Types of Counselling

Relationship Counselling
Family Counselling
Trauma Counselling
Anxiety & Depression Counselling
Teen & Adolescent Counselling
LGBTQIA+ Counselling
Grief Counselling
Porn Addiction Counselling
Anger Management
Pre-Marriage Counselling
Online Counselling

Session Fees

Individual: $206

Couples: $206

Areas of Interest

Adjustment
Adoption / foster care
Anxiety disorders
Attachment
Autism / ASD
Bereavement / mourning
Betrayal
Blended / step families
Body confidence
Career,Caregiver stress
Childhood trauma / abuse
Chronic illness
Communication
Conflict management
Couples in business
Cultural differences
Custody issues
Depressive Disorders (MDD, PDD, SAD)
Divorce / separation / breakup
Eating disorders
End of life
Extended family / in-laws
FIFO
Fertility / IVF
Financial abuse
Gender / Identity
Infidelity / affairs
LGBTQIA+ / Queer
Life transitions
Long distance
Loss of a relationship
Men’s health
Menopause
Mental load
Military trauma
Mismatched libidos
Money / finances
Parenting
Perinatal depression
Personality Disorders (BPD, NPD, APD, HPD)
Pet loss
Phobias
Polyamorous / open relationships
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Pre-marital counselling
Pregnancy / miscarriage
Previous relationship trauma
Schizophrenia
Seniors
Sexual trauma
Step families
Stress
Suicidal thoughts / ideation
Trauma
Trust issues
Women’s health
Young families

Types of Modalities

Acceptance and Commitment (ACT)
Attachment-based
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Eclectic
EMDR
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Family / Marital
Feminist
Gestalt
Humanistic
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
Motivational Interviewing
Person-Centred Therapy (Client-Centred / Rogerian Psychotherapy)
Psychoeducation
Trauma Focused
Trauma Informed

Accepted Insurance Funds

BUPA
HCF
Medibank
Medicare

“One good conversation can shift the direction of the change forever.”

— Linda Lambert

Specialised Training

Formal Qualifications

Social Work

Bachelor of Social Work, RMIT University, Melbourne

Psychotherapy

Advanced Clinical Training in Gestalt Therapy, Gestalt Therapy Australia — 4-year training, 600 hours
12-month Clinical Internship, Gestalt Therapy Australia

Family Therapy

Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy, The Bouverie Centre & La Trobe University

Alcohol, Other Drugs & Mental Health

Diploma of Community Services (Alcohol, Other Drugs and Mental Health), GippsTAFE & Turning Point, Victoria

Academic Qualification

Bachelor of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne

Specialist Clinical Training

Trauma & EMDR

Advanced Depth Enquiry Training and Supervision
EMDR Level 1
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for Trauma
Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Assault
Working with Men Who Have Been Sexually Abused, AASW

Couples & Relationship Therapy

Specialist Course in Integrated Couples Therapy, Relationships Australia Victoria — 20-week, 100-hour course
12-month Clinical Internship, Relationships Australia Victoria
Fundamentals of EFT – Attachment Theory in Practice, Connections Count

Family Therapy & Relational Approaches

Single Session Therapy, The Bouverie Centre
Narrative Therapy, The Bouverie Centre

Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders: The Essentials, InsideOut
Specialist Supportive Clinical Management for Adult Eating Disorders, Centre of Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED)
Temperament-Based Therapy with Supports (TBT-S)
Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT-E), Centre of Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED)
Eating Disorder Training, NEVIL

Suicide Prevention

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS)

Addiction & AOD

Motivational Interviewing, NEVIL
Problematic Gaming, GameAware

Neurodiversity

Autism Essentials, Reframing Autism

LGBTQI+ Inclusive Practice

TGD Inclusive Practice, Zoe Belle Gender Collective
TGD Training, Thorne Harbour

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultural Awareness

First Nations Cultural Awareness Training, Hobsons Bay City Council

Family Violence

MARAM Training, Australian Government
Resisting Invitations to Collude, NCASA
Adolescent Violence in the Home, The Bouverie Centre
Anger Management, Phoenix

Borderline Personality Disorder

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Spectrum

General Clinical Training

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), NEVIL

About Penny

Penny is a qualified Mental Health Social Worker, Gestalt Psychotherapist and relationship counsellor with more than 25 years of experience working across public mental health services and private practice. She works with children from 4 years of age, adolescents and adults, as well as couples and families. Penny brings a skilled, down to earth and genuine approach to therapy, creating a space where people can feel safe to explore what is happening in their lives and develop a deeper understanding of themselves.

+ More

Penny has a particular interest in helping people who feel stuck in patterns that are no longer serving them, including difficulties with relationships, anxiety, low self-worth, emotional overwhelm, trauma and significant life changes. She has extensive experience working with complex trauma and its impact on a person’s sense of safety, relationships, identity and capacity to cope. She also has experience supporting people with eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, addiction and other complex mental health concerns. With children and adolescents, Penny takes a developmentally appropriate and engaging approach, using play-based therapy with younger children to help them express and explore their experiences in ways that feel natural and accessible to them. She works collaboratively with young people and their families to understand their experiences, build emotional awareness and support positive change.

Penny’s therapeutic work is grounded in Gestalt psychotherapy and informed by a range of evidence-based approaches. She has advanced training in Gestalt Therapy and Depth Enquiry, as well as training in EMDR and Cognitive Processing Therapy for trauma. She also has specialist training in couples and relationship therapy and family therapy. Penny is particularly interested in helping people understand the connection between their past experiences, their current patterns and the choices they want to make about their future. She believes that developing greater clarity and self-understanding can create new possibilities for change.

Penny also works with couples experiencing conflict, disconnection or difficulties communicating, helping them understand the patterns they have become caught in and find new ways of relating to one another. Whether working with an individual, child, adolescent or couple, her aim is to create a collaborative therapeutic relationship where clients feel genuinely heard and supported while also being gently challenged to explore what may be keeping them stuck. Penny finds the most rewarding part of her work is seeing people develop greater self-understanding, regain confidence in themselves and begin moving towards a life and relationships that feel more meaningful and fulfilling.

Expert in Melbourne couples therapy.

Hart Centre Located in Newport, VIC

More About Penny

- Experienced
- Kind
- Skilled
Over 15+ years.
It is incredibly fulfilling exploring and reflecting upon what has brought a person to therapy and then seeing them gain clarity and a deeper understanding of themselves and watching that understanding create new possibilities for how they live, relate and move towards the life they want.
I worked with a woman who had experienced significant trauma and was struggling with its impact on her relationships, sense of safety and confidence. Through therapy, including Depth Enquiry, she gradually developed a deeper understanding of herself and how her past experiences had shaped the way she saw herself and the world. It was incredibly rewarding to see her begin to let go of some of the beliefs she had carried for many years, regain a sense of safety and self-trust, no longer struggle with PTSD and start moving towards the life she wanted rather than feeling defined by what had happened to her.