Therapist

  • Therapist Melbourne

    Relationship Counsellor Melbourne

    BA(Psych)(Hons), PhD, Deakin, MAPS, ICEEFT, ACEFT, MCEF

    Hart Centre Certified

    100% Trust and Satisfaction Guarantee In Relationship
    LOCATIONS
    • Balaclava, VIC
    Specialised Training
    • Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training by LivingWorks
    • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples by the Australian Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy
    • 223 hours of training in systemic group work approaches and action methods by Psychodrama Australia
    • Emotionally Focused Trauma Therapy (Levels 1, 2A) by the Australian Institute of Emotionally Focused Therapy
    • Moving Couples Beyond Repair: Repatterning Relationships in EFT by Elana Katz for the Melbourne Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy in partnership with the Australian Association of Family Therapy
    • Hold Me Tight Relationship Workshop for Couples by Linda Murrow
    • Sex and Relationships with Barry McCarthy by the Hart Centre
    • Working with Highly Escalated Couples with George Faller by the Melbourne Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy
    • Working with Traumatised Couples in EFT with Dr Sue Johnson by the Melbourne Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy
    • Sex and Relationships, Barry McCarthy
    Areas of Interest
    Described by Hart clients as:
    • Kind
    • Clever
    • Understanding
    • Communicative
    Types of Therapy
    • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
    • Integrative Behavioural Therapy
    • Bowen’s Family Systems Approach
    • Mindfulness
    • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
    • Behavioural Activation.
    About Psychologist

    This Hart therapist has been researching social and mental health and practising in specialised work with couples for over 10 years. She is dedicated to helping individuals explore what might be holding them back from enjoying and engaging in love, in life, and in relationships. Each counselling session provides a safe space where clients feel heard, supported, and not judged for who they are, what they do, and how they relate to others.

    In couples counselling, she works collaboratively with her clients to help them express what they need in their intimate relationships to feel safe, secure, and uniquely valued.

    She has a strong interest in relationship issues resulting from affairs and betrayals, depression, chronic illness, intergenerational trauma, grief and loss, and problems with sexual and emotional intimacy. She is also committed to working with clients who are experiencing conflict arising from major life transitions (e.g., births, deaths, marriages, children leaving home, starting school, relocation, job changes and retraining), and in the prevention of intimate partner violence.

    She uses a range of therapeutic approaches to suit her clients’ needs.

    She is passionate about supporting her clients to create new meaning and opportunities in life.

    How many years counselling experience do you have?

    Over 10 years.

    What are three strengths you have as a Psychologist/Counsellor?
    1. It takes great courage for a couple to present for counselling. So, it’s important to provide a safe space to support couples to express their problems and concerns. I have been told that I warmly hold my clients in such a way as to help them feel seen and heard without judgement.
    2. In times of conflict, challenge and change, all couples risk losing a sense of themselves in relationship. I pride myself on helping each partner develop a sense of ‘you’, ‘me’, and ‘us’ in emotionally committed relationships.
    3. I value reciprocity in relationships and highlight the collaborative nature of the counselling process to my couples. For instance, whilst my professional experience contributes to an ever growing toolkit that I draw on to enhance love, life, and relationship satisfaction for my clients, my clients contribute to my therapeutic self-development. So, it’s a win-win for all concerned!
    What is the most satisfying and fulfilling part of the work you do?

    The most satisfying and fulfilling part of my work is when I provide an opportunity for my client to have an emotional experience that corrects an old way of thinking and behaving – it is literally read by me, as the ‘aHA!’ moment.

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

    One couple that I helped presented to their first counselling session reporting that they had not spoken to each other for three weeks. Whilst the initial counselling session broke their silence, the couple returned for their second session reporting the stand off had continued. We named their behaviour: “Their Mexican Stand Off”.

    Early sessions focused on what led up to the stand off along with gathering background information about how the couple interacted when they first met, compared to now, and how they related to important people in their lives (i.e., parents, siblings, children etc.). By focusing on what led up to the stand off, I was able to help the couple identify a negative cycle of interaction that was maintaining their distress. This pattern had one partner stuck in a protest/blaming stance and the other partner distancing emotionally and physically (e.g., staying at work too scared to come home).

    It was also revealed in these early sessions that the distancing partner’s father had died three months prior. I provided a safe space for the distancing partner to discuss the loss and describe feelings of guilt in the presence of the protesting partner. The disclosure appeared to soften the blamer and bring the distancer back into the here and now. Naming the negative cycle of interaction allowed the couple to see that the ‘problem’ was external to them. That is, the problem or enemy was not each other. Rather, the enemy was a pattern of interaction that could be recognised and then changed.

    The couple broke their silence and presented to next session ready, willing, and more able to begin work to improve their relationship and style of communicating. I am still seeing this couple. They have gained a new level of understanding about how they ‘do’ relationships, and are enjoying increased satisfaction and intimacy in their relationship.

    Parking & Accessibility

    Parking and public transport nearby.

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