Collaborative Working with our Third Sector and Health and Social Care

Cat McCaw began teaching in and around Perthshire in 2013, drawing on her background as a mental health nurse and many years of dedicated personal practice. She has extensive experience supporting individuals and groups through mindfulness, compassion-based training, and healing relaxation.

Cat offers courses and group sessions in local communities including Perth, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Blairgowrie, as well as one-to-one sessions to help people bring mindful awareness and compassion into everyday life and moments of difficulty. She also provides mentoring and supervision for other mindfulness teachers.

Cat has completed mindfulness and compassion training through , Aberdeen University, The Mindfulness Association, The Centre for Mindful Self-Compassion and a PGDip in Compassion Focused Therapy from The Compassionate Mind Foundation.

Over the years, she has partnered with organisations such as the Wellbeing Support Team, The University of the Highlands and Islands , Perth and Kinross Council, the Care and Wellbeing Collective, and, with The Mindful Partnership, Tayside Council on Alcohol.

At the heart of her work is meeting people where they are, recognising that any moment can be a meaningful starting point. Through her own journey, she’s discovered that real change doesn’t mean becoming someone different — it means learning to relate to ourselves and our experiences with greater kindness and understanding.

Christine Dewar is a highly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist with over 40 years of work in therapeutic, educational, and contemplative settings. She holds multiple academic and professional qualifications from the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, including:

• BD Hons in Counselling and Pastoral Care
• PGDE in Education
• Postgraduate Diploma in Mindfulness Studies & Compassion
• SIHR Certificate in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy & NLP
• Msc Studies in Mindfulness & Compassion (Dip)
• Mindfulness Teacher Training (MA)
• Supervision in both Counselling and Mindfulness

Her integrative therapeutic approach combines person-centred, psychodynamic, and contemplative methods with somatic, trauma-informed, and subtle energy healing practices. Christine has worked extensively with both adults and young people and has provided voluntary support through NHS chaplaincy services.

As a trainer and supervisor, she delivers CPD, retreats, and workshops in Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Buddhist psychology, and emotional wellbeing. She is a Mindfulness Teacher & Supervisor (Mindfulness Association )and lead trainer/ consultant of The Mindful Partnership (SCO51766), a charity offering wellbeing programmes across Scotland.

Christine’s work is deeply rooted in contemplative practice, influenced by her early training with Akong Tulku Rinpoche and the Tara Rokpa process. Her lifelong inquiry into suffering, healing, and human transformation shapes her personal and professional path.

“What matters most is the heart from which action arises. Even in the darkest moments, healing and transformation remain possible. My work is grounded in this commitment—to accompany others in discovering their own capacity for wholeness and compassion.”