About Alison
Alison Keane is a Brisbane clinical psychotherapist, mindfulness meditation teacher and yin yoga instructor. Mindfulness is an important part of Alison’s personal life. She meditates and practises yoga regularly as life-affirming wellbeing practices.
Alison has worked in the field of mind body, participatory and preventive healthcare in Australia since 2001. She is one of a handful of Australian mindfulness teachers accredited with the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society (CFM). The CFM is an international agency involved in setting up global teaching standards. Her Queensland mindfulness course Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was featured in the award-winning SBS documentary, The Silent Epidemic which was televised internationally.
Alison’s courses and presentations are warm, engaging and informative, and at times draw from her experiences as a former ABC television producer and journalist, senior government media advisor and company director and anxiety sufferer.
More about Alison’s experience in teaching mindfulness
Alison trained in the teaching of mindfulness under the direction of American educator Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Jon Kabat-Zinn. Dr Kabat-Zinn. Jon, a molecular biologist and long term meditation practitioner is widely credited with distilling the Buddhist wellbeing model of mindfulness for western medicine and audiences. Alison attends Buddhist, Insight Yoga and secular meditation retreats for support and nourishment in her teaching and in her life.
“…in my thirties I realised I had anxiety that was hitting fairly high. What a revelation! I thought everyone experienced the tension headaches, late night worrying. I joined a yoga class and on a family member’s recommendation began to meditate. My anxious thoughts started to drop away. Another epiphany! In 2007 I found out about mindfulness and how it can help stress. Even though I wasn’t quite sure how I would fund it and get there I decided to travel to the US to study under the wonderful teaching and support of Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn. Jon is widely acknowledged for his research-evidenced and thoughtful distillation of eastern mindfulness to support people who have mental or physical stresses in their lives. Jet lag, an unexpected northern Californian snow blizzard outside our venue and not quite knowing what was ahead contributed to anxiety rising again at. Fortunately, I was in good hands!”
Moving on from jet lag and anxiety…
Alison returned to Brisbane to undergo extensive training as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) facilitator and MBCT therapist. She is now one of only five Australian mindfulness teachers accredited with the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine Healthcare and Society(CFM) to teach the MBSR Course. The CFM is involved in setting up global standards in the delivery and teaching of secular mindfulness.
Alison is also a counsellor and psychotherapist with more than 20 years’ experience including work at Relationships Australia. As well as generalist counselling she is trained in guiding people through Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). MBCT is similar to Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and like MBSR may be helpful in bringing ease to mental stress and chronic pain.
Interested in the movement side of things?
Alison is a qualified yoga teacher (Dip IYTA) with extensive experience spanning 17 years in guiding students in hatha yoga, yin and restorative yoga and mindfulness meditation. She has studied and practised with yin yoga adepts, Paul and Susie Grilley (Esalen Institute, Ca), Insight Yoga founder, Sarah Powers, USA, restorative yoga educator and authority, Judith Lasater, Iyengar’s Peter Scott and ashtanga teachers including Ian and Richard Clark.
Not sure what you’re after? Counselling, mindfulness meditation or yoga? Get in touch to talk about the possibilities!
Interested in workplace mindfulness for professional development, mindfulness for stress reduction or yoga?
Private Mindfulness Meditation, Lifestyle Coaching and Yoga for Wellbeing
Rather than MBSR or other mindfulness training in a larger group you may prefer to see Alison one on one for a private counselling session, for support and training in developing a personal mindfulness meditation practice, for relaxation techniques or to learn yoga and mindful movement.
Alison’s private clients are a diverse group! They include air traffic controllers, therapists, school principals and teachers, parents and families, politicians, retirees and HR professionals.
Below are some of the reasons that people have given for seeking one on one support whether a counselling session or a mindfulness or yoga private class.
- to calm my mind so I can reduce anxiety and be able to focus better on my ‘med’ exams
- a desire to become a regular meditator, not just an occasional one!
- to be less irritable and reactive with my staff, to be a better person (at work)
- to introduce my daughter to meditation and yoga to help her with anxiety which seems to be getting worse
- I go to the gym but I do nothing to look after my mental wellbeing. It’s time!
Mindfulness Training and Support for Healthcare Clinicians
Alison has produced the two day training The Mindful Therapist which can be delivered in your own workplace. Whether we are workplace managers, supervisors, therapists, or teachers we set out to meet others with authentic, clear-headed, open-hearted presence. But this advanced therapeutic skill can be easily chipped away by our own emotional reactivity to stress at work and in everyday life, and unconscious long held patterns of thinking, even deeply buried core beliefs.This workshop brings a laser light focus to how we can begin to use mindfulness as a way of being more present, compassionate and authentic for others and for ourselves.
Alison has presented training for the State Library Queensland (SLQ), Queensland Health, Queensland Cardiovascular Group, Education Queensland, the Queensland Law Society, Legal Aid Queensland, Triathlon Queensland, Epilepsy Queensland, Brisbane Catholic Education, local law firms, corporate workplaces and organisations in the non-government sector.
While mindfulness is a practice that can be learnt relatively easily, to cultivate these capacities in the long term requires determination and a commitment to regular practice.
To find out more contact Alison here
Award Winning SBS Documentary About Mindfulness
Alison’s Brisbane MBSR course was featured in an award-winning SBS television documentary, The Silent Epidemic. The show highlighted the positive mind-changing mindfulness journey of a young Brisbane woman, Ali Dower.
Keynote Presentations
Alison is a keynote speaker on health and well-being, including the positive impact of meditation and secular mindfulness in people’s lives.
- 2013 – Speaker at Yoga Australia’s national conference, Unity in Diversity.
- 2015 – Presenter at Brisbane’s premier yoga event YogaFest
- 2017 – Keynote address, Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA)
Mindfulness Presence in Education
Alison has designed and delivered training for TAFE and Education Queensland teachers and career guidance officers. She continues to mentor principals and other school leaders.
In 2015 Alison travelled to Bhutan and explored education policy emphasis on mindfulness and meditation in schools there.
As well as her own mindfulness courses for the education sector she is also a presenter of the 8-week well-being course Reconnected in Brisbane schools. Reconnected is a program developed by UK-based Mind with Heart.