Alyson Gardner, LCSW
Therapy for Anxiety, Depression, and Life Transitions in Utah
Anxiety does not always come with an obvious cause. Sometimes it is the weight of everything at once: a career change, a relationship shift, a confidence you cannot find your way back to.
Book a free consultationVirtual sessions across Utah. Most major insurance accepted, and we verify your benefits for you.
What Alyson works on most
Anxiety & Depression
The worry with no clear source, and the flatness that makes an ordinary week take everything you have.
Trauma & PTSD
EMDR and Cognitive Processing Therapy, two approaches built specifically for trauma rather than adapted to it.
Life Transitions & Self-Esteem
A career change, a relationship ending, a move. The transitions that look manageable from outside and do not feel that way.
Neurodivergent-Affirming Care
Six years of dedicated work with neurodivergent clients and families, brought to adults who are tired of being told to try harder.
About Alyson
Alyson Gardner is a Utah-licensed clinical social worker with nearly a decade of clinical experience. Her current practice is adults, by telehealth across Utah, working on anxiety, depression, trauma, and the life transitions that arrive whether or not you were ready.
She is trained in CBT, EMDR, and Cognitive Processing Therapy, a specific evidence-based combination for trauma work, which she uses even when trauma is not the headline reason someone reaches out. She also draws on Motivational Interviewing, ACT, mindfulness, and strengths-based approaches, and delivered DBT-informed care in clinical practice from 2022 to 2024, with additional DBT training underway.
For six years before moving into general adult practice, Alyson worked as an LCSW at a neurobehavioral center specializing in neurodivergent client and family care, conducting assessments, running social-skills groups, providing parent psychoeducation, and collaborating with psychologists and BCBAs. That depth comes with her: she works in an affirming rather than corrective frame, and she adapts session structure to the person instead of asking the person to adapt to a format.
The consultation is a conversation, not a commitment
Deciding whether to start therapy is hard enough without a calendar demanding a card number. Here is the whole process.
Answer a few questions
Your state, what brings you in, and how you would pay. Under a minute.
Talk to Alyson for 15 minutes
By video, at no cost. You describe what is going on and she tells you how she would approach it.
Decide after the call
If it feels right, you book a first session. If not, we help you find someone who fits better.
What clients often say when they first reach out
Paraphrased versions of what Alyson hears most. If one of these sounds like your own head, you are in the right place.
Therapeutic approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- EMDR
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- DBT-informed interventions
- Motivational Interviewing
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Strengths-based and humanistic approaches
- Mindfulness-based approaches
Also works with
- Career stress and burnout
- Stress management
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Executive function and organization
- Young adult and college transitions
- Parenting support
- Aging and later-life change
Who she sees
- Adults 18+
- Neurodivergent adults
- BIPOC clients
- LGBTQIA+ and relationship-diverse clients
- Individuals, virtually across Utah
Questions before you book
Where can Alyson see clients?
Utah only. Sessions are virtual, and you need to be physically in Utah at the time of your appointment.
Do I need to be dealing with trauma to work with her?
No. Alyson is trained in EMDR and Cognitive Processing Therapy, and that training shapes how she works with anxiety and depression too. Plenty of clients come in for a transition or a confidence problem and never frame it as trauma.
What does neurodivergent-affirming actually mean?
The starting assumption is that your brain is not broken. The work is building a life and a set of strategies that fit how you function, rather than getting you closer to a neurotypical default.
Do I need a formal diagnosis to talk about ADHD or autism?
No. Many adults arrive suspecting one or both without ever having been assessed, often because nobody looked when they were younger. That uncertainty is a reasonable place to start.
What if I've had bad experiences in therapy before?
Worth saying on the consultation. One common reason therapy does not land is a format that never flexed. Alyson adapts structure to the person, and naming what did not work makes that faster.
How soon could I start?
Alyson is accepting new patients and usually has consultation times available within the same week.
Let's see if we're a fit
A few quick questions, then you can book a free 15-minute consultation with Alyson.