Dr Alistair McBride
Counsellor & Psychotherapist

Why I Work This Way

 

I trained in and integrate the three core Psychotherapy traditions — Humanistic, Psychodynamic, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Over time, I’ve found that the Humanistic/Existential approach most closely reflects the reality of therapy itself — two people meeting to explore your experience of life (existence), to make choices, and to live meaningfully amid uncertainty — helping you find a way forward.

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My background in Medicine and Neuroscience has helped me understand how mind, body, and lived experience interact. I also believe that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is one of the strongest predictors of positive outcomes in therapy.

 

What This Means for You

 

You will be met as a unique person, not as a diagnosis or label. I aim to offer a non-judgemental place for you to explore your experiences — your relationships, choices, pain, struggles, and hopes.

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Therapy is collaborative: it’s not something done to you but something done with you. We’ll draw from different approaches depending on your goals and situation, rather than following a rigid model.

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Counselling vs Psychotherapy?

 

Counselling tends to be shorter-term and more focused on current issues such as grief, stress, or decision-making.

Psychotherapy is usually longer-term and explores deeper emotional and behavioural patterns, often rooted in earlier experiences such as trauma or long-standing anxiety, with the goal of longer term change. The two do frequently overlap.

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We’ll discuss what you’re seeking, how long you might want to engage, and what approach best fits your needs.

 

Why Talk Therapy?

 

As Shakespeare said, “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knots up the over-wrought heart and bids it break.”

Talking about our thoughts and emotions is not passive — it transforms them. Speaking about difficult experiences brings them into the open, making them less overwhelming and more manageable.

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Talk therapy helps you find meaning, clarity, and connection rather than isolation. It’s an active, collaborative process that can strengthen your ability to understand yourself and relate to others.

 

What I Ask of You

 

I ask that you come open to exploring your experience — even the parts that might feel irrelevant, embarrassing, or difficult.

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The more openly and consistently you engage, the better the outcome. We’ll regularly check-in to make sure the work feels right for you and adapt as needed.

 

Issues Often Confronted

 

Anxiety, grief, stress, low mood, trauma, relationship issues, domestic violence, abuse, sexual issues, substance abuse, compulsive behaviours, life changing diagnoses, terminal illness - all parts of the human experience.

 

Confronting Illness and Death

 

When facing life-changing or terminal illness — or the losses that come with ageing — therapy can help you explore how to live meaningfully in the face of suffering.

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Drawing on my medical background and experience in community healthcare, I support people in finding dignity, connection, and purpose when life’s fragility becomes clear. Together, we can explore how you wish to live, and what matters most, even as circumstances change.

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The Existential Approach with Trauma

 

Trauma is more than just what happened — it’s how it was experienced, emotionally and physically. An existential approach views trauma not only as a wound to be healed, but as a confrontation with life’s core realities: death, freedom, isolation, and meaning.

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This therapy does not seek only to remove symptoms, but to help you integrate the experience, reclaim agency, develop resilience and rediscover meaning. The goal isn’t to erase trauma, but to live authentically and meaningfully after it.

 

The Existential Approach with Neurodiversity

 

With Neurodiverse clients, therapy focuses on exploring what it means to live authentically in a world that may misunderstand difference.​  We reflect on freedom, choice, identity, and meaning from within your own Neurotype, respecting your sensory and cognitive experiences.

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Rather than trying to “fix” Neurodivergence, this work supports you in finding belonging, agency, and purpose on your own terms — embracing difference as part of the shared human experience.