The Essential Self

16/07/2025

11/07/2025

Becoming emotionally aware and developing the capacities and practices to engage with and process our feeling experience, is essential for our growth and healing.

Our feelings are an intrinsic part of our self regulation system, they are felt in our body and experienced at a cellular level, they impact our immune and nervous systems profoundly, particularly when suppressed, and will find a pathway for expression whether we give them one or not. Tension, pain, Anxiety and even Depression symptoms are commonly linked to unfelt, unresolved emotional experience.

Many of us have been taught to fear our FEELings, and denied the tools or awareness to understand their powerful role in our Care and Thriving. The good news is. it’s never too late to grow and develop NEW ways of being, new ways of caring for ourselves, profound healing and riches await those who are willing to Feel more deeply and heal FULLY.

Emotional literacy is a fundamental intention within every offering at the Essential Self, and Coming SOON are more ways to learn and develop foundational emotional somatic awareness, stay tuned!

03/07/2025

Woman- Centered Support and Care

Offering powerfully transformative Woman-centred Psychotherapy and Wellness experiences, that prioritise women’s deepest needs, desires and expression, with a deep understanding of the unique challenges and conditioning that impact women’s growth and healing. Cultivating ESSENTIAL personal care capacities that make a fundamental difference in women’s lives.

An Integrated Approach

Integrative Psychotherapy that draws from a range of proven Approaches to suit the Individual, Including Humanistic, Emotion-Focused, Mindfulness, Trauma-Informed, Creative-Expressive and Cognitive Approaches, to create unique holistic growth and care experiences for the diverse Australian woman.

Connect Via DM, Email or Phone with any questions you have, let’s have a supportive chat about your needs and what you’re moving through, an opportunity to explore if Im the right person to support your growth and healing process.

Jodie 🤎

02/07/2025

NATURE as Care and Medicine

Spending more time in connection with Nature, has to be one of the most powerful and productive self-care tools we have access to, and honestly most of us here in OZ are spoilt for choice when it comes to opportunities to ground, breathe and reconnect with the natural world; even if thats just a patch of grass, a favourite tree, or simply getting our hands into the dirt.
Many studies tell us time in present connection with natural environments, particularly spent in close proximity to water has an often immediate nourishing impact on our nervous system and creates lots of happy chemicals in the brain. It’s proven that regular intentional time in relationship with nature can have a profound positive effect on our wellbeing. As cyclical beings Women can gain much insight about our self care from the mirror of natures seasonal wisdom.
It’s not rocket science, we all know how we feel when we let ourselves breathe into the earth, yet for many if us it’s a challenge to put the devices away, and to engage with the elements our bodies and minds recognise innately, that which we powerfully respond to.
Where is your favourite earthy self-care space?

How often do you spend time there?

What does it give you?

If you don’t get enough access to natural spaces, can you share what’s getting between you and natures care?

24/06/2025

Counselling and Psychotherapy

A Trauma Informed relational space for your Expression, Care, Growth and Healing, with access to proven therapies that can change how FEEL, LOVE, RELATE, CREATE and LIVE.

Taking the 1st step into more support for you is always the hardest. This winter I’m rewarding new clients for their willingness, with a complimentary 25% off your 1st Counselling and Psychotherapy session, also extending this to returning clients!

Telehealth sessions are available to anyone in Australia, or In-Person sessions in Seaford Victoria.

EXPLORE The Essential Self Starter Session and more information about ES Psychotherapy via essentialself.com.au

OR Reach out for chat! Via DM, Email or phone

21/06/2025

Winter Solstice Wisdom

The shortest day, the longest night,
Every day from here light expands ✨

- Energy moves underground
- Deeper Feeling Processing
- Body Wisdom - Care - Healing - Rest
- Roots/Seeds/Ideas nourished by the fertile ground

What feelings are you holding/moving through more deeply?
Can you sense/feel it in your body?
Can you name it and place it in your story?
What do you need to care for you through this feeling healing-growth process?
From where can you gather energy?
How can you REST more?
What is seeding in your ground to be birthed in the springtime?

27/05/2025

Womens Solo Travel

Have you tried it?

Have you ever taken off on your own adventure, no partner, no besties … just YOU, spending time by yourself in a place you want to go, cultivating every moment doing exactly what you want to do? Meeting all the challenges and choices of travel, on your own?

Have you ever given a good chunk of time to take yourself away from your daily responsibilities, to step out of the energy you experience every day and into a something NEW all for you, for your growth, your care, a CHOOSE your own YOU adventure ?

I just returned from some solo overseas travel time, nothing like the feeling of having only yourself to think about as you explore new exciting and sometimes challenging things. So rich! So much to cultivate for your relationship with your ESSENTIAL SELF ✨✨🦋🦋

I know there are many a seasoned solo female traveller out there, if that’s you please share below what you love most about it, what your best take aways have been from spending time in adventures with yourself.

And if this is something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet, share your story too, your why and your what’s stopped you ( so far) from getting there.

Oh and get excited, because I’m brewing up something new ( and accessible) for women’s SOLO time.. can’t wait to share

14/05/2025

A BIG Feeling Story

What can we do with our big feels, when it all ‘feels’ simply too BIG to process, too big to hold?

Lately life has thrown me some big curve ball feels, and yet another growth experience about how to care for myself through it. When I listened more deeply it was SPACE I needed, loving space .The intentional act of creating more space to care for my experience...for cultivating a solid ground for ME to move from, and to give from.

I came to remember there are many ways we can create more space for our emotional experience so it doesn’t overwhelm us, many ways we can bring support to BIG emotional energy in our bodies and minds. It’s individual of course, what that looks like.. but what I’ve learned ( the hard way) is if we don’t attempt to turn inward and greet with love our feeling experience, if we don’t attempt to create more loving SPACE to safely ‘Surrender’, and just keep pushing on, pushing down, pushing through, pushing out (all kinds of pushing) we WILL ultimately be overwhelmed by IT

Side Note; We all have our individual process, and we’ll all come to ‘Surrender’ when we can (Love & Respect for our process is so important)

BUT ‘Is PUSHING Honouring? 🤔 In my experience the struggle of pushing makes us Tired, Anxious, it saps our energy, and we need our precious energy to move through, we need ALL kinds of energy to move through.

🌻What I RE- LEARNED about how I can Create more Energy & SPACE for me through BiG feels;

- Prioritise what’s most important RN and ‘shelve’ other energy sapping issues for another time

- Use Creative tools for expression of feeling

- Keep turning IN, be IN Presence WITH my feelings, name them, witness them, welcome them

- Connect with Nature Spaces, let the Natural world Hold my feels with me

- Call in more support, of the trusted friend and therapeutic kind, keep surrounding myself with those that CAN support me.

- Take regular ENERGY inventory, say NO to things I can’t hold, boundaries baby.

- Forgive myself for not having my S**Z together, continue to remind myself about the power of Vulnerability

- BREATH!

💛 What can you add to the list?

20/03/2025

Autumn Equinox 🍂🍁

- Harvesting and Processing from the busy celebration/play/expressive seasons and experiences behind us

- Releasing/ Shedding what’s left and no longer needed

- Slower, shorter days, beginning to cool and turn inward

- Getting SUPER CLEAR about what you’re CREATING for yourself in this TRUE NEW cycle ahead

- What’s SEEDS are you planting into the ground that will birth in the SPRING?

- What NEW ways of being, doing, supporting can you bring to this NEW intended GROWTH

🌰 Planting new SEED of intention - setting your compass for that direction 🧭

Always Always moving forward with LOVE 🤎

Art- NEW SEED .davies.studio

08/03/2025

On this International Womens day, I’m reflecting on my own personal power, courage, wisdom, and loving presence and how often women, past and present are called into these expressions, to literally hold up the world. How so many women are the mothers and midwife’s of life’s beginnings, endings and everything in between.

We have so much work to do to make this world safer for women, to challenge and change the conditions and conditioning that impact our core beliefs, our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health, our choices … that suppress our deeply valuable individual unique expression in the world.

So much gratitude for the brave women of the past that have risked their lives for women’s freedom and honour, and for those that step forward in this story every day, in big and smalll ways.

Gratitude for the women in my family, for the various incredible women I share space with everyday, and the women in my life that love, care and honour me, and do the same for themselves. We need more of ourselves FOR OURSELVES and we need each other.

So much love to your beautiful feminine heart 🤎



Art -moi’

28/02/2025

WELCOME! I’m Jodie,

Psychotherapist, Facilitator and founder of The Essential Self.

I’m so glad you’re here ✨

Thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself and share some things about ME!

I’m an embodied, growth focused woman, in the ever present dance of vulnerable and powerful, just like most of the women I hold space for.

I live by the sea and Nature is my Temple. I am kind, empathic, playful, passionate and expressive, sometimes a too serious over thinker/doer, some say funny, and a pretty good story teller.

I’m also a deeply blessed Mama, a leader and a creator, and value genuine, authentic relationship above most things.

My work with women is informed by a powerful personal impulse to contribute to an emotionally empowered culture, and to impact womens mental health, embodiment, self actualisation and leadership as a foundation for great change.

My journey as Therapist and Facilitator has had varied evolutions, with my approach drawing from two decades supporting women through growth and healing; as Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Creative Arts Therapist, Wellness Facilitator, Woman - Centered Coach, Meditation Teacher and Energy Therapist; my offerings integrating what I consider to be some of the most essential approaches, practices and therapeutic experiences that women need for their genuine holistic growth, care and thriving.

You can read more about my personal growth story, professional education and experience via my website.

But don’t hesitate to drop any Q’s you might have in my DMs, or let’s organise a time to chat!…

Jodie 🤎

20/02/2025

Womens Business Support Networking done right!

SAFE relaxed, inclusive Relational Spaces ✔️
Connection experiences WO performative expectations✔️
Supported opportunities to practice Visibility✔️
Shared Authentic Stories ✔️
Self Care Experiences ✔️
Holistic Growth and Development experiences✔️
Honouring BIZ - Personal- Family- Health LIFE Balance ✔️
Opportunities to grow our INNER Care Capacities✔️
Emotion Focused- Creative - Expressive Support✔️
Financially Accessible ( or in our case FREE!) ✔️
Uplifting, non-competitive Community Collaboration ✔️

And so much more.

I have been co-facilitating a collaborative womens BIZ support network for the past year, with a focus on the personal growth and care aspects of our BIZ life, on building genuine BIZ relationships, BIZ visibility and supporting our health and well-being, as women so often are holding so much more than their Business/Work..

Can you add to this list?

If you’re a SE Melb, Peninsula, Bayside local and would like to join our humble powerful BIZ support circle, drop me a DM we meet monthly