Experience
Education
My name is Alan Meechan, and I have worked as a mental health clinician for around 16 years. I originally trained as a Registered Mental Health Nurse before qualifying in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and subsequently completing my EMDR therapy training.
For me, working in mental health has always felt much more like a vocation than simply a job. I consider it a privilege to be trusted with somebody's story and to work alongside them as they begin to understand their difficulties, recognise their strengths and make meaningful changes in their life.
My career began in the NHS, supporting people living with dementia and their families. I then spent around ten years working with military veterans experiencing a range of mental health difficulties, particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Today, alongside my private practice, I work part-time with a police charity supporting serving and veteran police officers as they begin treatment for trauma and PTSD. I am also a member of a lived-experience advisory panel working to help safeguard children and young people from gambling-related harms—work which is particularly meaningful to me.
These experiences have shaped the way I practise. I don't see therapy as something that is done to you. You are the expert on your own life, and my role is to bring my clinical knowledge while we work together to understand what has happened, what may be keeping difficulties going, and what can help you move forward.
My approach is primarily based around CBT, but I try not to reduce people to diagnoses, symptoms or a list of problems. Therapy should also recognise the skills, values, resilience and achievements that have helped you reach this point. Together we can develop a formulation—a shared understanding of how your experiences, thoughts, emotions and behaviours fit together—and then use that understanding to identify practical ways of creating change.
One of my main aims is that therapy eventually makes me less necessary. I want you to leave with a much better understanding of yourself and with strategies that you can continue using independently long after our sessions have finished.
Depending on your needs, I offer CBT and EMDR therapy, with sessions available remotely. For people locally, I can also offer walk-and-talk CBT, providing an alternative to sitting in a traditional therapy room and allowing us to incorporate the benefits of movement and the outdoor environment into our work.
I appreciate that choosing a therapist can feel like a significant decision. You are investing your time, your money and, most importantly, your trust in another person. For that reason, I offer a free initial consultation call. There is no expectation that you book therapy afterwards; it is simply an opportunity for us to talk about what has brought you to therapy, answer any questions you may have and consider whether we feel we would work well together.
Most of the people I work with are based across Ayrshire and Glasgow, although online therapy means I also work with people throughout the UK.
If you are considering therapy but aren't quite sure where to begin, you are very welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.
BSc Mental Health Nursing, University West of Scotland
PgDip Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Distinction,
University West of Scotland
EMDR 4 parts, EMDR Academy
HNC Counselling, Reid Kerr College
Professional Registrations & Memberships
Registration with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Accredited practitioner and member of the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)
