Alison Palmer
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
How counselling can help
Life can be bumpy at times. Often we manage to negotiate the bumps alone. Or we talk to family or friends. But occasionally, for whatever reason, those bumps seem bigger, too difficult, stressful or even frightening to negotiate. Reaching out to loved ones may feel too hard.
We find ourselves needing the support of someone separate, someone we can be really honest with, confide in without feeling judged.
That's when seeing a counsellor can be really helpful.
I'm a qualified integrative therapist (Dip Couns, MBACP ) and work in both the private and charity sector with adolescents (16+) and adults. I offer a totally confidential space in which to talk, be heard, understood and in which you can explore what's troubling you, at your own pace.
I'm aware counselling can feel nerve-wracking or you may be shy. My role is to allay those fears and form a relationship with you built on trust. I'm warm, empathic and calm with a wealth of life experience. I will support and work with you to make sense of your feelings and reactions to situations; help you untangle, piece together and reconfigure things that feel tough so they're more manageable now and in the future.
What I can help you with
Perhaps you're feeling depressed, anxious, stressed, angry, isolated or invisible. These are all common reasons people seek counselling. Therapy can also help with relationship problems or family difficulties, grief and loss, problems at work/school/college/uni, difficult feelings about your body or self esteem issues. I also have experience in fertility and pregnancy problems, abuse, PTSD, trauma, sex and identity issues. Or it might be there is no big crisis in your life; you just feel now's the time to sort out a situation you've long felt stuck in. Or you want to change old thought or behaviour patterns you know are unhelpful.
(For a full list of the areas in which I work, see the bottom of this page)
How I work
I work from a quiet, comfortable, light-filled room in a peaceful, rural location overlooking fields. The room is wheelchair-friendly. There's access to a bathroom and plenty of off-road parking in a large private driveway. I work within COVID guidelines.
Alternatively, in these challenging times or because it may simply be easier for you, I work online or over the telephone (and have had extensive additional training working in both mediums).
As my practice is located in the middle of open countryside, I also offer walking therapy. Strolling side-by-side and talking rather than sitting face-to-face can feel particularly helpful for those who find the thought of being in a room too intimidating. If you're interested in this then please contact me to find out more.
I work with clients both long and short term; the number of sessions will depend on you and your needs and I offer daytime and evening appointments.
Because I'm integratively trained I draw from the humanistic, person-centred, psychoanalytical, cognitive and transpersonal perspectives and approaches which means I tailor the work to each client's needs and circumstances rather than offering a 'one size fits all' approach.
What to expect from your first session
The first session lasts 1 hour 20 mins. The initial half-an-hour is free-of-charge and gives you time to tell me what you're looking for from counselling, to ask questions and for me to tell you a little about how I work. Our relationship is key to your counselling so this gives you chance to see if you feel comfortable with me and for me to tell you if I think I can help you. After that I will ask if you would like to continue. Should you decide to do so we go into the session proper, which lasts 50 minutes. This will be charged at the usual rate of £60. Subsequent sessions last 50 minutes.
I offer some low cost sessions.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a fully qualified integrative counsellor (Level 4 Dip Couns CPCAB) having trained at the Mary Ward Centre in London and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP). I work in both the charity sector and private practice.
In addition to my counselling work I offer voluntary hours to a national listening service for people in crisis. I am also a writer. I have written extensively on men's and women's mental/emotion/physical health, pregnancy and childbirth, family dynamics, sex and relationships, sexuality and trauma. I have contributed to national newspapers and magazines, radio and various books.
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.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Free initial in-person or online session
Concessions offered for
When I work
Flexible hours including some evenings.