About Alan
Alan Opfer is a BACP-registered counsellor who focuses on anxiety, stress and addiction-related concerns. He draws on three years of professional experience and lived experience of recovery to offer practical, non-judgemental support. He aims to help people who feel stuck learn coping skills and make manageable changes.
In sessions he uses a person-centred approach that treats the client as the expert on their own life. That means listening first, then adapting the work to match what the client needs and wants.
Background and approach
He mixes in mindfulness ideas to help calm racing thoughts and bring attention to the present moment. He also uses solution-focused techniques to identify small, concrete steps that can be tried between sessions. Those steps are designed to be realistic and repeatable so progress can build over time.
This is useful for worries, mood struggles, problems with alcohol or other addictive behaviours, and life transitions. Alan's background includes front-line work supporting people through housing and social care systems, and experience with detoxification pathways and harm-reduction strategies. He draws on that practical knowledge when discussing options and next steps with clients.
Sessions are conducted in English and are offered remotely by video, phone, live chat or text messaging. He works without judgement and aims to create a collaborative space where clients can talk through difficult issues and plan small changes that fit their life.
How his approaches work in online sessions
Alan uses person-centred counselling to make space for the client's priorities and pace. This approach focuses on listening, reflecting and responding to what matters most to the client, and helps when people feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start.He teaches simple mindfulness techniques to calm anxious thinking and bring attention back to the present moment. These practices can reduce rumination and are helpful for worry, stress and managing urges linked to addictive behaviours.
Solution-focused work is about finding small practical steps that move a person forward. Sessions identify clear, achievable tasks to try between meetings so progress can be tracked and adjusted as needed.
Choosing the right mix of approaches is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and what has or hasn't helped before, then try methods that fit the client's needs. If something doesn't work it can be changed or refined together.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text messaging to provide flexibility. Video is useful for longer conversations and visual cues, phone calls suit shorter check-ins or lower bandwidth, live chat allows faster back-and-forth and messaging supports ongoing reflection between appointments. These options help people fit therapy around work, caregiving and other daily demands.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Phobias
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexuality
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
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