Hello, I’m Allan

A counsellor and a coach

Why Coaching?

Sometimes it’s easy to know where you DON’T want to be, but it’s more difficult to make the changes you need to change direction in life. Stop making the same mistakes, falling into the same negative spirals in relationships or work life and focus on understanding what’s really going on there.

Working with a coach will allow you to really understand yourself and others; how you behave, patterns of your own behaviour and how your relationships with other people are impacted. It will help make the link between issues that you face and allow you to start to set goals to turn things around.

Why Counselling?

Counselling aims to allow a client to feel at peace with who they are and resolve any issues they face. Working with a counsellor will allow you to explore deeper feelings and emotions about things in a safe environment. Counselling usually deals with concerns, issues or patterns of behaviours that you find are limiting or damaging. Within our sessions, I will mainly use the person catered method of counselling which means I won’t advise you or lead you, I will give you the tools to be able to understand your own thoughts and your own environment. We may also draw on other methods such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) to make sure we can give you as much support as you need.

How we will…

Work Together

Everything starts with a first session…

…where I’ll find out a bit about you, what you want to work on and we’ll decide together, what the best way to approach our sessions will be. Building a rapport with each other to allow for complete trust in each other will make every session you have, very effective and help you see changes quickly. We’ll choose the right option for you to talk; so that could be face to face, via Zoom or we can also get ourselves out and about for coffee etc. One of my great passions is the outdoors, so one of the approaches which has worked well with some clients is to head off outdoors for a walk while we do some coaching.

Learn How

Sessions

Every session will be different and tailored to your needs. What you will get from me is honesty, a genuine non-judgmental attitude no matter what you bring to the session. Some sessions I might challenge you, but you will leave feeling good about yourself with a clearer pathway.

More Info

Public Speaking

personalised training sessions on anything from changing mindset, learning how to adapt to change or telling my own story to educate. I have presented in schools and colleges, workplaces and to community groups. Let me know what you need for your group or organisation and we can make a tailored session to offer some personal development to groups.

Find out more

Testimonials & Happy Clients

“ I have known Allan for many years and have watched his personal Spinal injury journey with interest. He has matured into a guy who is passionate and committed to helping other people. Such a commendable attribute. This is why I recommended him to our lead Psychologist at the Yorkshire Regional Spinal Injuries Centre so that he could become involved in a more formal peer support and counselling.”

Kevan Baker OBE BSc – Chief Executive of SPINE

“Knowing I always have Allan to turn to when times get tough often helps me through, even before I get chance to talk to him. In a high stress environment like mine its vital to have someone to lean on. Allan is my shoulder”.

Harvey, Co-founder & CEO at Gravity Trampoline Parks UK

“After going through a tough time and bottling things up... Allan has been there for me and helped me get through the worst of it! It’s safe to say if it wasn’t for Allan I wouldn’t be smiling and focusing on the life I have today! An inspiration to everyone! Thanks Al!”

David, Tradesman

“After reading Allan’s story on his website and realising he was from Bridlington I contacted him for interview on Peter Levy’s show on BBC Radio Humberside. I knew how incredible Allan’s real life story was and how compelling the audience would find it to listen to, but what I couldn’t have predicted was just how well Allan told it. Allan spoke extremely openly. Without bitterness about his injuries or anger about spending his million, but with honesty at his mistakes and the inner turmoil he faced during recovery. It was amazing to hear how positive he is and that he now offers compassion to others who may come up against similar life changing experiences. It’s not easy to answer tough questions and talk openly to strangers about such personal issues but Allan faced it head on and came across in a very humble way. Thanks for telling your story Allan – you’re an inspiration.”

Lindsay, Producer – Peter Levy Show, BBC Radio Humberside

“I can’t say I know another 38 year old that has had a life like Allan. Having not known Allan prior to his life changing accident I cannot think of one example where it has prevented him chasing and achieving his personal goals. It’s unbelievable how he is not only still here to tell his story but he wants to repeat it again and again to try and help others. The motivation and experiences he shares with students is extremely inspiring and would recommend him to any educational establishment. The next step is a great idea. You never know if a friend or family member will need this site.”

Paul Smith Head of Leisure and Hospitality East Riding College

"I have been working with Allan both coaching and counselling, he has helped turn things around always my go to person when I need him, he totally understands my problem as we have the same injury which is very complex and he has reassured me Time and again when I have been terrified. He is very patient but knows when to push me when I’m stuck in my head. to anyone searching and can’t quite find a therapist who clicks give Allan a call, he is honest and totally reliable, going the extra mile every time. "

Jude, Spinal c3 walker

"2020 was supposed to be a milestone year for my 16 year old son, completing his GCSE exams, exciting plans for the holidays and then Covid 19 hit and abruptly "normal" life ended, school finished without any actual exams, no more social contact with friends, no regular sporting activities to participate in or spectate, which he thoroughly enjoyed. During the summer months he adapted well with the new way of living. He appeared happy with the direction of his next chapter, he obtained great exam results, and didn't seem to have anything to "worry" about, but gradually he became more emotional, had a lack of motivation and at times withdrawn for no obvious reason, he would share his feelings and we would reassure him, but it didn't seem enough. One day when feeling emotional he asked for professional help, and so we supported him to contact the GP. Given the limited support available via this route, particularly with Covid circumstances I searched for something that I thought may provide the appropriate support he needed, something he would benefit from and would engage with. My search led me to Allan and I am so glad it did. I contacted Allan and discussed with him the situation and if it was something he could help with, from the initial telephone conversation I found him very easy to talk to. He agreed that he would be able to help and my son was receptive to the idea. Allan was very relaxed about the appointments, making arrangements to meet at a convenient time and place, often late appointments in the early evening to fit in with studies and the practicalities of transporting my son to appointments. Allan and my son organised the appointments between them, it was important for my son to have that independence, as the appointments were for his benefit and not for me to dictate when he should have them. From the first appointment my son felt completely at ease talking to Allan, this may have helped because of their shared passion of football! After the first session my son said it had gone well, he had felt the benefit and he would like to continue working with Allan and so he continued to have weekly sessions for approximately 10 weeks. The fact my son came away from the first contact saying how well it had gone, is testament to how at ease Allan made him feel. Even when new lockdown rules were introduced that meant meeting indoors was not allowed, Allan would meet in the freezing cold to walk and talk. After the 9th session Allan contacted me to say he felt my son was doing well and that there was no need at this time to continue the weekly sessions, and suggested may be a monthly/six weekly catch up if my son felt the need. Although, I have only had limited contact with Allan, I too feel at ease and trusting of him, the fact he does not just carry on with the sessions just for the sake of it. As parents we have noticed our son is far more at ease with himself and appears to have a much better understanding of anxiety and how to deal with it. "

Parent of a client

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