First let's be clear on what I mean by the terms Psychotherapy & Counselling. The two areas do overlap and equally there are some differences. I think of a Counselling style as being generally focused on relatively short-term specific problems or life changes whereas Psychotherapy can involve potentially longer-term work focused on supporting you to identify and grow a deeper sense of self over time. The style of support I give you will always be agreed with you, driven by what you need and may flex between listening and reflecting issues to you to providing constructive challenge to your thinking and to using one or more of the methodologies listed below.
Consultations are confidential and usually up to an hour in length. Frequency of consultations will depend upon the style of Counselling utilised and the depth of the problem presented and work may be short or longer term, again dependent on what you need.
I always guarantee to listen to you, to challenge you as appropriate in a respectful manner, to treat you with care and respect and to work flexibly to help you best meet your needs.
"You have helped me so much and allowed me to learn so much about myself & how to get what I need. I know I think differently about things now & am finding a little more confidence in myself & the ability to just be me. I notice little things in myself all the time & think "I never used to think like that" or "I never would have said that before". I am so grateful to you, I really am."
- Psychotherapy client, Sydney
People come for Psychotherapy and Counselling as individuals, couples or families for many different reasons. Psychotherapy and Counselling in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental environment can greatly enhance your ability to achieve the solution or change you require.
My support will help you to either address an immediate problem to which there may be a fairly quick solution or to grow awareness of lifelong patterns of emotion and behaviour which may no longer serve you well.
Through greater self-awareness, healing and more meaningful ways of being in the world, my clients increase their ability to make good life choices.
Psychotherapy and Counselling can be of use to you in many circumstances, including:
"This has been a year of contrast for me, I feel that I've been through such incredible lows to now be facing the start of a new year with great confidence, happiness, peace and love in my heart, it's almost unbelievable, if it hadn't been such hard work at times I almost wouldn't believe it myself. I have so much to thank you for, you've taught me so much about myself, how to be true to myself, how to love and respect myself and most importantly how to be happy. It gives me such pleasure to be able to look at my life at this point and see that I have a happy family, a thriving business and have become someone that I am incredibly proud of ... I really want to thank you for supporting me and providing me with the tools necessary to get to where I am today."
Psychotherapy client, Sydney
As a Psychotherapist I am able to draw on many different ways of working to best suit you and support your growth. My range of approaches include:
Do you:
In our family we learn ‘patterns’ of behaviour, often unconscious and often passed through many generations.
Awareness of these patterns gives greater choice as to how you behave, more sense of ‘self’ and the ability to become ‘unstuck’ and move on with your own life in your freely chosen way.
Story: “A girl in her 20’s was confused as to the way she related to people. It seemed difficult to maintain friendships. Through family systems work she became aware of ‘patterns’ of behaviour’ she had learnt as a child which she was now repeating. Increased awareness led to gradual changes in behaviour and ‘healthier’ ways of relating, ultimately leading to a long-term partnership.”
What is it?
Hypnotherapy is used to lead you into a natural state of trance - somewhere between waking and sleeping. This just feels like being very relaxed and bears no similarity to the stage hypnosis shows you may have seen! In this state the conscious mind is quieted, allowing access to deeper, more unconscious states where healing and change can more easily occur.
Who is it for?
This completely safe and natural treatment works in harmony with conventional treatments. It can often speed up the process of change since it works at the more powerful unconscious level.
Applications are broad and include:
Please note that Hypnotherapy is not a ‘miracle cure’ – it is essential that you are truly committed to making changes in your life for Hypnotherapy to best support you.
Story: “A boy in his early teens had never been able to travel home from school on the bus or be left at home alone for any period of time since about the age of seven. This was due to high levels of anxiety which had arisen after a traumatic incident at that age. After just two sessions of hypnotherapy with occasional ‘maintenance’ sessions, he was able to both travel home and spend time at home alone.”
A first consultation regarding potential Hypnotherapy work is always an ‘assessment’ session to enable me to fully understand your needs and best tailor future Hypnotherapy work to support real change for you.
What is it?
Sandplay Therapy uses creative, symbolic play to create a bridge from the unconscious to the conscious. Clients work with a tray of sand and a selection of objects to create a scene. Sandplay represents in images what is happening in the inner or outer world (even where a client is not consciously aware of the cause of pain or difficulties) and can be deeply transformational.
Who is it for?
Sandplay supports adults, children and families with healing, personal growth, communication enhancement and problem-solving. Adults are often able to express themselves more freely and easily via Sandplay than via the more traditional ‘talking’ therapies. It can also be hugely beneficial for children, giving them a vehicle to express their feelings openly at a point in time when they may not yet have the vocabulary to express themselves.
Each partner brings to a relationship the unique behaviours, patterns and communication styles which they have learnt in their family of origin, together with deeply held and yet often fairly unconscious expectations of how relationships work. Add to this their individual life experiences and current challenges such as job demands, children, financial worries and in-laws and no wonder relationships truly need working at!
Most couples experience their ups and downs, misunderstandings and conflicts. Often these can be worked through positively and the couple move on, but sometimes it doesn’t seem quite so easy - conflicts remain unresolved and frustration, anger and resentment grow. This is when couple counselling can be helpful – working with an impartial and objective therapist can support you to gain greater clarity on the way forward.
Story: “A couple came to see me to work on improving how they related together. At the first session they rated their relationship 2/10. After 6 sessions, including some exploration of what they had learnt about relationship in their families, they rated it 7/10 and had new skills to better communicate with each other.”
If you want to improve your relationship, or if you believe your relationship is in trouble and you are unhappy, give me a call.
What is it?
Cognitive behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps you to understand, manage and change your thoughts (cognitions) and actions (behaviour). It supports you to replace negative thinking patterns with patterns which are more useful to you, focuses on the positive steps you are taking to progress and helps you to manage problems step by step so they become more manageable.
Who is it for?
CBT has been shown to be very effective for a whole range of issues and is particularly effective if you are impacted by anxiety or depression. Depression has a strong effect on the way people think and CBT will help you to look at situations from different angles and become clearer on the process of how you manage issues and events in your life. Through talking about your current way of thinking you are able to identify potentially more useful and positive thought patterns which can be learnt to help you feel better about yourself and your life.
