Due to growing responsibilities as a teacher and supervisor, I cannot respond to inquiries about finding a therapist. Please consult my links page for the names of therapists who may be accepting new clients at this time.  

For academic inquiries, I can be reached at  alison.carpenter@mcgill.ca

For clinical supervision inquiries, I can be reached at alisoncarpentertherapy@gmail.com

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anaïs Nin

Thinking about therapy and counselling is a courageous thing to do.  You seek changes in your life or your inner world and you may not even know how to describe them.  You are suffering or causing suffering to others and do not know how to get out of the negative cycle.  You want solutions.  You need to talk about things that are very private.  You are going through a transition and feel shaky.  You are depressed or anxious.  Maybe someone you love told you to get therapy.  Perhaps you have always felt misunderstood or alone.  Or maybe you just have the feeling that there is more to life.  These are all good reasons to seek out a counsellor/therapist.

“Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns…We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.”
― Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha

My name is Alison.  I have been a therapist in Montreal for 21 years.  My work is deeply meaningful and fulfilling.  My job inside the session is to provide a welcoming and safe atmosphere for you.  I put much of my energy into listening towards a deep understanding of you and your world. As such, I become an intelligent ally and strong support for you as you identify and work through the inner and outer obstacles that keep you from a more peaceful existence.

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
Carl Rogers

My job outside the session is to nurture and protect my own health and clarity.  You can count on me for this.

The clients that benefit from therapy with me tend to live, think and exist adjacent to the mainstream.  Over the years it has been my great privilege to work with folks who are queer and/or LGBT, with artists, musicians, dancers, actors, activists, sex workers and with folks who are seeking ethical and viable ways of being in alternative relationships.  I am also very comfortable working with heterosexual folks and with people who work 9 to 5.