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Welcome to Fully Human!
I have been working in private practice since 1999, first in Canberra, Australia, and from July 2010 in the Scottish Highlands. I am an Accredited psychotherapist registered with the BACP, and also accredited with COSCA and the NCPS. I work with adult individuals (18+), couples, families and groups, and I offer supervision and training for the public and for professionals.
- Fully Human has a policy of non-discrimination and is welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community and to people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, faiths and creeds.
- Fully Human is not affiliated with any faith or religion, but is open-minded and always welcoming to people’s spiritual beliefs and practices.In addition to the information on this site, I invite you to read the booklets I have published on grief and adjustment to change, anxiety, trauma, and relationships, as well as my more general book, Therapy Without A Therapist. These short, accessible books cover some of the most common reasons people seek therapy, and will give you a good sense of how I think about mental health and my work — and whether I might be the right person for you.
Please be aware
- My approach to psychotherapy is not suitable for people seeking to feel a little better, manage symptoms, or find a ‘quick fix’. There is nothing wrong with wanting relief from suffering — but my approach is for people who want to fulfil their potential and become all they have they can become.
- Feeling better and symptom reduction are natural by-products of moving towards your innate potential. Humans don’t thrive when all they’re permitted to do is survive, cope, or manage symptoms. Moving towards our potential requires real changes to brain architecture — to how our brain is connected.
- Change in how we feel, think, and behave — and how we relate to ourselves and others — doesn’t happen in some abstract space. It happens in the brain. For change to be lasting, something in the brain has to change. Real, effective psychotherapy is therefore about changes to brain connectivity. Therapists can’t change a client’s brain directly, but they can provide everything needed for that change to happen. (See Therapy Without A Therapist for everything you need to know about what therapy really is and how I think about my work.)
- Therapy is not a ‘confessional’ and is not a space to ‘whitewash’ harmful or criminal behaviour. Therapists do not judge feelings or inner experience — but feelings and actions are not the same thing. Where someone’s behaviour has been harmful to themselves or others, or is criminal, therapists are within their rights to place the needs of vulnerable people — such as children — ahead of the client’s. Therapy can help people take responsibility, grow, make amends, and avoid repeating harmful patterns of behaviour and bad choices.
- Therapists do not have the power to ‘forgive’ people for things they did to others or to themselves. Forgiveness of self or others is a complex concept that each person has to work out for themselves. Therapy can help with that, but it cannot offer forgiveness.
Waiting Period — there can be a waiting period of 3 to 6 weeks for a first appointment. If it is urgent for you to see someone, please do not wait. You can try the BACP Find A Therapist facility or the COSCA Directory to locate another therapist in your area. Other options are to ask a GP or someone you trust for a referral.
Address: Unit 5, Old School, Cawdor IV12 5BL
© 2008-2026 Avigail Abarbanel.