Alana Thompson

Alana Thompson is an AASW-accredited social worker with 18 years of clinical experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, career challenges and ADHD. Her manner is warm and compassionate, and she aims to make the first steps feel manageable for worried parents and carers.

Alana uses plain conversation and practical planning in sessions. She listens for what is going wrong now and helps set small, achievable goals. She focuses on building everyday strategies that reduce distress and improve daily functioning.

Her approach blends cognitive-behavioural ideas with attention to emotions. This means she helps people spot unhelpful thinking patterns, try different behaviours, and make sense of strong feelings. Sessions often include safety and management planning when needed to keep things stable.

Alana has a long background in child protection, family services and university counselling. She has worked with people affected by trauma, emotional abuse and complex life challenges and has also taught and researched social work practice and law. That mix of practice and research influences how she plans care.

She holds a Bachelor of Psychology, a Master of Social Work and a PhD in Social Work and Law. Alana also has Mental Health First Aid training and describes her work as collaborative and non-judgemental. Parents and carers will find straightforward support for the everyday pressures that come with family life and transitions.

Approaches that guide online sessions

Alana draws on evidence-based techniques that help people manage thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Cognitive-behavioural ideas focus on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing new behaviours to reduce anxiety and low mood. Practical exercises and problem solving are used to build skills that work in daily life.

She also pays attention to emotional understanding, helping people name and tolerate difficult feelings. This approach supports those recovering from grief, trauma and emotional abuse by building emotional awareness and safer ways of coping.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with the client to decide which techniques suit their goals and preferences, adjusting plans as progress is made.

Session formats are not specified in the profile, so please confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It also lets people keep continuity of care when schedules change, while the therapist and client choose what works best for their situation.