Alison Garvey

Alison is a compassionate and warm counsellor & psychotherapist who works with adolescents and adults, in a safe, non-judgemental, respectful way, where any difficulty or emotion can be explored.  Alison helps her adult clients to develop coping strategies for living every day while exploring current issues, past experiences and beliefs about self and others.  Alison aims to create a trusting and empathic relationship with clients, where they can feel accepted, respected and understood.

 

With her younger clients, Alison uses materials appropriate to their developmental stage to help the adolescent share and work through difficult emotions or experiences, learn about boundaries and limitations but also their strengths and potentials.  She helps the client to recognise unhelpful behaviours, become more aware of choice and consequence and develop positive coping strategies. Her aim is for the client to become more self-accepting, building resilience, confidence and general wellbeing.

 

Alison uses the first session to evaluate the client’s needs to develop a therapeutic plan.  During therapy she may use tools and techniques such as: psychoeducational learning, ego building, CBT, relaxation and mindfulness.

 

Alison has worked both at home and abroad with individuals from varied cultural and religious backgrounds and more recently in crisis intervention.  She has experience of working with depression, anxiety, bereavement and loss, trauma, domestic violence, abuse, family issues, relationship difficulties, relocation issues, work problems, low self-esteem, sexual orientation, suicidal ideation, self-harm, parenting issues and bullying.