Allister Murdoch

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he/him
MNCS Accred, Reg MBACP
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, EH3 7TQ
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

I first started seeing clients in 1998, whilst living in London. I opened this practice in 2007 when I came back to Scotland.

I work both face to face and online. I specialise working with those who identify as adult male, regardless of sexuality and in all relationship diversities. (18+years).

I specialise in (but not limited to} working with men wanting therapy because of:

  • Anxiety
  • Anger Management
  • Depression
  • LGBTQIA+ Counselling
  • Men who are/have been victims of Domestic Abuse
  • Relationship issues

It is recognised worldwide that men often feel unable/unwilling to talk, to admit when they have a problem. This can mean that men self-stigmatize as they think they may be seen as less of a man by others if they do. Neither are healthy.

I offer men the chance to talk, be listened to and the chance to explore and choose a better way to live. Where new skills have to be taught by mutual agreement I will do that.

In counselling and psychotherapy you can learn to:

  • Give yourself permission to talk about and experience your feelings.
  • Silence the critical script that goes on in your head.
  • Manage anxiety and stressful situations more effectively,
  • Understand and manage your depression.
  • Increase your sense of self-esteem, confidence and assertiveness.
  • Explore which parts of your life you don't find fulfilling and satisfying and to
  • Explore any changes you could make
  • Support you to choose and change the correct and healthier for you
  • Improve your relationships with your partner, family, friends and colleagues.
  • Become aware of the effect of past events and decrease the impact they have in the present today.
  • Acknowledge unhelpful habits and patterns in your life and create healthier ways.

Testimonials

"I met with Allister for over a year and a half. When I first started seeing him I felt incredibly lost and confused about where a lot of my problems were coming from. After multiple sessions he helped me uncover the sources of my problems and taught me skills that I still use to solve issues affecting my daily life. He is always incredibly friendly, open, and fun to talk to; this helped make the sessions engaging, and I highly recommend him as a therapist." WK 2023.

"I started to see Allister when some recessed bad memories started to impact my life. He made a real difference and three years later I can still go to what he taught me. I was genuinely surprised. He's a really nice guy and felt like a friend from the second meeting and he will help you if that's what you need now" MA (July 2020)

'Allister is an incredibly helpful, nice and understanding therapist to which I owe a lot for helping feel liberated from anxiety and paranoia that encircled me for a couple of years. Being a student and living away from home I felt isolated in a city I was not 100% familiar with but with the help of Allister I was able to embrace the feeling of anxiety and turn it into a positive feeling which allowed me discover my environment and myself as well.' NS (Oct 2019)

"I saw Allister on a weekly basis for 6 months. He is very relatable, easy to get on with, and took great care to remember the details of my story. He listened carefully and spoke thoughtfully in each session, and his insights were extremely valuable in helping me on my way. I looked forward to the regular sessions each week, which became a steady cornerstone of my time in Edinburgh. I would highly recommend Allister to anyone considering professional help." EL Edinburgh

I just wanted to say thanks for all the work we did this past summer. I feel that it really helped me overcome the initial stress of facing myself and in communicating this with the people around me.  S (Edinburgh 2021)

Training, qualifications & experience

Professional Qualifications
Graduate Diploma in Humanistic Psychotherapy from Spectrum Training,(London)
Post Graduate Certificate in Psychotherapy and a further 4 years at an on going Post Graduate Group.2004
Certificate in Counselling (Birkbeck College, London) 1998

Other Training

  • Domestic Violence Training (Abused Men In Scotland)
  • Domestic Abuse: Supporting Male Victims (Mankind Initiative)
  • Intimate Partner Violence within the LGBTQIA+ Comminuty (Pink Therapy)
  • TA101 (Transactional Analysis)
  • Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (Spectrum)
  • Anger Management (Spectrum)
  • Assertiveness Training (Spectrum)
  • Coaching for Counsellors (Rowan Consultancy, Perth)
  • Intimacy, Sex and Affairs (SAPC)
  • Group Work (Pink Therapy)
  • Emotional impact of Living with epilepsy (Epilepsy Scotland)
  • Cruse Bereavement training
  • Trinity Hospice bereavement training
  • Impact of Post Natal depression and death of new born children on men. 
  • Plus various conferences throughout each year

Specialist Training for working with gender, sexual and relationship diversity clients.

  • Essentials in Gender And Sexual Diversity Therapy (Pink Therapy)
  • Working with Chemsex. (Pink Therapy).
  • Understanding Kink & BDSM (Pink Therapy)
  • Non Monogamy November Series (Pink Therapy)
  • Working with LGBTQI young People (BACP)
  • Working with partners of Trans-Identified People (BACP)
  • Kink On Pink - a  4 part series of webinars for therapists. (Pink Therapy)
  • Asexualities: intimacy and desire (Pink Therapy)
  • I'm too sexy: understanding sexual compulsivity in gay and bisexual men (Pink Therapy).

Voluntary Work.

I am currently a Board member of Abused Men in Scotland. www.abusedmeninscotland.org

Trinity Hospice (London) 2005 - www.trinityhospice.org.uk
Safe Space (Dunfermline) 2007 - 2009 - https://safe-space.co.uk For survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Abused Men in Scotland Helpline(AMIS) January 2015 to December 2017. www.abusedmeninscotland.org

I am a Registered Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. www.bacpregister.org.uk     (I am listed in Edinburgh)
I was a founding member of the BACP Coaching Section. www.bacpcoaching.co.uk
I am listed in The Directory of Pink Therapists.

Member organisations

Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.

NCPS
National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS)

The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society

This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.

In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).

Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.

Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.

All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

Accredited register membership

National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with

I am also available for men who want to work on Personal Development.

I am a Kink/BDSM aware therapist and have experience of working with clients wanting to talk with an accepting therapist.

I am Chemsex aware and with experience of working with clients with this issue.

I am sex worker friendly with experience of working with both male and female workers.

Photos & videos

Fees

£75.00 per session

Concessions offered for

  • Trainee counsellors

Additional information

Sessions last either 1 hour or 1.5 hours. The rate for the longer session is 1.5 times my usual rate.

All session are invoiced and payable in advance via PayPal. Only in exceptional circumstances will this not apply. This must be agreed in advance. I will cancel all appointments not paid in advance.

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

Monday, Wednesday to Friday 1pm until 9pm.

Tuesday and Saturday 10am until 5.30pm

Sunday 1pm until 5pm.

On the days that night appointments are offered, the last appointment is at 8pm

Further information

Making an initial appointment.

The easiest way to contact me is by clicking in the link on this page or the contact form on my website. www.amurdoch.com

If you want to call to make an appointment, please leave a voicemail. I will return your call. I return calls and reply to emails Sunday to Friday between 11am and 8pm.

When I call you and don't get a reply, I will leave a message when possible or send you an email to let you know that I have called. Once I have done that, I will wait for you to contact me again. I will not keep calling or emailing you.

EH1 THERAPIES, 4B Randolph Place, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, EH3 7TQ

Type of session

In person
Online

Types of client

Young adults (18-24)
Adults (25-64)
Older Adults (65+)

Key details

The office that I use is in the basement of a New Town building. There are two separate entrances down steep sets of stairs. It is not wheelchair accessible.

Online platforms

Zoom

Social

Allister Murdoch
Allister Murdoch