Meet Ali
“Ali has a calmness about her that straightaway reassures you you’re in safe hands.”
Ali Cliffe
Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist
ACP 6901
Hello, I’m Ali, and I’m excited that I’m part of the Now, Next & Then team as a child and adolescent mental health specialist. I have worked with children and families all my working life and have always felt passionately about supporting children’s emotional wellbeing.
In my early career I worked as a respite carer for disabled children. As well as meeting many wonderful children and their families, this role taught me a lot about the pressures and battles that families can face in ensuring their child’s needs are met. Following this, I worked as a childminder so that I could be at home with my own young family. Caring for under 5’s in my own home brought me very in touch with the importance of attachment and relationships. These two roles inspired a deep passion for wanting to make a difference, as well as a wish to broaden my knowledge and understanding.
“Ali has an exceptional ability to engage children and enable them to thrive.”
• Early Years Consultant and Assistant Headteacher•
My love of study led me to find out more about attachment and early childhood development which eventually led me to Theraplay, a relationship based therapeutic intervention that works with the parent and child together. It was at this time that I first met and worked with Julia and Emma. In 2012 I completed the Theraplay training and as well as then working with families to deliver this support, I have also been able to help many colleagues/others to embark on the Theraplay journey.
Always seeking to learn more about ways of working with children and young people who are in distress, I embarked on a six year doctorate in 2018 in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, which I proudly completed in 2024.
In addition to being part of Now, Next & Then I work for the NHS in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), in Salisbury.
Outside of work you can find me either walking my dogs, watching films or reading a book.
“Ali is a highly attuned and skilled Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with extensive experience of working therapeutically with children, over many years.”
• Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy colleague •