Alan Ferguson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Taking the first step to seeking support can be daunting but in doing do, you are taking a first step to living life the way you want to and achieving your goals. My aim is to make counselling as accessible as possible and provide a safe, understanding and non-judgemental space for you. To achieve this, I offer a free 30 minute session to explore what counselling is and to answer any questions you may have. I work both face to face and online with clients.
I am passionate about helping people to improve their mental health and specialise in working with issues around anxiety, depression and trauma.
I'm a qualified, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) registered counsellor. I use an integrative approach in my counselling sessions which means that I can draw on a range of counselling theories in my work with you. This includes Person Centred, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), psychodynamic, Transactional Analysis (TA), Existential and Gestalt. Whichever approach we agree to use, my aim is to put my client at the centre of the counselling process providing a confidential and non-judgemental space for you to feel able to explore the issues you wish to work on.
I am also a qualified coach and coaching can be interwoven into the counselling sessions using an approach called Personal Consultancy. Once you feel that past and present issues have been dealt with, we can move to a more future focussed approach and agree on life goals that you wish to achieve and also help maintain progress made in sessions.
I offer a flexible approach and we will jointly agree on any changes to how we work together. I view counselling as a collaborative activity and I will regularly check in with you on how you feel you are progressing towards your goals. I offer a counselling model that incorporates coaching but this does not have to be part of our sessions if not required.
I can offer standard sessions of 50 minutes or longer duration.
I have been fortunate enough to work with a wide range of people from different cultures, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, beliefs and life experiences. I warmly welcome people from a range of backgrounds including people with a physical disability or who identify as neurodiverse.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am educated to Degree and Masters level and also hold a Post Graduate Diploma from the University of East London (UEL) in Integrative Counselling and Coaching. I have also had extensive training, including in mental health, safeguarding and trauma.
My background is in social care and have over 20 years of experience as a Senior Manager with responsibility for support provision in mental health, neurodiverse, complex needs, physical disability, hospital discharge and Deaf services.
This enables me to work with a wide range of issues including anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, relationship problems, addiction, career counselling and work related issues.
I abide by the BACP Code of Ethics which are based on values, principles and personal moral qualities that underpins how counsellors should work with clients.
I have an up to date and clear Enhanced DBS check.
Member organisations
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
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
When I work
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For evening sessions, I can generally commence from 6pm onwards.
Further information
Please contact me via email in the first instance and we can then arrange an initial phone or video call.
