Frequent Asked Questions

My formal qualifications combine psychology, psychotherapy and counselling with a professional background in coaching, training and personal development.Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Major in Anthropology)My three-year undergraduate degree gave me a strong foundation in psychological theory, research and evidence-based practice. Studying anthropology alongside psychology also developed my interest in how culture, community, spirituality and different ways of understanding the world can shape our identity and mental wellbeing.Master of Psychotherapy and CounsellingMy two-year postgraduate degree provided the specialist training required to practise as a counsellor and psychotherapist and to meet the educational requirements for registration with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). Maintaining professional registration involves ongoing supervision and professional development throughout my practice.My training also included a six-month counselling placement with an LGBTIQA+ organisation, working therapeutically with clients across a broad range of concerns. This experience strengthened my commitment to continuing to support the community of which I am also a part.Before becoming a psychotherapistMy previous career was in corporate training, facilitation and leadership coaching. My additional qualifications include a Certificate in Executive Coaching, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and training in a range of psychometric and personality assessment tools.As an executive coach, I worked one-to-one with people to develop their leadership, communication and interpersonal capabilities. As a trainer, I designed and facilitated learning programs to help people build confidence, skills and effectiveness in their working lives.While coaching and psychotherapy are very different practices, this background gave me many years of experience in something fundamental to both: building trusting relationships, listening carefully, asking useful questions, and helping people understand themselves and work towards meaningful change.

Every counsellor and psychotherapist is different because we each bring our own personality, values and life experiences to the work, as well as our professional training. For that reason, I think finding someone you gel with can be just as important as finding someone who looks good on paper. Qualifications and professional registration matter, but so does feeling that you can trust, relate to and be yourself with the person sitting opposite you.I came to psychotherapy after a long career in the corporate world, partly through a desire to do work that felt more aligned with who I am and what I value. So rather than tell you why I’m “different”, it might be more useful to share some of the perspectives I bring to my work and let you decide whether they resonate with you.We are mind, body and spirit.I believe our mental wellbeing involves more than our thoughts alone. Our emotions are experienced through the body, while questions of meaning, purpose, identity, belonging and spirituality can also be important to our wellbeing. Connecting with my own understanding of spirituality has been an important part of my personal journey, and I welcome these dimensions into therapy when they are meaningful to you. You certainly don't need to hold any particular spiritual beliefs to work with me.We are part of nature, not separate from it.I see human wellbeing as connected to the wider living world around us. Modern life can leave us disconnected from nature, our bodies, our communities and the rhythms that have shaped human life for generations. Reconnecting with the natural and more-than-human world can offer another pathway towards feeling grounded, connected and at home in ourselves. This perspective increasingly informs my interest in nature-based approaches to therapy.You already bring strengths and resources with you.Therapy understandably spends time with what hurts and what isn't working. But I don't want to lose sight of what is working — your strengths, relationships, experiences, values, wisdom and the ways you have already learned to survive and adapt. Therapy can help us understand difficulties while also discovering and strengthening the resources you already have available to you.Ultimately, I don't see my role as having all the answers or “fixing” you. I bring my training, experience and perspective; you bring an expertise in your own life. Therapy is what we create together from there.