the folks and communities who have contributed to my own experiences in this along the way, for their generosity with their own experiences!

Now working primarily with students and supervisee’s, I am continually moved by how often the extraordinary is to be found in the ordinary and how 20 years on in this world of counselling and psychotherapy, I can still anticipate surprise and the unexpected.”