Understand. Heal. Grow.
Through relationship, belonging and community.
Therapy, learning and collective wellbeing rooted in humanistic, relational and decolonial practice.
I’m Alan Kaishin Crawford — a counsellor, therapeutic practitioner, counselling lecturer and community facilitator based in Liverpool.
I create spaces where people can feel deeply heard, make sense of what they have carried, reconnect with their dignity and aliveness, and move towards lives that feel more authentic, meaningful and connected.
I work with individuals in Liverpool and online across the UK, and with groups, organisations and communities through teaching, training and facilitation.
Everything begins in sacred relationship
My work sits at the crossroads of therapy, education, community and spirituality.
These may appear to be different kinds of work, but they grow from the same conviction: healing, learning and transformation happen through relationships in which we are genuinely seen, respected and allowed to be real.
Our wellbeing cannot be separated from our bodies, relationships, histories, cultures, communities or the wider world in which we live. I try to meet the whole person — with warmth, honesty, curiosity and deep respect for the complexity of being human.
Four ways to work with me
Therapy
Warm, relational and trauma-informed counselling for adults in Liverpool and online across the UK.
Together, we can explore what has shaped you, what you have had to carry and what may now be asking for care, understanding or change. My approach welcomes the emotional, relational, embodied, cultural, existential and spiritual dimensions of your life.
Teaching, Training & Facilitation
Counselling education, professional training, workshops and reflective spaces that bring theory into living contact with relationship, embodiment, culture and practice.
I work with trainee counsellors, practitioners, organisations and community groups, with particular experience in humanistic and relational practice, racial trauma, identity, belonging, anti-racist practice and collective wellbeing.
Ubuntu & Community
Ubuntu is a Liverpool-based grassroots collective and micro-community for people of colour, rooted in collective care and the African humanist principle: I am because we are.
Through healing circles, retreats, community wellbeing days, cultural practice and shared reflection, Ubuntu creates space for connection, affirmation, healing and belonging.
Legba’s Gate
Spiritual care, ritual practice and handcrafted spiritual products rooted in ancestry, reverence, relationship and transformation.
Legba’s Gate is the explicitly spiritual strand of my work, offering space for people who wish to engage healing through spirit, ceremony, energy, prayer and the wisdom of ancestral traditions.
A relationship in which you can be fully human
At the heart of my work is a simple conviction:
You are not broken.
Many of the patterns that now cause pain began as ways of protecting you, surviving difficult experiences or preserving important relationships.
Rather than asking, “What is wrong with you?”, we can explore what happened, what you have had to carry, what those patterns have been protecting, and what is now ready to change.
My style is warm, grounded, collaborative and human. I will not sit behind a cold professional mask or reduce you to a diagnosis. I aim to offer a relationship in which you can feel deeply heard, understood and met without judgement — without needing to perform, hide, explain yourself perfectly or earn the right to be treated with care.
Therapy is not about becoming perfect. It is about becoming more connected: to your body, your emotions, your truth, your dignity, your relationships, your values and the life you actually want to live.
Racial Trauma, Identity & Belonging
Racism is not only a social or political issue. It can enter the body, shape the nervous system, affect relationships and belonging, and influence how safe we feel to express who we are.
I have particular experience supporting Black and mixed-heritage people with the psychological, emotional, relational, spiritual and embodied effects of racism. This may include racial trauma, cultural dislocation, racialised shame, intergenerational wounds and questions of identity and belonging.
As a mixed-heritage man from a working-class African-Caribbean and Irish family, this work is both professionally informed and personally meaningful to me. I understand that questions such as Who am I? Where do I belong? Which parts of myself are safe to express? can carry emotional, relational, cultural and ancestral weight.
You should not have to leave important parts of yourself outside the therapy room.
About Alan
I am a counsellor, therapeutic practitioner, counselling lecturer and community facilitator, as well as the founder of Ubuntu and Legba’s Gate.
I come from a working-class, mixed-heritage African-Caribbean and Irish family. I understand from my own life how difficult it can feel to consider sharing your inner world with somebody unfamiliar — and how powerful it can be to finally feel deeply heard and met without judgement.
Alongside my private counselling practice, I teach and support emerging counselling practitioners, facilitate groups and reflective spaces, and contribute to work around racial trauma, staff wellbeing, identity, belonging and community care.
My approach has been shaped by humanistic psychology, relational and experiential therapy, lived experience, community work, Zen and contemplative practice, African-Caribbean spirituality, and an ongoing commitment to anti-racist and decolonial practice.
I bring these influences together in a way that is grounded, open and human. I will never impose a spiritual belief or a particular way of understanding your experience upon you. People of all faiths, spiritual traditions and none are warmly welcome.
What connects all of this?
Therapy, teaching, community work and spiritual practice may take different forms, but they arise from the same commitments: presence, relationship, dignity, embodiment, truth, culture, justice and care.
Healing is not only individual. Learning is not purely intellectual. Wellbeing cannot be separated from relationship, culture, community, spirit, justice and belonging.
Whether I am meeting somebody in the therapy room, teaching in a classroom, facilitating a community circle or holding a ritual space, I try to offer the same fundamental qualities: empathy, honesty, curiosity, heartfelt care and respect for the whole person.
This is one body of work with several doorways — each offering a different way to understand, heal, grow and become more fully connected with life.
Take the next step
You do not need to be certain about exactly what you need before contacting me.
If you are considering therapy, looking for a trainer or facilitator, interested in Ubuntu, drawn towards Legba’s Gate, or would like to explore working together in another way, you are welcome to get in touch.
Tell me a little about what brings you here, and we can consider whether I might be the right person to support you.
May we meet our lives and one another with clear eyes and open hearts.