Mick Hartley Practitioner Page
Meet Mick Hartley at Leeds Complementary
Mick Hartley is our Psychotherapist at Leeds Complementary who loves supporting people in reaching their potential. He gains deep satisfaction from being with people as they grow and develop and loves to witness people making the changes they never thought possible helping
Meet Mick Hartley
I have a warm, relaxed manner and most people find me easy to engage with. It’s really important that we can have a trusting relationship for therapy to be effective so I offer an initial consultation for you to test this out.
Through my own personal work I understand how difficult it can be to face aspects of oneself. I will therefore always respect where you are at and help you move towards where you want to be at a pace which feels right for you. This doesn’t mean I won’t offer challenge. I see my role as supporting you by helping you integrate what is on the edge of your awareness. And I will endeavour to do this with empathy and with the emphasis on your growth and development.
My Qualifications are RMN, BSc (Psychol.) CTA, UKCP Reg. Psychotherapist
Find Relief
From
Your Pain
I began my career doing voluntary work within the NHS in 1985. In 1986 I started working full-time at the Kanner Unit at High Royds Hospital near Menston, Leeds. This was a specialised children’s unit and offered high quality care for children under the age of 11 years.
I trained as a Registered Mental Nurse in York and qualified in 1993. I then immediately embarked on a degree in psychology at Lancaster University with the ambition for further studies to become a Clinical Psychologist.
During this time I started a course in Transactional Analysis psychotherapy essentially to augment my CV for application to a course in Clinical Psychology.
However I loved the approach and skill level that psychotherapy had to offer so I decided to stay on this path rather than pursue my original ambition. What changed my direction was the emphasis on the therapist having their own therapy. I saw this as very egalitarian rather than therapist as expert. It also gave me insight into how difficult change can be.
There have been two main questions I realised I have been trying to answer throughout my life which came back to the foreground when I started my psychotherapy training, namely, who am I and what is reality? I felt that my best chance of answering these two questions was through developing myself as a psychotherapist.
In 1996, upon completing my degree, I started to develop my private practice whilst working within the acute psychiatric services in York. I have had a full-time practice since 1998.
During this time I have connected with and explored different forms of psychotherapy, Gestalt, Jungian, Kleinian, Integrative Psychotherapy as well as various spiritual practices which now inform my work.
Quote: “The sculptures already exist I just chip away the excess marble.” Michelangelo
“I remember when I first decided that I could not go on as I was and googled psychotherapist. I was terrified and desperate. Thank goodness you were the one that came up as I know if I had not liked the person I would probably not have tried another one.
Little did I know how life changing and important this relationship would end up being. I have moved from being a very depressed, crushed person into someone who is comfortable and confident in my own skin. You have helped me work through both long standing issues and traumatic life events. This has led to me taking steps that I would never have made room for before, such as going to Uni and starting my own business.
Mick is one of the smartest people I know and what we have achieved in that weird little room week after week is nothing short of remarkable. I sometimes catch myself being patient, calm, kinder and laugh at how I would have dealt with it previous to therapy. I used to be very ashamed of having to see a therapist, I thought I would come a couple of times get fixed and then leave. I am now very proud of the work we have done together and recommend it to everyone.”
Jenn