Your Wild Self - Psychotherapy & Counselling

25/08/2025

My most recent blog post:
https://yourwildself.com.au/blog/f/tending-the-soul-in-a-modern-world
Stay connected and engaged in your own time by subscribing via my website

Beyond the Mind — The Path of Gestalt Psychotherapy...

24/08/2025

Our bodies remember what our brains are unable to fully process.

When our bodies go into survival states, we can’t actually process and move through whatever it is we’re feeling and experiencing - we’re too busy trying to stay alive.

But our body remembers.
Those unprocessed feelings didn’t just go away, they’re still stored within us; our nervous system remembers.
And the next time something occurs that reminds us of this situation, our body will have a similar response (as far as the body is concerned, you’re alive, therefore the response worked).

So when we have unresolved feelings, traumas, and responses stored in our nervous system, the body is holding on to that unprocessed energy, and it’s going to do its best to let you know.

But so many people live with their heads floating away from their bodies, disconnected from their own internal signals.
So many people are so focused on intellectualizing their feelings (it’s what many of us are/were taught to do and can be helpful to a point), that they shun and reject the very real signals the body is giving that it needs to be met, seen, and assisted in processing the stored energy around older unmet needs.

It’s hard to maintain a calm state of mind if your body is holding on to unresolved pain, grief, anger, and overwhelm.
Your body is trying to help you process through to help you get these needs met!

The next time you find yourself ruminating, procrastinating, or freezing, can you turn to your body?
Notice the sensations, the feelings, and listen to what your body is telling you it wants.
Re-establishing this connection is the path toward a calmer mind, greater self-trust, and self-regulation.

The Cycle Breakers program begins September 2nd. Come learn how to meet yourself with compassion, connect to your deeper needs, and be in relationship with your emotions instead of shaming or fighting against them! And do it in a small cohort of other likeminded, supportive people.
Space is limited, and there are only a few spots left.
https://theeqschool.co/cycle-breakers

20/08/2025

It makes me wonder what will happen as we continue to step into this terrain.

A.I. acting as therapists...

In therapy there is a term that has been researched and is known as 'common factors.' These are shared elements that contribute to successful therapeutic outcomes across modalities. The most beneficial being the 'therapeutic relationship.'

While individuals may be forming bonds online with A.I. therapists there are a range of influences that a bit looses out over a human.

A key item is nervous system regulation. Much of how we respond and make sense of the world is through our biology. With a plethora of data available on the importance of mirror neurons I wonder what will happen to our learnt capacity for empathy and emotional regulation when 2D stimulus is substituted for connection.

"In July, five months after her death, we discovered that Sophie Rottenberg, our only child, had confided for months in a ChatGPT A.I. therapist called Harry [...] Sophie, a largely problem-free 29-year-old badass extrovert who fiercely embraced life, killed herself this winter during a short and cu...

18/08/2025

Contempt in intimate relationships. A killer for certain if left unchecked.

08/08/2025

‘Good things come to this that wait.’
And it’s true.
‘Patience is a virtue.’

In therapy it takes time to understand well formed patterns. It takes time for awareness to build enough that change can begin to take place.

Be kind with yourself.

04/08/2025

We are all “shapeshifters.”

Nothing is ever really stagnant or stuck in us. Imperceptible or elusive - may be….

There is so much more to consider when we take in the broader field of experience in an individual’s life. Humans are part of a web of interconnected systems.

Gestalt therapy knows not reduce people down to isolated events or experiences. We live in emergent and present moments and are shaped by the ever changing landscapes we have and continue to habituate.

It’s heartening to read that others are beginning to question current diagnostic thinking in mental health.



https://www.madinamerica.com/2025/07/disorders-as-shapeshifters-study-urges-overhaul-of-diagnostic-thinking/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL89e9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtRm7D2K_ubm2Aywoed-CEG4HixAlQEoUfjaaZqIiZ1k6Yp1iXXSq03t1mdl_aem_C9702RNg4ekDUe0EnqOBGg
lte io

Internalizing disorders, including depression and anxiety, shift their shape depending on cultural, physiological, and personal factors.

31/07/2025

S*x in relationships can often be a contentious topic. In therapy it can feel taboo.
It’s so important for the health of a relationship to address what’s happening (or not) in the bedroom, as well as other areas of life.

29/07/2025

You don’t need to be in crisis to know something’s not working.

Maybe you're doing all the 'right' things - showing up, holding it together, being there for others- but underneath, there’s a quiet sense of 'not enoughness.' A subtle disconnect. A feeling like life is happening around you, rather than through you.

You might be tired of repeating the same patterns in your relationships. Or maybe you're in a transition: grief, separation, change in identity or direction - and want a space to land, to listen, to rediscover what’s real for you.

Therapy with me isn’t about quick fixes or simple symptom management. It’s about slowing down enough to hear yourself again. It’s relational, embodied, and gently confronting in service of something more honest and whole. I provide a space for clients to grow their capacity for self-awareness and understanding.

If you’re ready to explore who you are beneath the coping strategies, and you want a space where you can be met —not managed— I’d love to support you.

www.yourwildself.com.au/book-appointments

28/07/2025

This is what I also do in my role as a therapist... I sit on the Council of GANZ (Gestalt Australia and New Zealand) as the Community & Membership Chair.

See more below -

We have just held the GANZ Council Annual In-Person Meeting for 2025.

We are currently a small group of 4 individuals - dedicated to taking care of our membership of 249 people.

🌟 President and Professional Development Chair -
Michelle Sier

🌟 Secretary and International and Research Chairs -
Annie Garrety

🌟 Community & Membership Chair -
Zoë Webber

🌟 Treasurer - Tegan Mumford

Our focus is to continue fostering community across Australia and New Zealand for Gestalt practitioners and students. We are also committed to connecting with our Gestalt colleagues (and other professionals) across the globe, keeping abreast of numerous exciting events and educational opportunities.

Find out more here:
www.ganz.org.au

🌸 A big thank you to GTB ‘Gestalt Therapy Brisbane’ (one of our Australian Gestalt institutes) for accommodating us over the weekend 🙏🏼

23/07/2025

I hear a lot how clients place the needs of others before their own so that they end up exhausted and burnt out.
It’s beautiful to hear this young man speak like this.

19/07/2025

It can be powerful to realise where ways of being in the world may have begun as an adaptive response. And going against the family system, speaking out against people that are loved by individuals, can be a tricky piece to navigate theoretically. The child in the adult often chooses to protect the parent over their own needs.