About me
Taking the first step to seek help is a brave move towards better mental health. If you're feeling anxious, depressed, stressed, frightened, or experiencing any difficult emotions, please know that there is hope, and things can get better.
I'm an experienced integrative counsellor and my clients often tell me I provide a wonderfully empathic and listening ear. I'm passionate about creating a safe space where you can discover your true self, understand the challenges you've faced, and recognise the unique strengths and abilities you have to move forward in your own way.
I am a BACP registered counsellor, as well as a qualified NLP Master Practitioner and NCH clinical hypnotherapist. My expertise comes from over 20 years of working with people, alongside my own life experiences, ongoing learning, and volunteer work and focusses on 3 main areas.
- Managing Anxiety: Finding Calm and Building Confidence
- Understanding and Coping with Bereavement and Loss
- Women's Health: Support Through Life's Changes, Including Menopause
Why not get in touch to find out more?
Training, qualifications & experience
Managing Anxiety: Finding Calm and Building Confidence
For more than 20 years, I've been helping people in Birmingham and beyond who are struggling with anxiety and how it affects their lives. Our minds are incredibly powerful, but sometimes life events can make them work against us, leading to feelings of anxiety, doubt, and low self-esteem.
Counselling for anxiety can help you look at your life experiences and how they've shaped you. This can lead to a better understanding of your inner world and help you take back control – not of what happens next, but of how you react to it. When your mind feels more at ease, you can see more opportunities in life.
Understanding and Coping with Bereavement and Loss
We all experience loss at some point; it's a natural part of being human. However, sometimes loss can be particularly difficult, such as when you're anticipating the death of someone you love or dealing with the complex emotions after a complicated relationship ends.
My own experiences of loss and the counselling that helped me through those times have shown me the real value of therapy. It provides a safe and honest space to look at challenging situations and process the difficult emotions involved.
Women's Health: Support Through Life's Changes, Including Menopause
A change in your health at any stage of life can be unsettling, cause anxiety, and sometimes make you think about what's truly important. When I was diagnosed with cancer in my early 40s, it was completely unexpected and made me reflect deeply on how it would shape my future. For the past two decades, I've been learning how to support myself and others through the physical and emotional impact of illness and I aim to share this as part of the counselling I offer for Women’s Health.
I've been particularly interested in the impact of menopause since my own experience of induced menopause in my mid-40s. While society is becoming more aware of menopause, every woman's journey is unique, and sometimes extra support is needed. Counselling for menopause can help you understand your own needs better and offers tools and techniques to manage the changes. Whether you're looking for specific solutions to manage menopause symptoms or want to explore this phase as part of your broader life journey, I can offer the support you need.
Our Sessions Together
I am an Integrative Counsellor, so I will draw upon different ideas and interventions from the different therapeutic modalities to suit your needs specifically.
In our sessions, we will:
· Unpack your thoughts and feelings in a safe, non-judgmental space
· Explore past experiences that may be impacting you
· Identify practical strategies to help you move forward
· Build self-awareness and confidence so you feel empowered in your life
Why not contact me and find out more about how counselling can make a difference?
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£45.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Online and telephone sessions are £45.
Face:Face session can be arranged in Sutton Coldfield and incur an additional room cost of £8.50.
To find out more and book a free exploratory call go to www.alisonburgess.com
When I work
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Further information
I offer 50 minute face:face, online and telephone sessions as well as offering the option of walking therapy in Sutton Coldfield Park where appropriate.
The fee for virtual and phone based sessions is £50. Face:Face sessions in Sutton Coldfield incur an additional £8.50 room fee.
All fees to be paid by bank transfer or PayPal in advance.
Finding the right counsellor for you is key and so contact me for a free 15 minute consultation to help you explore what our sessions would be like and decide whether to take your next steps with me.
