Siana McGarvey

About Siana

I’m a white cisgender woman in my mid-40s. I discovered I was autistic only 4 years ago and, as is the case for so many of us, suddenly lots of things made sense in a much more holistic way!

I realised I wasn't "broken" or abnormal. I have immersed myself in the neurodiversity paradigm and I work with people via this lens and framework, firmly rejecting the medicalised view of autism as pathology.

My core training in 2000-01 was in person-centred counselling (MA, Durham Uni). I then spent 15 years working in 4 of the largest counselling agencies in Northern Ireland, before setting up in private practice in 2016. I have had the privilege of counselling people representing a wide variety of gender, sexual, cultural and spiritual identities.

I also have extensive experience working with young people and I have undertaken a wide range of post-qualifying training related to this work (details on request). In private practice I see mainly adults currently, however many are working with developmental/complex trauma (from childhood/adolescence).

I am trained in working with the nervous system (Polyvagal informed Therapy) and in safe trauma-informed practice. For those seeking a specific modality, I am also a Registered Jungian Sandplay Therapist and an Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist. I’ve been accredited with BACP since 2009.

I'm autistic and these days the majority of people I work with are autistic and/or identify as neurodivergent in other ways. I work with some children, however, I see myself as more suited to (and experienced in) working with young people and adults. Further details in relation to my training, qualifications, and experience are available on request

https://www.facebook.com/SMcGarveyCounsSup

The Structure

I am an "integrative" therapist which means that I combine elements of various therapeutic approaches to ensure that your individual needs are met.

My approach is non-pathologising, meaning I see you as a whole person doing the best you can to manage whatever life has dealt you. Jungian sandplay is one option I offer which particularly enables work at depth using symbols.

This gentle yet powerful process supports your own natural capacity for healing, recognising that sometimes the “answers” bypass thinking and talking. It can especially appeal to those of us who tend to process and learn in a kinesthetic way.

IFS (Internal Family Systems) is another approach we can explore. "Parts" language tends to make a lot of sense to many of us as autistic people as we seem to be naturally very aware of the various roles we play in life and our particular challenges and needs within each of these.

Many of us also benefit from "externalising" our process (rather than visualising or being aware of information internally in our bodies), therefore I have adapted the traditional IFS process to facilitate this using sandtray and other expressive resources.

As well as working as a therapist I also offer supervision and consultation to other therapists and practitioners, particularly in relation to autism and neurodivergence. I trained in Clinical Supervision with Gestalt Centre Belfast in 2014-16 and achieved BACP Senior Accreditation as a Supervisor in 2020.

Neurodivergent Practitioner Network

IFS, Jungian Sandplay, Psychotherapy with Siana McGarvey