Therapeutic Sessions

Individual Therapy

We work together to understand your life story so that we can gain a deeper understanding of the issues that you are currently facing and work on learning skills to overcome these. This work is primarily based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dyadic Developmental Practice, as well as an understanding of neuroscience and the brain-body connection. I work with adults, adolescents and children by examining the origins of the behavioural patterns that are keeping them stuck in ways that do not serve their best interests, and together we clarify what their ‘Valued Direction’ is, or what brings a sense of vitality, and start working on ways to move towards this through employing a variety of techniques. Overall, the methods employed in individual therapy aim to raise the subconscious state that is driving our behaviour and unwellness into a state of conscious awareness so that it can be transmuted into a new way of being that is more closely aligned with the most authentic version of yourself, leading to greater health and wellbeing.


Costs and Bookings

  • $120/session (one hour)

  • Initial introduction session less 25% = $90

  • 24 hour cancellation policy

  • Bookings can be made weekly/fortnightly/monthly

Relational/Family Therapy

The dynamics in family/partner relationships can become quite complex, often reaching a point where there is significant dysfunction among family members/partners, often pertaining to ineffective communication styles and misunderstanding each other. In my experience, however, this is not what any members of the relationship desire, yet we can easily get stuck in patterns that do not serve the best interest of anyone. Using the framework of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dyadic Developmental Practice, we can examine the deeper patterns and emotions underlying the current issues and learn new ways of communicating that are based on a compassionate understanding of each other’s experiences. We can also examine your Valued Direction as a family/partners and look at the obstacles that get in the way of living in alignment with this and how to overcome these. This includes some mindfulness-based work as well, focused on noticing our own automatic reactions to things that trigger us, and learning how to consciously choose how to respond instead, with each person holding space for the other to practice these skills. Sometimes, this work requires individual sessions as well, as often we need to go on our own personal healing journey to be able to function better in a relationship.

Costs and Bookings

  • $150/session (one hour)

  • Initial introduction session less 20% = $120

  • 24 hour cancellation policy

  • Booking can be made weekly/fortnightly/monthly

Therapeutic Frameworks

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Steven Hayes)

This therapeutic framework is grounded in mindfulness based practices and advocates psychological flexibility; this means that we learn how to observe all that arises in our life from a place of equanimity, without any judgement, and instead simply accept thoughts and feelings as they arise. We learn Cognitive Defusion techniques i.e. the skill of noticing when we are hooked up in thoughts and learning how to distinguish if they are helpful thoughts that we want to continue following, or unhelpful thoughts that we need to let go of so that we can focus on what is truly important and meaningful to us, moment by moment. This is what is known as ‘Values-Based Living’ and ACT incorporates exercises aimed at helping you to clarify your values so that these values act as your guiding compass. We can then set objectives i.e. small, achievable goals, that can help you move in the direction of this compass. In ACT, we use a variety of mindfulness techniques and exercises to practice the skill of noticing thoughts and feelings, particularly difficult thoughts and feelings. Experential avoidance is something that is commonly used by people to suppress, in numerous ways, thoughts and feelings that they find uncomfortable. In ACT, we learn how to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and we learn to become willing to experience this uncomfortableness in order to follow our Valued Direction and create a more meaningful life.An adolescent version of this, the DNA-V model, is used when working with young people; refer to The Thriving Adolescent (in Group Programmes/Workshops) for more information.

Dyadic Developmental Practice (Dan Hughes)

This therapeutic framework is used to explore the behavioural patterns and beliefs we have developed from as early as infancy when our primary attachment relationships were formed. We will examine your life story and look at the attachment style you are likely to have developed, and how this is impacting on your current relationships; relationships with yourself, with others and with the world around you. Together we will start to reframe your own life story so that you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and can then consciously use this knowledge to continue narrating your story in a way that best serves you.

Neuroscience (Dr Joe Dispenza)

We so often get stuck in behaviour patterns that we know do not serve our best interests, or the best interests of those around us, yet we repeatedly find ourselves stuck repeating the same dysfunctional, automatic behaviour time and time again. We keep setting intentions to change, yet keep responding automatically to things that trigger us, often in ways we do not want to respond, and then we judge ourselves negatively because of it. We will look at the connections between the mind and the body that keep us stuck in the ‘habit of being ourselves’ and use this knowledge to learn how to rewire the synaptic connections in our brain and alter the subsequent chemical reactions in our bodies. Through this process, we can transform our ‘personality’ into our own ‘personal reality’ but it requires practice and commitment, a process known as ‘mental rehearsal’ because repetition is the key to changing hardwired patterns in the brain. We need to become so aware of our subconscious programming, which we run off 95% of the time, that we are able to notice it when it arises and instigate a change in response at this point.