Bondi Junction

  • Beverley

    Registered Psychologist Sydney

    B Soc Sci (Psych), B Soc Sci (Hons), Post Grad Dip Psych, Grad Dip Systemic Therapy, H Dip Ed.

    Hart Centre Certified

    100% Trust and Satisfaction Guarantee In Relationship
    LOCATIONS
    • Bondi Junction, Sydney, NSW
    About Beverley

    This Hart therapist’s speciality is relationship counselling in Sydney, due to her special focus and interest in relationships. She has done extensive training in this area both locally and overseas. Her experience is working with individuals, couples and families with different formations. She has worked with families with same sex, heterosexual and non binary parents, as well as families with children whether, biological, step, adopted, or donor conceived.

    This Hart therapist offers a safe and confidential space, where relationships and patterns of behaviour can be gently explored. She is an experienced relationships counsellor, with same sex, gay or heterosexual relationships. She is familiar with the dynamics of families, inlaws and stepfamilies.  If during therapy one or both of you discover that the emotional switch has been turned off and the decision is taken to separate, therapy can help sort out this process especially when there are children involved.

    This Hart therapist specialises in relationship counselling and can also provide infertility counselling. When an individual or couple have been diagnosed with infertility this can cause stress and despair. She has experience and expertise acquired from many years of  working with fertility professionals in Sydney. She will provide information on different treatment options available to individuals and couples so that they can make an informed choice that will suit their needs. Counselling provides a space where a couple can learn how they can nurture their relationship during fertility treatment.

    When an individual or couple are advised that their best option is to use donor sperm, donor oocytes or donor embryos, counselling is an informative way of ensuring that all parties are on the same page as far as hopes and expectations are concerned both before and after treatment.

    A major life change occurs when a couple have a baby, even when the baby has been planned parenthood can cause a lot of joy but also a lot of stress. This is especially a difficulty when couples want to conform to a high standard and take a baby’s restlessness or crying as a sign that they are not fulfilling their role. The experience of parenthood can cause a couple to disagree and argue. The lack of uniformity on expectations around parenting might polarise a couple. It is useful at this time to attend counselling where the norms of parenting and different views and values are thoroughly addressed.

    How many years counselling experience do you have?

    Over 17 years

    What are three strengths you have as a Psychologist/Counsellor?

    I am empathetic, engaged with the clients and very client-centred.

    What is the most satisfying and fulfilling part of the work you do?

    Everything. I love my work and working with people.

    What’s an example of a couple you have helped the most?

    A couple who were on the brink of divorce. There was no intimacy and they were still in the same house for the sake of their children but in separate rooms. It took one year but they did the work and tried to walk in each other’s shoes. They improved their communication, intimacy, emotional intimacy and stopped the blame game. Each took responsibility for their own part in the relationship.

    ENQUIRE NOW
    Or to book an appointment, please call 1300 830 552

  • Cristina

    Registered Psychologist Sydney

    B Psych (Hons); Grad Dip Int Comm; PhD; MAPS

    Hart Centre Certified

    100% Trust and Satisfaction Guarantee In Relationship
    LOCATIONS
    • Randwick, NSW
    • Bondi Junction, NSW
    About Cristina

    This Hart Registered Psychologist has over ten years of experience specialising in couples counselling and marital preperation, providing a variety of evidence-based techniques and therapeutic approaches. Her approach to support counselling is caring and empathic.

    In addition to her honours degree in Psychology, she holds a PhD from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and a Postgraduate Diploma on Intercultural Communication. She has worked as a Psychologist in private, academic and corporate settings.

    She is also a lecturer and researcher, and teaches several psychology units (postgraduate and masters levels). She has worked as a cultural consultant in several countries focusing on expatriates stages of adaptation. Her PhD thesis was on expatriates’ strategies of integration in Australia, and she particularly looked into intermarriages and conflict resolution styles during adaptation. As an academic, she has presented several papers in international conferences and published several book chapters and peer-reviewed papers in renowned journals. She speaks English, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

    She is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

    How many years counselling experience do you have?

    Over 20 years.

    What are three strengths you have as a Psychologist/Counsellor?
    1.  Knowledge
    2. Empathy
    3. Experience 
    What is the most satisfying and fulfilling part of the work you do?

    Assisting people to break barriers, helping them to perceive themselves from a different perspective and create new possibilities to improve themselves and their relationships, finding strengths they were unaware of before.

    What’s an example of a couple you have helped the most?

    I can think of so many couples who were brave to face the challenging task of deeply listening to each other and also looking into themselves. I admire all of them.

    I choose a couple that perhaps resonates to many people reading this profile. This couple are in their early 30s, neither had done individual therapy before, so it was unknown territory for both. They were dating for 7 years and were living together. They were both born in Australia, but came from different backgrounds in terms of expectations and communication styles. They saw me after months of struggling with communication, feelings of resentment and increased emotional distance. There was also a break of trust and they considered separating. They were questioning why this happened so early into their relationship, as they expected this would only happen after many years of being married or having children.

    I usually say that lack of communication tends to be a lack of connection and empathy, and recovering trust should be team work; one cannot recover trust alone. Accepting help is by far the biggest step, as it can give the feeling of “we have failed” or “we are not capable”.

    We explored how each one of them felt dis-connected and the barriers they faced.  They learned how to really listen to each other, identifying their communication and attachment styles, and understanding that recovering trust takes work but is possible. Like many other couples, they re-invented their relationship, as the one they had was not functional anymore.

    They are still together and stronger than before. They have grown so much both as individuals and as a couple, as they stepped outside of their comfort zones and did the work. This happened years ago, and sometimes, every two months or so, they do a “check-up” of their relationship with me, which helps them avoid falling back into unhelpful patterns and relationship pitfalls.

    ENQUIRE NOW
    Or to book an appointment, please call 1300 830 552