Working in the corporate healthcare industry for more than 20 years I developed a real interest in the treatment of depression and ways to foster psychological and spiritual wellbeing. For several of those years I was a Lifeline counsellor both on the crisis phones and with personal face-to-face counselling.
My years of supervising, mentoring and training people, and significantly my Lifeline experience, showed me that helping people through counselling and psychotherapy was where my heart lay. I thus embarked on the formal training that would enable me to set up my own practice.
Qualifications
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology and Sociology from the University of New England. I have a Graduate Diploma in Counselling from the Australian College of Applied Psychology and the Certificate in Gestalt Therapy from Gestalt Practitioners Training Sydney. I am a Registered Trainer with Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and am a Clinical Member of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of NSW (CAPA) as well as a Registered Member of the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia (PACFA).
My therapeutic approach very much depends on my client’s needs and issues and that is the essence of how I work. In this context I work within client-centred, Gestalt and existential philosophies and I also draw on techniques from cognitive-behavioural and positive psychology frameworks.
Training
My initial qualifications involved study in the areas of Crisis Intervention, Conflict Resolution, Drug and Alcohol Addictions, Grief and Loss, Mental Health Issues and Self-Esteem and Motivation. I have found though that my greatest teachers are my clients and to them I am deeply grateful.
I am a keen practitioner of yoga and meditation and believe profoundly in their benefits for physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing. I also believe in the benefits in doing things purely for your own soul – one of mine is the garden ….