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Our areas of interest include
(but are not limited to):
Anxiety
Anxiety is a completely normal and healthy emotion that helps us to function, however every now and then someone might find it has taken over their life. When anxiety takes over, just getting through each day can feel overwhelming. As your psychologists, our aim is to assist you with anxiety management strategies and new ways of thinking that will result in anxiety having far less of an effect on your daily functioning.
Depression
Depression is a super common condition; one that affects around 20% of Australians at some point in their lives. For most forms of depression, talk therapy is one of the most effective interventions. Even in long term major depression successful treatment is possible. We know that the hardest step can be making an appointment with us (or with your GP to get a referral), however please know that you don't have to go through this alone.
Anger management
Anger is another natural, instinctive response that we all experience at times, but it can sometimes be difficult to manage. Difficulties with anger can get to the point where there are extremely negative impacts on relationships, family and work life. Anger management counselling aims to change your relationship with anger, so that you can remain in control of your responses, and can deal with difficult situations in more helpful ways.
Relationship issues
All relationships face challenges and rough patches. While at first everything can seem perfect, as time goes on minor conflicts can escalate, communication can increase in complexity, finances can add pressure, and unmet needs start becoming urgent. Timely couples therapy allows opportunities for problem solving and reconnection - before things fall apart. Some sessions with a psychologist will give you a safe space to communicate in new ways, with guidance from a supportive and unbiased third party.
Children's issues
While many think of childhood as being a happy and carefree time, unexpected stressors can easily derail things. It is not unusual for carers to find themselves stuck and uncertain how to best support their young people through today's complex challenges. When dealing with issues such as major life changes and transitions, social difficulties, conflict, family separation or divorce, a psychologist can offer additional support and a safe space for a child or their carer to explore their feelings and options.
Stress
Stress might be one of the most unifying experiences in all humanity! Stress is a mental and physical response to a perceived threat, and its function is to provide the energy and motivation to persist in the face of challenges. However stress can become problematic when the demands placed on us seem to exceed our personal resources. A psychologist can provide a space to explore what's going on, build up your strengths, find and work through solutions, and improve your ability to cope.
Sexual abuse & sexual assault
With extensive training and experience in working with people who have experienced sexual abuse as children, or sexual assault as adults, this is an area that we know can be so hard to reach out for support and assistance. Please know that there is hope, and that recovery is possible. We are here to work with you in a trauma-informed way, to progress at a pace with which you feel comfortable and safe. This is not something you need to go through alone.
Trauma & complex trauma
Living with a history or a recent experience of trauma can feel like you're travelling through life with a burden; an isolating and overwhelming experience that seems insurmountable. We practise under a three phase trauma model — an evidence based framework that first ensures your safety and stability before moving on to process your experiences and how they impact on your wellbeing. Please know that you are not alone, and healing is possible.
Grief & loss
While everyone "understands" grief to be an expected response to loss, actually experiencing grief itself can be overwhelming. It can involve a whole range of incomprehensible emotional reactions. We all cope with this experience in an individual way, and there is no wrong or right when it comes to loss. However if you have concerns or questions about this process, either for you or a loved one, it may help to come in for a chat about how you can be supported.
Addiction
As you may have heard many times, acknowledging that you may be addicted to or dependent on a substance (like alcohol or other drugs) or a behaviour (like gambling or use of pornography) can be one of the hardest steps to take. Even after recognising the issue, trying to implement change can be a difficult and disheartening process. Talking to a psychologist can give you a safe space to ask questions, strengthen your motivation, and map out a realistic and achievable plan of action.
Family issues
While family can provide a wealth of social connection and support, there are always factors that will present challenges and impact the quality of these relationships. Issues such as differences in values, family separation, re-partnering, historical abuse and ongoing conflict can introduce issues that have the potential to create lasting damage and distance. The fact is, even the most functional families need extra support on occasion. We're here to hear the full story and work towards your ideal outcome.
Life issues
Difficult life events can occur at any time, and often without warning. Unexpected illness or injury, family breakdown, financial difficulty, and many other events can have a dramatic effect on mental health. It can be easy to compare lives and imagine that your stressors are "first world problems," but the truth is it's all relative: life is hard for all of us sometimes. If you're not sure what to do next, it might be helpful to talk things through. We're here to put things in perspective and work towards solutions.
Workplace issues
Feeling happy and safe in your professional life is important. Not just because it’s a source of income and security, but because many of us spend the majority of our social time there. Problems that a psychologist can help with include workplace bullying, issues with communication, learning to manage workload, assertive boundary setting, stress management, productivity, and motivation. Your psychologist will aim to help you identify barriers to making the changes you want, and learning the skills to overcome these issues.
Sexuality & gender
Confusion and anxiety around sexual identity or gender identity (which are very different) can be deeply troubling. Any identity uncertainty can have a profound effect on wellbeing, mental health, and sense of safety in the world, in your family, and in yourself. This can have huge impacts on relationships and ability to cope with related life stressors. Speaking with an unbiased and empathic person (i.e. one of our psychologists!) may help you to identify what is important to you, how you want to define yourself, and how you choose to relate to others.
Self esteem
When clients first come to discuss self esteem, they often talk about not being confident enough to achieve what they want to, and that they are too self-critical. We can safely tell you that you are not alone there: These are feelings we all deal with. The trick is developing a sense of self compassion and self acceptance. Coming in to have a chat about these ideas, while we recognise it can be deeply challenging at first, will give you the opportunity to develop a range of strategies for changing your mind-set around these issues.
This is just a small subset of the kinds of issues for which we can provide support; we can assist in most areas of mental health and wellbeing. We have assisted clients with many other difficulties, including chronic pain and disability, specific phobia, career counselling, life coaching, insomnia, weight and body image, personality disorder, partner and family abuse/violence, disordered eating, living with a loved one with mental illness, compulsive behaviours and OCD, mood disorders, making a major life decision, and much more. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about how we can help you.