Alison Jones-Tyler

I currently have the following times available:  

Thursdays at 9 am and Thursdays at 11.30 am

I work with adults and young adults on an individual basis in face-to-face therapy and online.  I work in both on an open-ended and  a short term basis.

There is a wide range of reasons why people come to me for counselling, but here are some examples:  depression, anxiety, bereavement, low self-confidence, self-harm, job loss, miscarriage, trauma, or just wanting to sort out how they feel and what they want for themselves.

The relationship that you have with your counsellor is the most important part of therapy.  Therefore I have recently added to my initial training (which was psychodynamic) by studying the relational approach.   We would explore your early years or events from the past to help us to understand how you got where you are today.   I look at what is happening for you using Attachment theory too.  In addition I use Mindfulness, if you would find this helpful.  I adapt the way that I work to suit the needs of each individual.

I work from home in a quiet room.  We will talk about what is happening for you and how you are feeling.  The more that you can bring, and talk about how you are, the more material we have to work with.  However, this feels very difficult for some people and I would try to find ways to open up our conversations, if necessary.

The relationship you have with your counsellor is the most important aspect of therapy.  We will notice what is going on within our relationship and work with that as part of the therapy.  In addition, we will explore your past experiences, your early years, your early attachments.  I work to an open-ended time frame, so that you choose when therapy ends, at a time that feels appropriate for you.  I also work short-term, if you wish.  In this case we would focus on just one apsect of your life that you want to look at.  Most people prefer to work in an open-ended way and therapy takes as long or as short as it takes.

I am an integrative counsellor.  This means that I use several theories to inform my work.  The theories that I use are:  Attachment Theory, Relational Psychotherapy, Body Psychotherapy, Person-centred, and Psychodynamic as well as Mindfulness, if that feels helpful. 

Sessions are highly confidential and I work to the BACP's "Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions"  (2018) which is available online:  https://www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-resources/ethics-and-standards/ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions/

The first session is an opportunity for you to see whether how it feels to work with me.  This will help you to decide whether I am the right therapist for you.  What is different during the first session, compared to later ones, is that I will ask some specific questions about you and I will write down your replies:  why you are seeing a therapist, what you would like from therapy, previous experience with therapy, your mental health history.  (In following sessions, I will not be writing during the session.)  There will also be time for you to tell me something about what is happening for you.  There is no obligation to work with me after the first session.  This session is longer than usual and you would need to allow one hour and fifteen minutes at most, to ensure we had time to cover everything we want to.