Our sessions will be
Personalised
Our initial sessions will be dedicated to assessing your current wellness and readiness to engage with therapy, and then creating a personalised plan to fit your unique expectations and goals.
Targeted
Everyone has pain points or ‘raw spots’ when it comes to relating to important people in life. I will work closely with you to help you identify and overcome your triggers.
Integrative
Since enhancing relationship satisfaction involves more than attending therapy sessions, I will be guiding you toward other helpful practices such as emotion regulation training, sensate focus, and more.
did you know that couples typically take between 6 months and 6 years to present for therapy?
you are making a courageous move…
towards having success and prosperity in your relationships
What you’ll get
Weekly 60-minute, 1-on-1 sessions.
Helpful tools, tips, and tricks for navigating your unique obstacles.
As a subscriber, unlimited access to online courses designed to consolidate therapeutic work and maintain therapeutic success beyond the counselling process.
Couples relationship counselling
pre-marriage counselling
individual & post-separation counselling
FAQs
what is counselling like?
Seeing a counsellor is not like a medical doctor visit. Instead, it calls for a very active effort on your part. In order for the therapy to be most successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during our sessions and at home.
how many sessions are needed?
The number of sessions required to 'do the therapeutic work' is hard to define and may depend on the time it takes to establish trust and rapport between us, the severity and duration of presenting problems, and the treatment approach taken. For individual counselling, I will usually schedule one 60-minute session per week, at a time we agree on. For couples counselling, I will usually schedule one 60-minute session per week, although some sessions may be longer or less frequent as therapy progresses.
are counselling sessions online or face-to-face?
I typically see clients face-to-face for counselling sessions in private consulting rooms located in the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava. I also offer online counselling services for clients where time is an issue, for those living remotely (e.g., interstate, in rural areas, or overseas), or who feel that privacy is an issue.
For instance, some people, especially couples with children, prefer the convenience and savings (money and time) associated with online counselling:
“We prefer online counselling - coming to Balaclava meant a 3-hour round trip for us…babysitting for our son, and the headache of running late and not finding a parking spot…”
Couple client.
Other people living in rural communities prefer to access counselling services with someone who is not part of their community. Some find online counselling especially helpful for enabling them to talk about intimate personal or sexual matters.
does counselling help?
People tend to come into counselling when their life and relationships are in crisis. Hence, therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, and this may bring up uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, shame, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress.
cost and cancellations?
My professional fee for relationship counselling is $250.00 per 60-minute appointment hour. Once an appointment is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide 48 hours (2 days) advance notice of cancellation. If it is possible, I will try to find another time to re-schedule the appointment.
what are your professional affiliations?
I am a member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS), a member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA), a member of the International Centre for Excellence in Emotion Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), a member of the Australian Centre for Emotion focused Therapy (ACEFT), and a member of the Melbourne Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy (MCEFT).
are there rebates for relationship counselling?
Medicare does not cover counselling and psychotherapy services or psychology services for couples. If you have private health insurance, you may be eligible to claim some counselling services depending on your insurance provider (see below for more).
why paying privately for your therapy is often a good thing
Many people seek counselling help but are naturally concerned about the cost, so obtaining a mental health care plan to get a Medicare rebate or seeking Employee Assistance Program help initially seems attractive. However, for some people the advantages are outweighed by the disadvantages.
Working with a counsellor means you are able to access your therapist directly. You don't need a GP referral as you do for psychiatrists or some psychological treatments, so you don't need to discuss intimate or distressing matters with your doctor and then go through it all again with your therapist.
Mental health care plans referring you to a psychologist require a formal mental health diagnosis, for example, for anxiety or depression. You may later find that this has damaged your ability to insure yourself or your income. In some cases, it has been used against people in claims for workers' compensation, employment and similar.
You can access the therapist and therapy type that best suits your needs. Psychologists may be required by the conditions of the treatment to limit their therapy approaches, often to a medical model such as cognitive behavioural therapy. While CBT and other similar therapies are excellent, they may not be the best one for you at the time.
EAP sessions are usually limited. Though they can be helpful for straightforward issues, they are often not enough for affecting long-lasting change.