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Fr Mark Smith BA Psych (SA) Dip Th (St Paul's)
I founded Mind Friends because of the growing mental health crisis among young people across the world but especially in Britain. I am also passionate about education and the philosophical underpinnings of every academic discipline. I am a fully qualified mindfulness & compassion therapist, school chaplain, teacher, very amateur poet and long term meditator and mentor and I wanted to help people to deal with the pressures we all face in life. As you browse this site you will find that I teach Philosophy, helping young people to apply wisdom to every day life and run a Mind Friends Podcast for students. I offer individual therapy, either in person or online. I train teachers to run fun Philosophy events called Philosothons where young people experience learning in a context of friendship and develop important academic skills which are invaluable at school and university. I also run Mindfulness retreats for groups at certain times in the year and I am available to speak to groups by invitation. There are also guided meditations to download on this site. Testimonials "Mark provided excellent support to help me get through challenging times in my life. He is patient, caring and understanding. As well as coping in the present, Mark has given me the techniques to build up my way of thinking and provided me with long-term strategies to enable me to live, and see my life, in a whole new positive way. Thank you." - "I initially sought Mark’s counselling advice during summer 2016 in order to address issues and concerns that had recently surfaced about my past and concerns and fears that I had about the future. My wife had found details of Mark’s clinic on the internet. So after meeting Mark at the initial consultation which was free of charge, I booked a course of 8 sessions at Mark’s well-being clinic in Taunton on Thursday evenings to find out more about the practice of Mindfulness. My course with Mark ran throughout the autumn and after a short break in December, we resumed the course for our final meeting on 23 January which was also attended by my wife. I wholeheartedly recommend Mark’s service to you, because I am certain that his caring and supportive nature, as well as his extensive experience and knowledge as a Mindfulness practitioner, will help you in the same way that Mark has helped me. He is patient, understanding and is able to unravel the most complex issue and use mindfulness techniques to get one’s life back ‘on-track’. This is a dynamic course in as much as the techniques taught by Mark must be consolidated between meetings to gain the maximum benefit. I can testify that Mark’s feedback, support and enduring encouragement was able to restore my well-being to the level it previously was in spring last year. Thank you so very much, Mark. Regards ...." |
Bio
Finally, to get the "bio" out of the way, I am married to Sharon and we have 4 adult sons. I have devoted the last 30 years to teaching and counselling in schools and local communities both in S Africa and in the UK. Much of my experience has been with young people and in relationship counselling. I am a Franciscan with a love for animals and I run a sensory mini-farm at King's College in Somerset, UK. My other interests include gardening, playing the guitar and writing poetry.
Finally, to get the "bio" out of the way, I am married to Sharon and we have 4 adult sons. I have devoted the last 30 years to teaching and counselling in schools and local communities both in S Africa and in the UK. Much of my experience has been with young people and in relationship counselling. I am a Franciscan with a love for animals and I run a sensory mini-farm at King's College in Somerset, UK. My other interests include gardening, playing the guitar and writing poetry.