Valerie Ballarotti MA., PG.Dip.
Counsellor and Psychotherapist
IACP/BACP Accred.
The letters after someone's name only tell you so much...
So here's a bit about my background, training, and what brought me to this work
My 'career' in psychotherapy started over 25 years ag: as a client. Experiencing a truly supportive therapeutic relationship changed my perspective on myself and lead to some substantial changes. In 2009, I left the funded PhD I'd started—which looked impressive on paper but felt completely wrong—and retrained as a psychotherapist at the Psychosynthesis Trust, then affiliated with the University of East London,
Morphing into a therapist was not a smooth process. As a client, I had had some ropey therapy experiences too, which had made me quite wary. I still have many questions about the do's and don'ts of therapy, especially in a field that sometimes feels like a sprawling supermarket for the soul: aisles and aisles of colourful labels promising life-changing results at breakneck speed—if you can afford it. What has kept me hanging in there is working with clients, my fellow travellers. It is a real privilege to get to know people in this very deep and textured way and accompany them part of the way.
I've been practicing as a counsellor in Galway since 2012. After five years in a busy community-based service, I opened Crea Counselling in Lower Salthill in 2016. Courtesy of the pandemic, I now also offer counselling and psychotherapy online, which makes Crea Counselling services available beyond the Galway area. I offer short-term counselling and open-ended psychotherapy to adults who need support in their relational and emotional lives, or are seeking a truer sense of direction and purpose
As an Italian-born therapist who has lived abroad for over 30 years—26 of them in Galway—I work with Irish and international clients alike. I know what straddling cultures feels like, and I particularly enjoy working with people from diasporic communities: those navigating life between cultures, returning to Ireland after years away, or simply feeling they don't quite belong where they live. In our work together, we may use English, Italian, or French—or a mix thereof.
My psychotherapy work is informed by my background in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Before starting my counselling studies, I was a Marie Curie fellow at UCL and an IRC doctoral fellow at what was then NUIG—my short-lived taste of prestige! I taught at the Italian Department, briefly lecturing on Italian cinema. Despite leaving academia, while training as a therapist, I stayed at the University, working with a great team as part of a pilot project for inclusive education for third-level students with learning disabilities.
I still have an interest in research, and alongside my counselling practice I work freelance as a translator, copy editor, and occasional author in the fields of social work, psychology, counselling, and psychotherapy. More recently, I've had the pleasure of joining the ICPPD team in Galway, bringing together my experience as a psychotherapist with my previous work as a third-level educator.
My counselling approach integrates various therapy models and is informed by current research in counselling and psychotherapy. Over the last few years, I've developed a particular interest in trauma-informed therapy approaches sensitive to the legacy of childhood trauma in adulthood. I am trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and in Janina Fisher's TIST model (Trauma Informed Stabilisation Treatment). I am an accredited therapist with both Irish and British Associations of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
As a therapist, keeping up with new skills and approaches is important. Yet what remains essential is teh relationship we form in our work together.
Academic Qualifications
MA (Dist.) Counselling Psychotherapy
University of East London School of Psychology
PG. Dip. Psychosynthesis Counselling
University of East London School of Psychology
Grad. Cert. Jungian Psychology with Art therapy
Limerick School of Art and Design
Dip. Youth and Community Development
National University of Ireland Galway
MA European Culture
University College London
BA (Hons.) International
National University of Ireland Galway
Further therapy training and selected CPD
AEDP Immersion with Diana Fosha
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy level I (34 hrs)
Dr. Janina Fisher - TIST level I and II
Trauma Informed Stabilisation Treatment (41 hrs)
Intimacy from the Inside Out
IFS couple therapy training (70 hrs)
Internal Family Systems Therapy -
Level I and II training (Addictive Processes)
IFS Therapy CPD:
Trauma Neuroscience/Addictive processes/ Food and the Body/Sexual Trauma/
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy CPD: Resilience/Loneliness and Isolation/Dissociation/Integrating psychotherapy models.
Complex Trauma Therapy Training
with Dr. J.Fisher (49 hrs)
Specialist Training Sexual Trauma
Galway Rape Crisis (80 hours)
CBT & DBT Certificate (6-day training)
STORM suicide risk management (6-day training)
Gestalt Therapy masterclass (3-day training)
QQI Certification in Training Delivery and Evaluation
Looking for a therapist...
I work with people rather than issues
Because each of us is always more than whatever we feel is 'wrong' with us.
Some of the problems clients have addressed in therapy with me include
emotional problems / depression, anxiety life transitions /
grieving / loss and bereavement /
childhood trauma, abuse and neglect / work-related stress and burnout /
racial, gender, class inequality / relationship problems and loneliness /
body image, emotional / binge eating /
low self-esteem and perfectionism / spiritual crisis, creative block
other areas of interest ...
Wondering if counselling is for you?
Finding the 'right' therapist can be hard, but it is a worthwhile search!
