Frequently Asked Questions:

What  should I expect in the initial consultation?

The initial appointment runs for 90 minutes and is designed to gain an overview of your life including: background, work and career, significant relationships, physical and mental health, significant life events, likes dislikes, challenges, strengths,  hobbies and the specifics of reasons for and expectations of us working together.

Time will be given to your questions for me- about my approach, sessions specifics and whatever else you may be curious about.

We will also identify some goals as our starting point for working together. These will be reviewed at every five sessions. 

Engagement preferences- your weekly, fortnightly or other frequency choices and financial choices- whether you wish to purchase a block of sessions or pay for individual sessions as you go will also be confirmed.

After this, you will receive a contract outlining the agreement expectations of you as  client and myself, your therapist.

 What are the first five sessions like?

The focus on our first five sessions is to establish our rapport- a strong working relationship built on trust, respect, empathy and understanding. Psycho education will also be included, resource you with tools and techniques for managing your thoughts and feelings during and outside of sessions. We will start to build or expand on your self-awareness and coping mechanisms safely and gradually, at your pace.

 The process will see us working towards clarity and confidence around who you are, how want to show up, what does and doesn’t align with who you are and where want to be. Challenges, limitations and roadblocks that surface will be worked through too.

 I will start most sessions by asking what you would like to focus on in the session, your reflections on our previous sessions and homework set. As this is an on-going learning process, there is an expectation that reflection and effort occurs outside the one hour we have together per week or fortnight.

 If you feel lost or unsure of what to focus on, we will refer to your set goals and I will propose three focus areas for you to choose from.

How much control do I have?

Imagine you have a television remote control in your hand. This is how I would like you to envision your position in sessions. You can pause, fast forward and rewind the direction and focus with open communication at all times.

I take a collaborative and conversational approach, seeing therapy as a pool of water, with us each throwing pebbles into it equally. The process is a team effort full of curiosity, patience and care.

What modalities do you practice?

 I am part of a small exclusive club of therapists in Australia working from a ‘parts work’ lens, making it even more rare to the West Australian landscape.

Parts work is a therapeutic approach that views the mind as composed of different subpersonalities or "parts," each with its own emotions, beliefs, and functions. It is particularly effective in understanding our inner conflict, self-sabotaging behaviours and trauma.

As humans, we naturally talk in ‘parts’ all of the time such as “a part of me feels bad because…” or ‘I feel angry and sad at the same time for some reason", and this approach allows us to understand, accept and manage those sometimes conflicting voices and responses.

As I have been trained in various styles of therapy, I am able to integrate parts work with this with various techniques to intuitively tailor my skills to each individual client’s needs.  

How many sessions are ‘enough’?

 I simply cannot answer this question as self work doesn’t have an and date and the way I like to work requires consistent longer term engagement for substantial, maintainable growth.  I do encourage new clients to give the process a good chance and a good go- trust the journey and reassess after 10 sessions. This is where having clear goals and frequently reviewing of them is essential.

Do you do Counselling and Psychotherapy?

Yes.

Counselling skills are utilised throughout our work and are integrated at all stages of the journey. As well as active listening, counselling is used  when practical guidance and resourcing for self-care and coping mechanisms is required. Counselling feels more surface level and solution focused, whereas Psychotherapy goes deeper and is experienced through the integration of parts work which helps us understand the workings of our inner world including our inner child. The bottom- up approach allows us to access our emotions in a safe and gradual way, working to better understand our triggers, values, needs and desires.

Do you provide clinical diagnosis?

Whilst I am familiar with the DSM-5 and can refer to it where necessary, apart from anxiety manifestations I do not take a diagnostic approach to my work, rather seeing clients as humans with particular life experiences that have impacted their views and behaviours.

Do you welcome and encourage feedback?

Yes, please! Your honest feedback is integral to the therapeutic process of us working together and ensuring satisfying outcomes.

What if I am doing this because I was asked/ told to by my partner, parents, boss etcetera?

 You will get best out of this process if you want to be here and do the work. Therefore it’s important to consider whether you think and feel that this is what you need? Or have you been coerced through threat or other form?

You will be my client (not an external person outside of the room), and the sessions will remain confidential. I always encourage strong boundaries around the therapeutic space and experience, limited sharing of content outside the room where possible.

 I will work hard with you, but I will not work harder than you. Whilst I understand resistance, I like to work with clients who want to be in the room and value and respect my services.