Therapy.
Individual Counselling.
We brand as real therapists for real people. And that’s what you get. We are known for this. This is what people say about us when they recommend us to someone else. We are relatable and real.
Therapy is a personal process, set up in safety and stability, that can involve sharing about what is present for you, working together to explore and understand your concerns, and provide strategies to work towards wellness. It is common to learn skills, tools and inner resources that you can keep using and developing throughout life. If you feel less comfortable talking directly, non-verbal ways of communicating, such as expressive therapies (like art, breath, sound, symbol work, play and movement), mindfulness and meditation, can be helpful to cut through the language realm.
Depending on weather/season, mobility/function, safety, privacy and schedule capacity, walk and talk sessions can be arranged on a case by case basis. Please talk directly to your therapist about this if you’d like.
Creative techniques within therapy can help to highlight and explore our intentions, feelings, and patterns that we have developed in our lives, some of which may be unhelpful and we' are unsure of the causes or how to change it. By using creative non-verbal means, we can often make the unconscious, conscious, and can help us to link our emotional brains (limbic system) to our hippocampus (memory system) and thinking brains (frontal cortex) to allow for expression, exploration, facilitation of new neural networks, and healing. These approaches can also help to integrate the left and right hemispheres of our cortex, which is especially helpful for people who have experienced trauma. Learning about your brain and how it impacts on your well-being can enhance your ongoing healing.
Expressive therapies works just as effectively with adults as it does with young people. Play is our first and natural language, and provides a self-guided, organic way to express and process feelings. Research has shown that through modalities such as play and art, people are able to tap into, express and process their traumatic experiences through a medium that is gentle, more tolerable and accessible. There is no pressure to engage in expressive therapies, they simply offer optional other means of communication. Some days you might feel drawn to try a brief activity involving something creative, some days you might not.
Counselling often describes short to medium term engagements with a therapist, and is helpful for a range of wellbeing issues including anxiety, stress, big changes, depression, self-esteem, anger or workplace concerns. Psychotherapy is medium to longer term with an in-depth focus, often using a range of evidence based approaches to help explore trauma, empowerment and healing.
No matter too big or small.
Therapy is a special place, and we build a unique relationship where you are valued, seen and heard. We make no apologies for this. You deserve it.
We love supporting people with (but not limited to) the following concerns:
Anxiety and panic
Depression
Stress and burnout
Grief and loss
Trauma
Abuse (sexual, emotional, physical, psychological, neglect, systemic)
Relationships, diverse relational structures/arrangements and relational wellness
Self-esteem, identity, and personal development
Life transitions, change and adjustments
Sexual health, wellbeing and orientation
Sexuality, sexual lifestyle, kink, wellness, explorations
LGBTIQ+ folks, families and allies’ health, wellbeing and identity
Sex worker health, wellbeing, lifestyle
Addictions
OCD
Family separation and family structure changes
Childhood origin wounds and parent wounds
Spiritual, existential or organisational related health and wellness
Workplace stressors
Brief psychoeducation on how we see ‘clinical’ presentations through a Feminist lens:
Anxiety.
Womxn are often told (by partners, society or even medical professionals) that they have anxiety in response to feeling like they are “walking on eggshells”, having trouble sleeping or unwinding, preparing for multiple outcomes of any given situation, thinking 5 steps ahead, or when they have difficulty thinking clearly or sharing their emotions. These are often states of hyper-vigilance that have developed in order to cope or survive experiences of abuses. Womxn have often been told they are “too emotional” or “too sensitive” instead of being offered a space that listens to her concerns and helps place them in context of what’s happening in her life. Exposing tactics and attitudes towards womxn can help people realise that you are enough, you are of worth, and you can live a life that is thriving not just surviving. And that these responses to manipulative or abusive situations is completely to be expected. Perhaps it’s not anxiety at all. Perhaps it’s a normal response to an abnormal situation.
Low Self-Esteem and Depression.
Feelings of sadness, worthlessness, hopelessness, self hatred, self loathing, self harm, shame, not feeling good enough or not feeling like you’re living up to expectations all contribute to feelings of low self esteem & low self worth. Womxn are often explicitly or implicitly told these messages by partners, family or society, and can have a lasting impact. How we feel towards ourselves is often in direct relation to our childhood experiences and/or how we have been treated in our relationships. If you have been living with controlling behaviours from a partner or parent, it would be absolutely normal to see your ‘symptoms’ (suppressions / oppressions) show up in these forms listed above.
Anger.
Womxn’s anger, rage or resentment is often suppressed, silenced, ignored, dismissed or medicated. You may not have been able or encouraged to explore these feelings in relation to the full context of your life and environment. Anger can be internalised (towards yourself) or externalised (towards others) and is a normal, human emotion, particularly in response to abuses, mistreatments and systemic oppression. Womxn have been conditioned to behave, be polite, quiet, calm, nurturing and balanced. This often denies and ignores the real parts that are angry and need to be expressed and explored, and helped to make sense of. Anger also presents in grief and loss. Womxn may have experienced losses of identify, dreams and hopes, careers, safety and self. Examining and making space for these feelings, opens up opportunities for a deeper understanding of yourself, how the world impacts on you and how you may like to respond instead.
