Phoenix Connection Therapy

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Alderley, QLD
Phoenix Connection Therapy

MH accreditated Social Worker
Trauma informed counselling & support
Attachment focused couples therapy phoenixconnectiontherapy (more content on instagram)

At Phoenix Connection Therapies, we recognise the power of the body, mind, and spirit connection for healing. Like a Phoenix, we recognise that every person has the power to heal and transcend difficult and traumatic experiences. We are here with you to walk alongside you and support you to access your own innate wisdom for healing. We offer a range of holistic therapies that are both evidence-based and chosen by the client. We understand that accessing therapy and addressing pain can feel scary and anxious. We want you to feel safe and supported and reassure you that as the client, you are always in the ‘driver’s seat’ and we go at your pace.

22/01/2025

It takes immense strength and courage to turn inwards and allows ourselves to feel and process our painful moments.

As humans, we tend to do all sorts of things to avoid and distract from our pain.

This quote is a beautiful reminder that in order to heal it, we first need to feel it.

If you're looking to start your therapeutic journey and would like to know more, we would love to hear from you.

You can reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

15/01/2025

When we take the courageous step towards exploring the younger parts of ourselves that were wounded, often didnt feel safe, heard or acknowledged in their moments of pain, we open the door to a pathway for deep healing to occur.

The process of inner child work can be described as both profound and deeply personal.

It allows us to return to our more vulnerable younger parts with a lot of safety and compassion online and offer them a corrective emotional experience.

This experience in therapy paves the way for deeper change to occur, allowing you to begin to grieve the experiences of your younger self, whilst you also learn to nurture and respond to yourself and others in new ways.

This is also a meaningful process of learning that it is safe to be your authentic self, and reclaiming lost parts of yourself as you begin to build increased confidence and self-esteem.

There are a few different experiential modalities that focus on connecting with the inner child, such as Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT).

If you're interested in inner child work and would like to know more, you can reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

11/12/2024

A beautiful quote that reminds us at the heart of our hope is our courage to survive and transform our moments of pain.

If you're looking to start your healing journey, we would love to hear from you.

You can reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

04/11/2024

Gabor Mate's words here really bring home an important message that I feel is helpful for anyone experiencing the impact of trauma.

Your experience is valid, and it matters!

For many, an experience of trauma often goes beyond the definition of what is provided within our medicalised model of mental health care.

Its really common for clients to question the validity of their pain, making suggestions such as 'but I am sure someone has probably been through much worse than I have' or 'Others have it worse off than me'.

The way I think about trauma is much more expansive than what our medical model provides.

It is distressing to the person experiencing it, erodes their confidence and sense of self, and many find themselves constantly stuck in survival mode, experiencing overwhelming emotions and unable regulate, to fully process, integrate, embody, and move forward with self compassion.

Put simply, It's less about what qualifies and how that's measured, and more about that you are hurting, and that experience needs to be honoured with care and connection.

My approach is client led and recognises that trauma focused treatment is not a one size fits all. The modalities that I apply to working with trauma include CPT, Trauma focused CBT, EFIT, and IFS.

If you would like to know more about trauma work, reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

05/08/2024

It's such a great quote from Carl Rogers here.

A beautiful reminder to embrace one's own authenticity and innate worth as a human being.

We can do so by honouring our worth exactly as we are.

When we can embrace this as truth, we begin to challenge and break free from the 'striving towards' that ever elusive goal of arriving at one's own unrelenting high standard of perceived 'perfection'.

I am also reminded by the words of American psychologist and spiritual teacher Ram Dass, who also once said, 'look out into the woods, you see all sorts of different trees, some bent, and some of them straight, and some of them evergreen or whatever. You look at the tree and allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is'.

What both teachers share on common ground here is a message to accept one's own worth, wherever you find yourself, at whatever point in life, you are loveable, worthy, and bring value exactly as you are.

It's important to acknowledge that this can take people a process of deep inner healing to arrive at a place of fully believing it.

Often, we have been conditioned in childhood through various life experiences to measure our worth against standards of external achievement.

We can find ourselves caught in the grips of perfectionism, perhaps.ruled by a harsh inner critic and / or measuring oursevles in comparison to others.

If you would like to know more about perfectionism and inner criticism, check out our earlier posts.

Working to reclaim our worth, embrace our authenticity, and let go of negative core beliefs can take time, and it's helpful to have a therapist you trust to support you through this process.

If you resonate with our post and would like support, please reach out to us directly at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

08/07/2024

We all recall a time when we were free from the shackles of pressure and expectations to be anything other than our true authentic selves.

A time when we could run free, play, and laugh without fear of judgement, criticism, and worry of what others think.

We then learned to put on armour to protect ourselves against times when we felt hurt, shame, unheard and invalidated, and experienced emotional pain.

Though that armour gets heavy and in the way of us living in our true authentic nature.

Inner child work can offer us a key to unlock the door to reclaiming lost parts of ourselves.

If you would like to understand how your past may be impacting your present, reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

03/07/2024

We have all, at some point, experienced moments of reflection when we think we could have done something differently.

However, it's one thing to consciously reflect and check in with our values to see if we have gone off the path and completely another to criticise ourselves relentlessly for our own humanity, which is inherently and beautifully imperfect.

When we embrace our mistakes with a moment of self compassion, we give ourselves the space needed so we can learn, grow, and move forward with an increased sense of resilience.

It's really common to get stuck on what you might say to yourself in situations when we hear that inner critic getting loud.

Helpful strategies can include thinking about what you might say to a friend or loved one in a similar situation and reflect that towards yourself in that moment.

If you notice a harsh inner critic and difficulty with embracing self compassion, we offer this support at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

15/06/2024

While all couples need a healthy interdependence, closeness, and connection, many partners find themselves caught in a particular interactional pattern we therapists call 'the dance'.

Founder of EFCT Dr. Sue Johnson referred to the dance as the ways in which partners protest with one another.

These moves are underpinned by our various different fears, pains, and longings with the intention of resolving the conflict and restoring the connection.

However, we often use moves that have the opposite effect and invoke further reactions in our partners, leading to a cyclic nature of the conflict and challenges at play.

This can leave couples feeling really stuck, misunderstood, and even feelings of hopelessness about their relationship.

However, EFCT is a highly evidence based couples therapy that offers a map of how to disrupt the dance and learn to move with the emotional music, and learn how to lean into vulnerability, do different steps so to speak, and strengthen the emotional and relational bond.

If you would like to know more about EFCT and have relationship challenges that you would like to work on, please reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

07/06/2024

Like 'balm for the soul', tears are a psychological release and a necessary function of our healing processes.

So often, people bring courage to lean into painful places and may notice a part themselves that urges to apologise when they begin to cry.

When we apologise for our tears, we are saying sorry for something that is natural function and expression of our human experience.

This urge may be experienced as an automatic response, as something we quickly say to prevent from being a burden on others.

Though perhaps if you notice this tendency to offer an apology as you tear up, ask yourself 'Would I really expect someone to apologise for their grief, sadness, or moment of pain, as they share with courage and vulnerability?'

Often, these responses arise from our conditioning and how we were guided to make sense of working through emotion in childhood. If emotions were shamed and not welcome, we can find that we continue doing this to ourselves now as adults.

Curiosity is key to disrupting the automatic nature of our adaptive parts. From there, we can begin the process of learning to find moments of compassion for ourselves in a time when we need it the most.

If you resonate with our post and need additional support, please reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

03/06/2024

While all couples need a healthy interdependence, closeness, and connection, many partners find themselves caught in a particular dynamic we therapists call 'the dance'.

Founder of EFCT Dr. Sue Johnson referred to the dance as the ways in which partners protest with one another.

These moves are underpinned by our various different fears, pains, and longings with the intention of resolving the conflict and restoring the connection.

However, we often use moves that have the opposite effect and invoke further reactions in our partners, leading to a cyclic nature of the conflict and challenges at play.

This can leave couples feeling really stuck, misunderstood, and even feelings of hopelessness about their relationship.

However, EFCT is a highly evidence based couples therapy that offers a map of how to disrupt the dance and learn to move with the emotional music, and learn how to lean into vulnerability, do different steps so to speak, and strengthen the emotional and relational bond.

If you would like to know more about EFCT and have relationship challenges that you would like to work on, please reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

01/06/2024

We all have an inner voice, which we know as that inner monologue within us in any given situation, always running in the background.

Often, the inner voice can sound harsh and what we refer to in therapy as the 'inner critic'.

Some common inner critic examples might include thoughts like “You’re stupid,” “You’re not attractive,” or “You’re not like other people.”

This can be damaging to our own self-esteem at a time when we really need a moment of compassion.

Bring intentional self-awareness to this part of you by slowing things down, breathing deeply, and noticing with curiosity what the inner critic is saying.

Try to first notice this voice and ask yourself, 'Would I say this to someone I love and care about?'

Many people find they will have a visceral reaction when asked this question because most people would never say to someone the things we say to oursevles.

This post is to support awareness and offer an invitation for people to check in with themselves. Are you kind to yourself today?

How can you offer yourself statements of self compassion in this 'now' moment?

If you have an inner critic part and would like support, please reach out to us at www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au

25/05/2024

Put simply, the concept of attachment provides a clear rationale for how our early experiences of the past in childhood, shape the present. If you want to know more about attachment styles, go back to our earlier posts where we get clear on what each style of attachment looks like. In the context of our adult relationships, attachment forms a blueprint of an internal working model that guides the way we relate with others.

Therapists who work from an attachment-informed perspective, recognise how this fundamentally shapes a person on multiple levels. This is often why therapists may want to know a little bit about what childhood looked like growing up.

As our early childhood experiences with parents and caregivers shape our attachment style, and we will bring this style into our romantic relationships with a partner. If we have a style that differs from secure attachment, we may engage in forms of protest behaviour that impact the relationship, and our ability to sustain emotional closeness and connection with others.

It's common for couples to feel like they have repetitive arguments from which they are unable to seem to change despite their best efforts. This is often due to differences in attachment needs, fears and longings and the way that is communicated with their opposite other. This commonly leads a person to a place or pain and fear, and we know from the science that unprocessed pain will impact behaviours.

So we can often end up acting in ways with our partner that lead us to feel more disconnected, alone and potentially questioning the relationship itself.

Visit our website www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au to know more.

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Alderley, QLD
4051

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https://www.phoenixconnectiontherapy.com.au/

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