Alison Burton

Although Alison is always ‘time short’ managing a busy practice combined with attending to her lecturing commitments, she has always made her self available to offer support and advice to her colleagues.  She is an accredited HypnoBirthing Practitioner and combines those skills with a range of supporting qualifications. In the mid 90’s she was accredited as a SleepTalk for Children Coach and combined with HypnoBirthing has lectured extensively around Victoria.  During these busy years Alison was also the Executive Officer of the Victorian Branch of the AHA and has always had a keen interest in supporting and uniting Hypnotherapists in Victoria.

Alison Burton spent her earlier school aged years in country Victoria, growing up in the beautiful city of Ballarat.  Upon leaving school her initial area of interest was in Occupational Therapy and in 1976 became a qualified Occupational Therapist. She commenced work as an Occupational Therapist at the Geelong Psychiatric Centre and from there Alison went to the Gresswell Centre for Drug and Alcohol Dependence, while at the same time training in Group Therapy and Family Therapy at Bouverie Clinic.

It was at the Gresswell Centre that Alison volunteered as a subject for a doctor who was training in Hypnosis. This experience intrigued her and triggered a lasting interest in the subject which eventually led to her becoming one of Victoria’s hypnotherapy experts. But before she explored her interest in the science of hypnosis, Alison had the opportunity to travel and worked overseas for 2 years prior to getting married.

Upon returning to Australia Alison and her husband initially lived in a Family Group Home in Box Hill and at the age of 26 Alison was “Foster Mum” to 5 teenagers. Three of these teenagers, all wards of the State, were completing Year 12 at the time. During the second year as Cottage Parents, Alison and Harry presented the world with their first child. After the birth of their second child, Alison trained as a Family Life educator and taught sex education in Primary and Secondary schools for over twelve years.

In 1996 Alison had the opportunity to reignite her interest in Hypnotherapy, training at the Australian Academy of Hypnotic Science (now known as the Academy of Hypnotic Science) and quickly established herself in Private Practice in East Doncaster. This Practice has gone from strength to strength and now includes a Clinic with 6 consulting rooms accommodating more than 18 Natural Health Practitioners. Alison’s business, Simply Natural Therapies, also offers a wide range of courses and workshops as well as a retail shop.

from the CCH Newsletter, 'Perspectives'   Vol 1 Issue 3 (July 2007)