Dr Alan Priest

Dr Alan Priest

MA(Couns), DPsych, FHEA

Director of Studies (Humanistic Counselling & Psychotherapy Training Programmes)

Alan joined Metanoia in 2018, initially as Director of Studies for the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, where he designed and introduced a completely new programme, securing BPS and HCPC validation, before taking up his current role at the Institute in August 2021.

Prior to joining the Institute, Alan taught counselling & psychotherapy from 2013-18 at the University of Salford, Manchester, and before that he taught on the MA Counselling programme at Bretton Hall College of the University of Leeds. A UKCP Registered Integrative & Humanistic psychotherapist, Alan has over 25 years’ experience working in both the NHS and private practice in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Authority.

Throughout his professional life, Alan has been fascinated by the nature and meaning of dialogue with Self and our capacity to talk about “me, myself, I” as separate components of our awareness. His research explores the way clients relate to their ‘Self’ in the language they use in therapy, and the impact of this on process and outcome. He maintains a particular interest in computerised methods of linguistic analysis, and in a mixed methods approach to enhancing quantitative research data with qualitative insights and context.

Alan has also made extensive studies of the challenges for students of reflection on, and in, practice. His research set out to understand the relationship between different learning styles and the acquisition of reflective and reflexive capability, with results feeding into revised teaching and learning strategies, both in his previous role and also at the Institute. Email: alan.priest@metanoia.ac.uk