Alistair Park
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I offer short or long-term psychotherapy and counselling in person at my consulting room in Central London, only a 3-minute walk from Oxford Circus tube station so very convenient for transport by bus, tube or train. I can also offer therapy online.
Sometimes it's difficult to think about things that are going on in your life. Perhaps you have very strong feelings that are difficult to understand, or perhaps you have no feelings at all about something that seems important; perhaps you’re too close to something and can’t work out what’s happening or what you should do.
These things can make you feel anxious and desperate, or perhaps hopeless and helpless and depressed. Talking to a therapist is a way of thinking things through. It means untangling things to try and make them understandable to someone else and this in itself, often helps you clarify things for yourself, by sometimes recognising contradictions and understanding things differently.
A therapist can also help you think about things in new ways. They can bring thoughts, understandings and perspectives that you couldn’t have on your own. If you’re very close to something it's often very difficult to see it clearly and aspects that might seem curious to someone else might seem obvious and uncomplicated until someone queries them. This can open up ways of thinking about yourself and your life which are historic or habitual and which influence your way of living without you questioning or examining them to see if they’re useful, or even if they’re true.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a registered member of BACP and registered with UKCP (CPJA) and am bound by both their codes of ethics.
I have many years of experience talking with people about the difficulties, struggles, tragedies and joys in their lives, which affords me some understanding of how these things arise and how I can help. I have worked extensively in the NHS, Private Practice and in low-cost not-for-profit organisations across London.
My experience is underpinned by many years of training, and ongoing professional development which keeps me close to contemporary issues and new ideas and ways of understanding people's difficulties.
Member organisations
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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
£90.00 per session
Additional information
I have some reduced fee spaces for people on a low income.
