About Me
Qualifications
Full registration as an endorsed Counselling Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) •
Bachelor of Science in Psychology (Honours) •
Master of Applied Psychology (Counselling), University of Queensland Facilitator of the Circle of Security parenting program
The way I work
My passion for therapy is born out of a curiosity for the human experience and how we relate to the world around us. Rather than focusing on a diagnosis, I prefer to spend time listening to and exploring your unique life story.
I seek to work from an attachment-based methodology, meaning that I aim to deeply and meaningfully connect with you. I celebrate and place great value on the unique qualities of the individual and will tailor the counselling approach to meet your needs. I listen with curiosity, respect, openness and a willingness to be with you, during each stage of your journey, at a pace that works for you. My intention is to hold a space that feels safe and nurturing, so that together, we can make sense of your world, embrace your uniqueness and move towards developing patterns that best meet your needs.
My experience as a therapist, and a fellow human, has taught me that we all respond to our lived experiences in different ways. Often these patterns of responding are our means of protecting ourselves from emotional suffering, yet at the same time, can result in deep feelings of disconnection and pain. By exploring our childhood conditioning and the patterns we develop in response to our experiences (schema processes), we can gain a deeper understanding of our internal and external behaviours and thought patterns and recognise the influence of these on our emotional wellbeing.
I am trained in therapies that adopts mindfulness, self/other focused compassion, kindness and values as part of their process. I also draw from schema, solution focused and narrative methods. I am trained in Circle of Security, an attachment based parenting program that focuses on the relationship between the child and their caregivers. I enjoy sharing this knowledge and will offer strategies, when the time is right, to help you and your family to connect to one another, and work towards building a meaningful and lasting relationship.
My areas of interest include supporting people who are experiencing emotional distress (anxiety and depression), grief and loss, trauma, attachment and relationship concerns, women’s issues, domestic and family violence, parenting, addictions and substance misuse. I really enjoy working with people at transitional stages in their lives, such as becoming a parent, changing family dynamics, career changes, university student, moving into retirement or experiencing life-impacting health conditions. I am particularly drawn to working with women who are experiencing menopause or hormonal shifts, an area that I feel is often overlook. I work towards supporting women to understand their experiences, honor their system and find inner peace and balance in the midst of change.
The counselling space provides an opportunity to explore your unique lived experience, nurture your wellbeing, tap into your wisdom and regain a sense of self. I recognise first hand how difficult it can be to make that first step into therapy, and honour the courage it takes to stay with this process. I feel a great sense of privilege to be alongside you, as you move towards healing, in a way that connects deeply to your truth. I look forward to spending time with you.
Relationship Counselling
Connection to others is a fundamental human need and yet it can also be one of the most painful and difficult things to navigate. We arrive to all our relationships with our own ideas, historical conditioning, beliefs and hopes about what a relationship should be. When we meet someone, whether in a romantic intimate connection or a friendship or even a work colleague, our relational ‘dance pattern’ which has been honed and developed over years can get in the way of deep connection. Coming to therapy will allow us to explore and develop new relational patterns, we can talk about communicate and how to ask for what we need, whilst also listening and hearing what our partner needs, we can learn how to prioritise our relationship and look at the impact of the stress and pressure on relationships. We can also explore the importance of repair, a crucial aspect of relationship longevity. The aim and hope is to feel more seen, heard and connected within our relationships.
Clinical Supervision
Being the vessel that holds space for clients stories to be shared and witnessed is a most rewarding, humbling and bewildering experience. If we work in a way that is relational and connected, then we don’t leave our ‘Self’ outside the therapy space. We take our stories, our experiences and our humanness into the therapy room. And in that space we hold our clients stories and experiences gently as they rub up against our own, we feel deeply, we care openly and we hold hope. Whilst ‘traditional’ supervision may focus on clients concerns, best practice and desired outcomes, relational supervision focuses on the experience of Self as a therapist. My aim as a relational supervisor is to provide a safe and nurturing space that allows you to bring your whole Self to supervision. A place where you can discover and uncover what happens to you in the therapy space. A place where your struggles are seen as part of the human experience and together we can explore and reflect on what this experience may be telling you. My hope is that through our relationship and this process that you will become the therapist that you want to to be. That you will gain confidence in practising in ways that align with your values as a therapist and a human and be able to maintain a healthy, balanced and sustainable way of practicing.
Cost – $170 per session (60 minutes)
