Hello and thank you for visiting my website. Please note that I am taking a leave of absence and, therefore, am not taking any new clients at this time.

alison ritchie child therapist tenleytow

Hello, I’m Alison.

I work with children, teens and adults who are dealing with anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship, work and school issues, grief and loss, and trauma.

Using both talk and expressive therapy (play therapy, expressive arts, sand tray), I help clients understand themselves and feel better able to respond to life’s stressors.

You will find me to be authentic, caring, and a dedicated support on your journey to healing. I bring compassion, mindfulness, and creativity to my work and consider it an honor to work with my clients. I look forward to meeting you.

More about me

"Trained in expressive arts therapy on the West Coast and then trained on the East Coast by Eliana Gil herself, Alison goes to the heart of what the client needs. Finding the therapeutic dance with each client - she finds gently and playfully where a child is hiding or how an adult needs to be met or held with a level of skill and balance of therapies and knowing the depths of healing herself. She has found her way through loss and can help others to find their way. She has become an expert in coping with loss and building healthy relationships. Her insight and skill level are very high, Don’t walk, run to her therapy office!"

Sheila Rubin, Psychotherapist & drama therapist

Focus areas

Anxiety and depression

Most people will experience anxiety and depression at some point in their lives, but few of us have the tools to navigate it successfully. Therapy helps people gain insight into the source of these feelings and develop strategies to have more ease and joy in their lives and relationships.

Relationship issues

All of us long to feel connected to others and deeply understood, but we can get stuck by behaviors and relationship patterns that don't serve us or let us thrive. Therapy can help identify why we relate the way we do and change old patterns that don't serve us in our relationships.

Trauma counseling

Many of us have experienced trauma. Whether it be profound loss, heartbreaking separation, debilitating injury or illness, or interpersonal abuse, we need to develop the tools to meet these challenges with perseverance and transform suffering into resilience and empowerment.

Expressive arts therapy

The expressive arts provide a non-verbal way to express and process thoughts and feelings that are painful or difficult to navigate with words. Expressive therapies, such as art and sand tray, deepen and enrich our understanding of ourselves and help us access our most powerful resources.

Play therapy

Play is the universal language of children. Using themes and metaphors in the child's play, we can enter their inner world to better understand their thoughts and feelings. Play therapy builds a bridge to the adults in children's lives, giving insight into how best to meet their individual needs.

Attachment-focused child and family work

Many events in life can disrupt a child's healthy attachment to caregivers, including parent or child illness, separation, loss, and abuse. Attachment-focused child and family therapy identifies the child's specific needs within the family, and provides caregivers with the tools to meet these needs.

Contact

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