Bernie McAloon

Creative Arts Therapist

BA(Hons) MA MBACP

 

I have twenty five years’ experience working psychotherapeutically with adults, children, young people, and families over a range of public, private, voluntary sector settings, and children’s charities.

Deeply committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of vulnerable children and young people, I have extensive experience working with multiple levels of complexity, including serious mental health issues, challenging behaviours, complex educational needs, and with those who have experienced trauma, neglect, domestic violence, and abuse.  

 

My therapeutic approach with children and young people is informed and underpinned by Attachment Theory.  As a Person-Centred Creative Arts Therapist, I utilize art, play, sand tray, drama, journaling, image, and metaphor as therapeutic methods of communication, and draw on a range of integrative therapeutic approaches including solution-focused techniques as assessed to be required at appropriate stages of the therapeutic intervention.

 

I also work with a wide range of adults from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and offer both short-term supportive counselling and long-term depth psychotherapeutic work.  I have substantial experience working with a wide range of emotional and psychological issues including anxiety, depression, bereavement & loss in all its forms; adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse, PTS, life changes and transitions, psychological effects of physical illness, and aging in an increasingly challenging world.

Genuine and warm, I practice Person-Centred Creative Therapy focused on building a relationship of trust, understanding and mutual respect to create a safe psychological space from which you can explore, make sense of, and address personal difficulties and challenges. I incorporate a range of intergrative techniques from psychodynamic approaches where appropriate to deepen self-awareness and facilitate meaningful change.