The fee for a 50-minute session is $140.

I provide both in-person and online sessions:

• In-person sessions are offered from my Thornbury location

• Online sessions are offered via Google Meets.

Psychotherapy, therapy and counselling are often used interchangeably to describe a type of psychological treatment in which an individual seeks professional assistance to help manage their emotional, cognitive, and behavioural mental health concerns and life struggles.

Some differentiate psychotherapy and counselling by specifying that counselling is a more general short-term treatment with a solutions-focused way of addressing and managing problems and life situations, while psychotherapy/therapy is a deeper long-term treatment which aims to help you better understand yourself, give insight into how the past has formed and influenced you, and assist you to change and grow into a wholly integrated person with a wider breadth of agency and choice when facing your life.

Psychology is the study of human cognition and behaviour. When clinically trained, psychologists can diagnose and treat mental health concerns and make formal assessments. They use psychotherapy to treat their clients, often mainly gravitating towards using therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), though they may also include integrative use of other modalities.

Psychiatry is a field of medicine focused on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health and behavioural disorders using medical interventions (such as medication) and psychotherapy.

Individuals often comes to therapy out of a sense of urgency that they can no longer cope with life alone any longer. A major event may have occurred leaving your life transformed (such as a death, a breakup, a job loss, a health scare), or you may be facing multiple stressors that have come at once leaving you feeling overwhelmed and paralysed. These major and minor stressors could be one of the following:

• You may be struggling with unfulfilling interpersonal relationships with friends, partners, and family; or you may be lonely and disconnected from others and lack a sense of belonging.

• You may be stuck in repeating the same negative patterns of behaviour that have kept you trapped your entire life.

• You may feel that life is meaningless, that you wish to discover more purposeful existence.

• You may be questioning your faith, or seeking a more spiritually aligned life.

• You may dislike or even hate yourself, your personality, your appearance, your job, or others.

• You may be stuck using unhealthy coping strategies or addictions that are severely limiting or harmful.

• You may struggle with mental health concerns, such as anxiety or depression, but want to go beyond the “diagnosis” or surface level treatments to see what deeper influences drive these surface level global distress responses.

• You may be haunted by your past traumas.

• You may suppress all emotions and be completely closed off to others; or you may feel like emotions explode suddenly and are uncontrollable.

• You may feel like you don’t know who you are, and that you wear a mask when interacting with others.

• You may feel that you can never rest or switch off your thoughts, leaving you constantly exhausted and burned out.

• Or you may simply feel that there must be more to life than just “this”.

All of these, and countless more, are great reasons to engage with therapy.

The honest answer is: it depends on the individual seeking therapy and their unique needs. For some, their immediate presenting problems may be explored and successfully worked through in 6 to 10 weekly or fortnightly sessions. For others, they may want to dig deeper into their concerns, engage in more comprehensive inner work, and move towards shifting deeply rooted maladaptive intra- and inter-personal emotional / behavioural / cognitive patterns. This type of therapy can last for 10+ sessions or as long as the individual requires support.

While the frequency of sessions depends on the client and the nature of the concern, I do recommend an initial commitment to five appointments preferably on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

Information discussed during our sessions is confidential and may not be shared with anyone without your written permission except when I am legally obliged: 

• to report a serious and imminent threat to the life, health or property of yourself or another 

• to report any abuse or neglect experienced by a young person under the age of 18 years, and/or 

• to release client records when required by court order.

Confidential written records are maintained to reflect the issues and goals identified in counselling sessions and are kept securely online for seven years.

Psychotherapy and counselling sessions are not currently covered in the Medicare Better Care Initiative. As a result, you are not able to claim a Medicare rebate from our sessions.

Additionally, you don’t require a GP referral nor a Mental Health Care Plan to engage in sessions with me.

Please provide at least 24 hours of notice if you cannot attend or need to reschedule a session. Failure to do so will incur a 50% charge.

The therapeutic relationship is one the most important factors contributing to a successful course of therapy. As such, finding the correct therapist fit for you and your needs is essential.

The best way of checking if I am right for you is to engage in a 15-minute consultation call with me prior to booking your first session to discuss your concerns, what you would like from therapy, and to get to know me and how I work. I offer this call free of charge.

Absolutely! For many engaging in therapy for the first time, the thought of sitting in front of a stranger and opening up about what is most painful, shameful and vulnerable can be a frightening prospect. However, this resistance and anxiety is to be expected. Therapy begins from square one by focusing on your needs and building the therapeutic relationship itself, which in turn provides you a sense of safety, calmness, and a feeling of being seen, heard and understood. From this safe base, trust slowly grows. When this foundation between therapist and their client is built, often within the first few sessions of therapy, the real work of therapy can begin.

Even when the therapeutic relationship is built, therapy isn’t always easy or comfortable work. You will touch upon things that cause you to feel anxious, fearful, emotional or hurt. You will want to run away at times. You will get stuck or feel like you are moving backwards. But the act of repeatedly and courageously turning up, facing and integrating parts of your self and seeking support is transformative. It is the act of becoming yourself.

• Contact me via email or contact form to organise a free introductory consultation phone call

• Engage in a brief consultation phone call with me where we can chat about your needs and see if we are a good fit

• Book a session

• Read and sign the digital forms I will send to your email (intake form, informed consent form, and privacy policy)

• Prepare some brief notes regarding your presenting concerns and what you would like to talk about and explore with me in our first session.