Are you wondering if the path you’ve been travelling is getting you where you want to go? Counselling can be a life-changing tool, and I’ve dedicated my career to helping people change old patterns, develop insight, and live with integrity and joy. WHAT TO EXPECT
Sometimes people don’t know what to expect from the counselling processes. You may wonder if your issues are too complicated, or not s
erious enough,
or worry that the things you’ll discuss will be so distressing that you’ll carry the pain around with you, long after leaving the session. What people may not realise is that good therapy can be a joyful experience, despite the need to discuss stressful, sad or shameful things. There’s a beauty in developing insight and making choices from a place of awareness rather than habit or fear. There have been lots of tears in my office, it’s true,but there have been even more “Aha!” moments when someone makes a connectionbetween an old belief and a current behaviour. There’ve been quite a few laughs, and exhilarating moments when someone realises they’ve achieved real change. MY APPROACH
When I meet someone for a consultation, I think of this time as a journey through conversation. Always, there are intersections and roadblocks and detours,
and I use my expertise and intuition to help explore and navigate. Sometimes paths need to be retraced and further explored. At the same time, I remain strategic and try to offer concrete tips to raise awareness, make better choices and improve mood, so that your quality of life improves early in therapy. You may benefit from learning relaxation techniques or other strategies to manage your mood or anxiety, or you may prefer a “sounding board” approach that will work strategically to create positive change in their relationships and lifestyles. Maybe you’re facing a difficult decision and need some help working out the costs and benefits of the possible choices. Sometimes support is needed when your emotional response to your circumstances threatens to overwhelm you. I take an active, rather than passive approach and believe that direct feedback is an essential part of the therapeutic process. When appropriate, I’ll provide you with answers to questions as they are presented, to the best of my ability. Anxiety and stress management
You'll learn evidence-based techniques to help you mitigate symptoms of anxiety, as well as exploring what beliefs you hold that may have been bringing fear into your life. I'll also introduce strategies to manage time more effectively -- decreasing stress! Relationships
I've witnessed couples develop beautiful, loving relationships after having weathered storms such as affairs, separation, drug abuse, the stress of having young children, and major disagreements like whether to have kids, where to live, and how often (or even how) to have s*x. With couples in particular, my work tends to be quite strategic and structured,
using evidence-based approaches that focus on practical strategies to improve the friendship and connection between you. When conflicts arise, you'll learn how to find the conversation beneath the conflict and learn new ways to communicate, really hear one another and meet each other's needs. Through all this, my personal goal is to teach strategies that create an atmosphere of love and respect so that you are able to maintain positivity between the two of you for the duration of your relationship,
not just while you’re in therapy. Creative arts
Working as a writer, visual artist or performer brings with it its own set of challenges. If you're finding it's difficult to put yourself out there, I can provide support and help you set realistic objectives
that will optimise your time, diminish your fear and harness your creative energy. Or perhaps there's a mysterious something blocking your creative flow. Together we can explore this to identify the block and either work with it, around it, or shove it out of the way. As a writer, I know firsthand what it's like to immerse yourself in a creative space,
and can help you come out the other end with a finished product that you can feel proud of. Decision-making and crisis counselling
If you're facing a difficult decision, you may need help working out the costs and benefits of the possible choices. As we explore the issue, we may find other choices you didn't see before, or ways to make this a both/and rather than an either/or situation. Gay and le***an issues
If you're working out your s*xual or gender identity, talking it through with someone who doesn't have an agenda can be hugely helpful. Beyond that, gay men, le***ans, transgender and bis*xual people can still face issues unique to them: building and maintaining loving, intimate relationships in a society that doesn't honour them as it does their heteros*xual counterparts, connecting to community, relating to families who may not be as supportive as you'd hoped, dealing with subtle or not-so-subtle homophobia in the workplace...
and really, the coming-out process never actually stops. Pregnancy
Whether to have (or not have) a baby can be one of the most difficult decisions you'll ever make. I began my career at Planned Parenthood (Missouri) and then was Director of Counselling at Preterm Foundation, specialising in reproduction, fertilitly issues and decision-making. You'll find informed, compassionate and blame-free support here. Childbirth, adoption and parenthood preparation
Pregnancy's only the beginning of the journey! As a practitioner, mother and step-mother, I'm well-versed in the complexities involved in parenting,
as well as the potential for richness and joy, and can help you prepare for the adventures and challenges to come. Grief and loss
Sometimes sadness is unavoidable. Maybe you’ve lost someone you love and your heart feels broken. There’s been a death, or the end of a relationship. With grief, the only way through it is, often, through it. At times, though, the sadness can threaten to overwhelm you and make basic day-to-day living feel unbearable. I can help navigate these dark times with you and keep them from being isolating and destructive. And as an objective participant, I’ll help look for opportunities for growth and learning through this process. Self -esteem and personal empowerment
I believe that you have, within you right now, the tools to discover the unique qualities that only you bring to the world. I'll help you identify and set realistic goals, and then support you if needed as you work toward smaller objectives that will lead you to achieving these goals. Sometimes choosing counselling can be empowering in itself, as it's an indication that you've taken responsibility and the first steps toward change. I believe that crisis can provide a powerful opportunity for growth,
that we can learn to make choices with clarity,
and live with integrity and joy. QUALIFICATION DETAILS
I started my career in education and health in 1988, working as an adolescent educator for Planned Parenthood in the United States. I’ve trained in the United States and Australia, finishing my post-graduate work at Sydney University in 1994, and am a Psychologist Registration Board approved Supervisor for Intern Psychologists. Also, check out my book "Normal: The True Story of a Complicated Family",
a memoir exploring families, intimacy and concepts of normality (Text Publishing, 2009)
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