Covid 19 Update: I am available for online or telephone counselling sessions. Phone 0410 280 946
counselling services
I specialise in counselling for individuals, parents, children and families.
I have particular expertise in issues such as single parenting, supporting children through separation, co-parenting and step-families.
Counselling sessions usually last 1 hr (45min for children) and cost $90. Fees are negotiable for those on a low income.
Sessions can be conducted via Skype, on the phone or face-to-face at my private practice in Maleny, Queensland, Australia.
working with
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Parents struggle with many issues and sometimes just need a little extra support. Times of stress and change can make parenting even more challenging and children can act up if they have emotional issues they need help dealing with. I can offer information and practical strategies, based on the latest research, that can support you with many common parenting dilemmas whilst also supporting your child's healthy emotional development.
Sometimes we may find ourselves triggered by, or over-reacting to, current issues with our children. Unresolved or left-over issues from our childhood can impact on our parenting and hinder our ability to be attuned and responsive to our child. Reflecting on and understanding our own childhood experiences can help us better understand and empathise with our child and prevent us from re-creating the same negative interactions with our child. Awareness and acceptance of our own emotions allows parents to respond more flexibly and thoughtfully. "Making sense of our life stories enables us to have deeper connections with our children, and to live a more joyful and coherent life." – Daniel Siegel
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working with
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Challenging behaviours are a red flag that children need emotional support. I believe that parents are the best people to help their child with their emotions, however sometimes the support of a skilled therapist who is warm and impartial can be helpful.
In working with children I employ a playful and creative approach. Play is the natural language of children and entering into the child’s world of play, fun and imagination creates connection and rapport. Expressing themselves through paintings, stories, sand-scenes, fantasy and play is a gentle and non-intrusive way to work through emotions. I aim to help the child feel understood and deeply accepted as they are, to help the child tell their story and come into better contact with themselves and their emotions. |
my approach
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My approach is humanistic, person-centred and experiential. I aim to provide a safe, supportive relationship where people can feel deeply listened to, understood and accepted as they explore current life issues and problems. I believe that the client is the expert on their own life and that I can help with the process of understanding themselves and their feelings better, and that people naturally move towards growth and wholeness, given a supportive environment.
Gestalt Therapy is a holistic and experiential form of counselling which means that instead of just talking about an issue, we might explore it by paying attention to the client’s current experience and by experimenting and trying things out. We may focus on various aspects of the client’s present moment experience such as thoughts, feelings, body sensations, movements etc. and I may ask questions such as “what are you aware of now?” or “what do you notice in your body as we talk?“ Gentle and creative experiments may be used to focus and heighten experience further, allowing the client to explore and integrate various aspects of the self. Gestalt therapy holds that growth and healing happen when we make full contact with our current experience. Paradoxically, by not pushing for change and by allowing ourselves to fully experience ourselves as we are, change and integration naturally follow. This process leads to greater self-acceptance and increased choice and flexibility about how to respond to life. ”…change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to
become what he is not.” – Arnold Beisser |
