My name is Stephen McCabe. I am a creative therapist and writer who is inspired by nature, tarot and Buddhism.

I grew up in the working-class suburbs of Liverpool, England, and now live in rural Midlothian, Scotland. I adored wild animals as a child, who I would encounter in city parks amongst the broken glass and litter. However, I lost touch with my nature-connection in my adult life. When I was in my late 30s, I tried my first mindfulness exercises in a local park and it changed my life: it was an awakening to my connection with everything. Little did I know I was practising ecotherapy! Ecotherapy is now at the centre of my therapeutic work, which also encompasses tarot, meditation guidance, and creative work with myth and folklore. It has also led me back into writing, which was my first creative love as a child. My debut novel, Widdershins Around the Mother Tree, will be published by Queer Space – an imprint of Rebel Satori Press – in 2027. You can find out more about my other publications here (as well as reading a biography specifically related to my writing, if that is why you are here).

I am a fully qualified person-centred counsellor and I have completed the ‘Ten Directions’ ecotherapy certificate run by the Tariki Trust, a year-long course informed by Buddhist psychology. I am proud to have now become one of the core tutors for this amazing training programme. I am also the resident ecotherapy practitioner at Health All Round, a beautiful community health project based in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh. I have years of experience providing mental health support in counselling settings and I coordinated Scotland’s national LGBT Helpline for almost a decade. I am fully PVG checked, insured and Outdoor First Aid trained. Feel free to ask to see these documents or copies of my qualifications. Thanks for being here :)