Alan Crawford

Are you ready to embark on a  journey of self-discovery, healing, and personal growth? I'm here to help you understand, heal, and grow, guiding you towards a life of greater fulfilment and well-being.

Imagine a life where you have a deeper understanding of yourself - your emotions, needs, and the patterns that have kept you stuck. Together, we will delve into the core of who you are, unravelling the experiences that have shaped your behaviours and relationships. By gaining this insight, you will be empowered to make conscious choices and break free from those familiar patterns that no longer serve you.

I want to support you in overcoming obstacles, habits, and even addictions that have held you back from living your life to the fullest. Together, we will navigate these challenges, empowering you to live a life of authenticity and appreciation.

Through our work together, you can develop a deeper sense of self-acceptance and self-worth, learning to trust yourself and embrace all aspects of who you are. I believe in the power of embracing both your strengths and your human imperfections (the 'shadow'). It is through this acceptance that true healing and growth can occur.

Identity is a journey, and I am here to help you find peace with yours. Together, we will explore and celebrate your unique identity, helping you find your place in the world with confidence and clarity.

 As you progress on this journey, you can experience a newfound ease and freedom in your life. You can uncover a deeper sense of meaning and purpose, aligning your actions with your values and passions. And perhaps most importantly, you will cultivate more satisfying and authentic connections and relationships with the people who matter most to you - your partner, your children, your friends, and your family.

So, if you're ready to embark on this transformative journey, I invite you to take the first step. Together, we will explore the depths of who you are and unlock the limitless potential within you. Let's understand, heal, and grow together.

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The Counselling Process: Understand | Heal | Grow

I am here to offer you a safe and supportive space to explore your concerns, resolve your struggles, find your own answers and a positive way forward.

Together, we will embark on a journey of understanding, healing and growth. Here's what you can expect: 

- Understand: We will bring an open, kind curiosity to what is going on for you. By gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, your patterns, and the reasons behind your feelings and actions, you will have the power to make the changes you desire. We will learn from your experiences and gain insight, while accepting that which lies beyond your control.

- Heal: We will work together to bring compassion, empathy, and acceptance to the "unfaced and unfelt" parts of yourself that have been overlooked or rejected.

This offers the possibility to become more consciously aware of what is calling for our attention and to integrate parts of ourselves that perhaps were needed to be 'put away' in order to survive or feel loved and accepted at an earlier stage of life (or simply living in a society that isn't conducive to our well-being) and is now yearning for release and expression. Often a feeling that we are not living or being the way we truly want to be in the world can arise as various "symptoms" such as depression and anxiety.

We will explore the psychological wounds or scars that we all carry, allowing you to build a healthier relationship with yourself, your feelings, and your experiences. By reconnecting with your inherent wholeness and value, you can experience deeper healing.

- Grow: Together, we will make empowering, positive, and authentic choices that move you in the direction of your goals and the life you wish to create. Working together to remove the obstacles to growth, we will help you reconnect with your core values and let go of old habits and addictions that no longer serve you. Ultimately, you will grow in the direction of the truest version of yourself, living a connected, meaningful, and fulfilling life.

“The purpose of psychotherapy is to set people free” (Rollo May)

In short, working together, we can discover who you are, how you fit in the world and how you want to spend your precious time on this earth.

I am a real, genuine, and down-to-earth human being with my own lived experience of life's struggles. I understand the difficulty of exploring your feelings and experiences with a stranger. If you choose to work with me, I will walk your path with the greatest care, compassion, and understanding, at your own pace.

I've been there too

I've been in your shoes. Life can feel overwhelming sometimes, and it can be a struggle to cope. The pressures on us can feel 'too much' and leave us feeling stuck. I know what that feels like.

I've personally faced dark periods in my own life. I've navigated struggles with depression, addictions, my identity, self-worth, and existential questions - wondering, 'what is the point? I've experienced loss and divorce and had to rebuild my life from scratch.  I don't know where I would be without the help of therapy and the journey of personal growth that it has facilitated.

It gives me a great sense of satisfaction and gratitude to be able to help you to facilitate your own journey of healing and growth, to walk alongside you as a compassionate companion and guide on your journey. That's why I became a therapist.

My purpose is to support you in creating a life that feels fulfilling and authentic; to help you awaken to your potential so you can experience a life in which you feel good, connected and alive.

https://alancrawfordcounselling.co.uk/

Call or Text me now: 07305746740

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Why work with Me?

I strive to offer you a powerful and potent experience of deepest respect, empathy and trust, to empower you to make the changes that you wish to make.

Clients, friends, and former colleagues describe me as calm, grounded, compassionate, and fully present. They feel safe, valued, heard, and understood in my presence and tell me that I have a knack for getting to the heart of the matter and offering courageous honesty. I embody acceptance, empathy, and genuineness.

With 15 years of professional experience in the criminal justice, addiction, and mental health fields, as well as teaching counselling, my non-judgemental, down-to-earth approach is enriched by my own lived experience. 

I offer flexibility, creativity, and open-mindedness in my work. We can engage in traditional therapy or explore alternative options such as "Walk & Talk" therapy, Zoom sessions, Email therapy, or even home visits in certain circumstances. I also offer intensives and retreats for a deeper and more non-traditional approach to healing.

• With me, counselling is a natural conversation with a caring, understanding and encouraging person who can help you to process your feelings, get a fresh perspective on your situation and make the changes you wish to make in your life.

There are no props or flipcharts, no worksheets or diagrams and I don't tell you how to think or what to do. We simply sit opposite each other in comfortable chairs and talk about whatever is going on for you in a natural, engaged and honest way. Nor am I a passive, 'nodding dog' therapist - I work in a way that is active and engaged, questioning, challenging you and offering you feedback.

I offer one-day and multi-day intensives and retreats for individuals, couples and groups looking for more depth and non-traditional approaches to their process. I collaborate with clients to craft experiences to mobilise depth in ways meaningful to them. Intensives often involve time in nature, breathwork, meditation, sharing circles, or personalised ritual and ceremony.

Contact me to discuss which of these various options is the best fit for you and your circumstances.

https://alancrawfordcounselling.co.uk/

Call or Text me now: 07305746740

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Next Steps

I remember how daunting it can be to take the first steps and I genuinely admire and respect anyone brave enough to start the inner work of counselling and psychotherapy.

You can contact me in complete confidence and ask me any questions via a free telephone or Zoom consultation or you might prefer to exchange some emails with me to discuss your precise needs.

I respond promptly to all inquiries, and I'm here to support you on your journey towards positive change. Reach out to me via email, text, or phone, and let's start the conversation.

Together, let's embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery, healing, and growth. 

Email me here.

Tel: 07305746740

Web: https://alancrawfordcounselling.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alancrawfordcounselling

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alancrawfordcounselling

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I am deeply committed to working in an inclusive, intersectional, trauma-informed, anti-racist and anti-oppressive way.  I create a safe space that respects and includes individuals of all backgrounds, cultures, faiths, genders, and sexual orientations. 

I support a non-diagnostic, non-pathologising, decolonising, person-centred and holistic approach to 'mental health' and emotional distress. I do not view you or work with you from a bio-medical, psychiatric perspective. I work with you as a nuanced, complex, beautiful, feeling and hurting human being, not as a label, disorder or list of symptoms.

https://alancrawfordcounselling.co.uk/

Call or Text me now: 07305746740

• 'Walk & Talk' and Outdoor Therapy (Eco-therapy / nature therapy)
• Group Therapy, Process Groups and Encounter Groups
• Existential and Spiritual issues
• Identity (especially Mixed Race / Dual Heritage and associated issues relatingto belonging, cultural disconnection, ancestral connection and family tree / genealogy).
• Men's Work, masculinity, fatherhood, 
• Parenthood -  new parents, those struggling with parenting, separated and single parenting, co-parenting and Gentle Parenting / Attachment Parenting
• Exploring other dietary issues and choices and relationship with food, including overeating, obesity and body image
• Race, racism, colourism and racial discrimination
• Buddhist inspired psychotherapy / Counselling for Buddhist practitioners
• Therapeutic Ritual and Ceremony
• Plant Medicine Integration, Psychedelic-assisted Therapy and micro-dosing (please note, I do not provide psychedelic substances to clients but am open to working alongside clients on this journey)
• Person Centred approaches to addiction recovery (including non-disease model alternatives to the 12 Step approach though I also welcome clients involved in 12 Step programmes and have a good understanding of these programmes / fellowships due to my experience in the addition recovery field)
• Mindfulness and secular meditation Groups
• Holistic Therapies, Relaxation methods and techniques including Reiki and guided meditation.

An initial obligation-free telephone or Zoom / Skype consultation (approx 15-20 minutes) is free of charge, as is an exchange of emails to explore your needs.

Counselling & Psychotherapy (£60 for 60 minutes, or £50 if block booked. £90 for 90 minutes)

Couples Counselling or Family Therapy (£75 for 60 minutes or £60 if block booked, £110 for 90 minutes)

Intensive Healing & Transformation Programme (weekly therapy / coaching call, guided meditation recordings, journal prompts, written assignments, regular check-ins and instant message support between sessions) £400 per month

Unlimited Messaging Therapy  - £60 per week

Email Counselling - £25 (per weekly email)

Intensive or Retreat - contact me to discuss your individual requirements

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https://alancrawfordcounselling.co.uk/

Call or Text us now on: 07305746740

My Philosophy

I practice Counselling from a humanistic, Person-Centred and experiential foundation, underpinned by a relational, somatic and existential frame of reference. 

My humanistic, Person-Centred foundation has imbued in me a deep respect and trust in the autonomy, uniqueness, and inner resources of each individual.

The person-centred approach, properly understood, is a radical, principled and human approach that is 'heretical to the psychiatric understanding of mental illness. It's theory of mental distress is based on internalised oppression and the effect of person centred therapy is to reduce the power that others have had over clients and thus increase their own personal power or "power from within" (Gillian Proctor).

This approach is at the heart of all I do.

My aim is to empower each person to realise their full potential - becoming more in tune with and more acceptiong and trusting of their own direct experience or felt-sense; using these feelings and needs as a guide for living authentically. 

I truly believe that we each possess within ourselves everything that we need to live full, fulfilling and satisfying lives... and that, beyond whatever difficulties we may be experiencing right now, there is an underlying state of wholeness (or health / wellbeing), that is available to all of us.

Sometimes we just need a gentle, caring companion and guide to help us to see our own potential and find our way from inner conflict and confusion to clarity, wholeness and authenticity.

I am often moved by the courage and resilience of the human spirit, and our ability to overcome adversity. I work from a perspective that recognises that everyone has the potential to heal, grow and flourish, given the right conditions for growth; that there is a natural capacity within all of us to grow, which is nurtured when we are truly heard, understood and accepted as we are.

I aim to offer you these conditions in your therapeutic relationship

- a non-judgemental, unconditional warmth, caring, prizing and radical acceptance and embracing (of all parts of you) 

- a sincere striving to understand what it is like to be you in a deeply attuned way,  to see the world through your eyes and validate your feelings, needs, experience and sense of self...

- and a radical realness, genuineness, honesty and humanness in our relationship, striving to be my whole, real self with you so that we can have a genuine encounter.

This relationship allows you a safe space for exploration and healing.

"It is the relationship that heals" (Irvin Yalom)

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Relational Depth

I do not believe it is beneficial for you for me to hide behind a professional facade or be a disengaged 'suit behind a desk'. Instead, I hope to be able to meet you at relational depth, that is, to form a meaningful connection with you and an authentic encounter between two human beings that supports your growth and healing.

Therapy at its best invites "a profound contact" in which both client and therapist are "both fully real" with each other (Mick Cooper). I, therefore, strive to be both fully present and fully human with my clients, to enable you to feel fully seen, understood and cared for.

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Experiential and Somatic approach

I embrace the power of experiential, expressive, and somatic approaches to inner work. I have come to trust that the body is a vital resource and that working with 'felt sense' in the body in the here and now can go much deeper than working at the level of thinking. It is my belief and experience that truly feeling, experiencing and expressing our emotions promotes deep cathartic release, processing and healing.

Therapeutic Presence

Whilst holding space for you, I strive to be fully present and 'in the moment' as a form of deeply attentive, mindful relating. "A therapists’ presence provides an invitation to the client to feel met, understood, and safe which allows movement towards natural wholeness". (Shari Gellar)

I believe that my Zen practice (I am a daily meditator) enhances my ability to offer present-moment, compassionate awareness and therapeutic presence when working with my clients, as well as offering me a existential, psycho-spiritual perspective for those clients who are exploring their spirituality or existential concerns.

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Existential Frame of Reference

Inspired by the work of Irvin Yalom, Rollo May and James Bugental, as well as my study of eastern philosophy, Zen Buddhism and traditional African and Irish spirituality, my approach to counselling is underpinned by an existential frame of reference that addresses the 'great matter of life and death'.

It is Yalom's "...primary assumption...that basic anxiety emerges from a person's endeavours, conscious and unconscious, to cope with the harsh facts of life, the 'givens' of existence."

- How do we come to terms with death and impermanence?

- How do we find a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives?

- How do we come to terms with the responsibility of our freedom to make our own choices and with the limits imposed by life on our choices?

- How do we make peace with what we can and cannot control?

As such, I strive to practice therapy in a way that is aware of and sensitive to the existential dilemmas that lurk beneath our everyday concerns. I believe exploring such issues in the context of therapy can be illuminating and empowering.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my profile. I hope you have found it helpful. If we don’t end up working together, I sincerely hope you find the therapist that is right for you and wish you well on your journey.