Helen Hutton: counselling is ‘the compassion of wanting to care for people’

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When I think of Helen Hutton, I think of the warmth of guid conversation.

Born in 1953 in the newly opened Forth Park Hospital and raised in Burntisland. Helen attended the newly opened Balwearie High School before her Mum and Dad, John and Jenny, moved the family along the road to Inverkeithing, prior to this John worked at Burntisland Shipyard

, “Dad was a special forces commando with the army and like many did not talk about it. They were hardworking, it was post-war, and I had four brothers and two sisters and we are a close-knit family,” Helen said.

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At 16, she began working an as assistant bookkeeper for a shipbreaker in Inverkeithing dismantling mainly post-war Naval ships as well as the luxury Cunard ship The Mauretania - “most folk in Inverkeithing had their bedrooms made out of the staterooms,” Helen joked.

Helen Hutton (Pic: Lisa May Young)Helen Hutton (Pic: Lisa May Young)
Helen Hutton (Pic: Lisa May Young)

At 21, she met her husband, Andrew, whilst working in a local pub for his aunt. In 1974, Helen embarked on a groundbreaking career move starting as a clerical technician for Marconi Space and Defence in Hillend. Before being promoted to a project engineer.

“I was in the research and development working department with engineers to develop guidance systems for the Ministry of Defence.”

Family life beckoned for Helen and Andrew, welcoming son Duncan and daughter Laura and running a plant hire business for some years, before buying a local pub, The Hat and Ribbon on Inverkeithing High Street,.

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“We had the pub for 23 years - it was a five-year plan!” Helen joked. “It was not an easy business to run. We were a free house at the same time so the risk was all on us.”

History is important to Helen.

“It’s what you grow up with - you need to know where you come from to go forward, I think,” This approach heralded a career change in 2002 and a return back to working in Kirkcaldy after attending a yearlong counselling course: “It was by default not design. I did not think it was into all that psychology stuff, then I realised there was something to it,” she said, and continued onto three years study in gaining a further qualification in counselling.

Helen returned to Kirkcaldy by taking up a placement with Fife Alcohol Support Service, based in town’s Tolbooth Street before its move to Hill Street as a volunteer counsellor, moving on to progress within the service as a health centre counsellor, counselling service co-ordinator and then finally manager, as well as trainer and mentor to many in the Scottish counselling arena before retiring after 20 years’ service.

When asked what advice she would offer to anyone working in the profession, Helen smiled: “The most important thing to remember is that it is not about you, it’s about the person sitting in front of you. There’s no need to dress it up in a silver doily, it’s genuineness and compassion of wanting to care for people.”

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There’s an affection when Helen speaks of the Kirkcaldy community.

“It’s always been a diverse community. Balwearie was the first full comprehensive school bringing together a mix of people from this end of Fife. The community tries well to meet the needs of local folk. They are generous, straight talking and I like it.”

Indeed, there is an authenticity and genuineness to Helen that is a privilege to witness and those fortunate to be in her presence are the better for it. The Fife community looks forward to our next guid conversation.

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