About Dr Vicki
I'm Dr Vicki Mackay, a psychologist and speaker with over a decade of experience helping people understand the patterns that shape how they think, feel, behave and relate to themselves and others.
I'm particularly interested in what happens when our sense of worth becomes tied to getting things right, achieving, being useful or meeting other people's expectations.
On the outside, this can look like being capable, conscientious and dependable. But underneath, it can mean constantly trying to keep the plates spinning, struggling to say no, overthinking decisions, putting things off for fear of getting them wrong, or never quite feeling that what you do is enough.
My work is about understanding what's driving these patterns - and developing a different relationship with achievement, expectations and yourself.
My Background
My career has taken me across the NHS, educational, private practice and organisational settings, giving me experience of working with people in very different contexts - from individual psychological support to groups, leadership development and workplace wellbeing.
Across those settings, I've repeatedly been interested in the same question: what drives the patterns we can see on the surface?
Today, my work spans therapy and psychologically informed coaching alongside corporate speaking and workshops. While the settings are different, the thread running through my work is the same: helping people understand the psychology behind how they perform, relate, make decisions and see themselves.
What I'm Interested in
Perfectionism. People-pleasing. Procrastination. Overthinking. Self-doubt. Difficulty saying no.
These can look like separate problems, but I'm interested in what connects them.
For some people, underneath these patterns is a deeply held sense that being accepted, valued or “enough” depends on how well they perform, how useful they are, how little they disappoint others or how successfully they hold everything together.
That can create an exhausting way of living: striving harder when you already feel stretched, avoiding things you aren't sure you'll do well, looking to other people for reassurance, or achieving something only to move the goalposts again.
My approach combines psychological depth with practical application. Rather than simply asking, “How do I stop doing this?”, I'm interested in helping people understand “Why has this pattern made sense for me - and what might it look like to respond differently?”
Working Together
In my individual work, I support people who are used to being capable, responsible and the person others can rely on - but are beginning to recognise how much effort it takes to maintain that role.
You might be struggling with perfectionism, people-pleasing, anxiety, self-doubt or procrastination. You might find it difficult to set boundaries without guilt, make decisions without overthinking them, or pursue something important when there's a possibility you could fail.
Or perhaps life looks relatively successful from the outside, but you're tired of feeling that you always need to be doing more, coping better or becoming a better version of yourself.
Our work creates space to understand these patterns, where they came from and what continues to maintain them - so that change doesn't have to rely on simply trying harder.