Adam Ryan

I offer men’s counselling in Birmingham and Solihull, specialising in outdoor therapy with evening sessions available. The men I work with come for support with a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, overwhelm, burnout, low self-esteem and the feeling of having lost connection with themselves. Many of those I support have spent years overthinking, pushing through or trying to cope alone. Sessions take place outdoors in Clowes Wood, on the outskirts of Birmingham and Solihull, as well as in Highbury Park in Kings Heath. I also offer remote nature-based sessions and traditional online sessions nationwide. – Counselling can feel incredibly daunting for men – when you’ve grown up with the message that feelings or asking for help are signs of weakness then of course the prospect of 50 minutes, in a room, with a stranger, feeling the weight of expectation to just ‘let it all out’ will feel intense. But take a moment to imagine: a walk through the woods, just talking. Talking about life, about the meaning of things, about meaningful things with somebody who seems to get it. With the support of nature and the freedom to move or sit as you please we can work to create a space in which you can talk about the difficult things you have avoided for months, years or maybe even decades. And as you do you notice that the process is lighter than you expected, and that it starts to feel like a burden has been lifted. Men I’ve worked with report a newfound sense of themselves as a whole person, an ability to navigate life on life’s terms and a capacity to face difficulties with calm, dignity and openness. This is how I work. And experience tells me that for many men, this approach really works.

I am a BACP-registered counsellor (MBACP) with a Level 4 Diploma in Person-Centred Therapeutic Counselling. I hold full professional indemnity insurance and an enhanced DBS certificate.

My approach with men is one shaped by experience…

Sensitive, but growing up in a society that demands the opposite, I felt that I somehow didn’t quite fit within the world of men. Working and talking with men over the years I have come to discover that many men feel exactly the same, but have simply not felt able to voice their fears, and so have suffered in silence.

As a man, I have lived experience and insight into many of the issues that men face, be it relationships, work, sex, the pressures of family life and the, at times, conflicting messages that we receive from society about what it means to be a man. Where I don’t, I lead with curiosity, seeking to understand first and foremost what it is like to be you.