Counselling & psychotherapy
Supporting you to birth a meaningful, satisfying and healthy life
Have you landed here wanting more of what is good in life: peace, joy, connection, fun, meaning, purpose, energy, creativity and courage…to name a few? Life can feel far from this, as challenges and changes affect your ability to feel good and live well.
For support with mental and emotional distress, grief and loss, relationship difficulties and past pains that hurt you today, I am here for you. Together, we care for your self-development, relationships and life difficulties. As a psychotherapist, doula, educator and advocate, I offer continuity of care so you can adapt to change and make positive life choices!
What’s good about counselling?
At your pace, we gently boost your self-esteem, self-worth, self-awareness and self-knowledge. We develop an understanding of what your needs are, care for your pain, and build your inner wisdom and strength. We deepen your understanding of how your past has shaped you and support your self-expression. We seek acceptance of what can not be changed as we gently create goals towards a happier and healthier life for you and those you love. We work together to heal the cycles of trauma, neglect, abuse and the habits that hurt.
What’s the therapeutic relationship like?
Safe * Confidential * Calming * Authentic * Supportive * Respectful * Strengthening * Skilling
We explore the connection between your thoughts, emotions, body sensations and environment, so you can feel deep care, understand yourself better and feel support to adapt to the changes you want to make.
I practice trauma-informed care and use an integrative approach in collaboration with you. This means we create sessions to shape goals and a treatment plan that meets your needs and wishes. I value curiosity, care, collaboration, equality, playfulness and respect. My key therapeutic processes include Attachment, Cognitive, Somatic (connecting with and moving the body), Interpersonal dynamic, ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), Parts, Mentalisation, Existential, and Systems theory.
I see you as a whole human, beyond the labels of any diagnosis or defences. You are a wonderful, unique, complex being with inner strengths and resources to support your readiness for living fully.
Supporting your most intimate needs
Contact Erika – 0407 685 933
Perinatal mental and emotional health
Pregnancy and the postpartum period are transformative times filled with profound changes that can be mentally and emotionally difficult. Feel supported to process mental and emotional challenges such as heightened anxiety, depression, grief, loss, relationship difficulties, dysregulated emotions and birth trauma. Together we gently resource a person’s inner world to help them understand themselves better and help make sense of their experience for post-traumatic growth. It’s essential to recognize that these issues are common and nothing to be ashamed of.
Self-development (mental and emotional well-being)
Explore your understanding of how you’ve come to be you. Develop present-moment awareness to feel good being you! Process unresolved pain and shift hurtful patterns that keep repeating. Boost your emotional intelligence. Grow healthy interpersonal relationships from understanding and empathy for yourself and others. Gently set goals alongside nurturing acceptance and curiosity about what is happening now. Be more confident and able to navigate the challenges, changes and choices you may face.
Couples counselling
Strengthen your personal or partner relationship/s by deepening your understanding of how your life experiences affect you in relationships. Build the foundations of a healthy relationship. Nurture your need to feel secure and free to be yourself. Navigate the differences in the partnership that can make everyday life difficult. Develop effective communication skills to reduce conflict and repair wounds. Get real with your needs and desires so your trust, teamwork and intimacy can grow. Check how life’s changes affect you so you can nurture a relationship that thrives together or be supported to uncouple consciously. Strengthen a healthy relationship, whatever form that may take.
Grief and loss
Processing grief and loss in its many forms: infertility, loved ones, hidden parts of yourself never valued, community connection and culture, nature and the environment. Therapy seeks to comfort and support you with all your feelings. Find ways to live with the loss, and find meaning in what you are experiencing.
We first met Erika through her doula services, when we sought an experienced, approachable and trusted birth keeper. She was all of those and much more. Her wisdom and gentle guidance helped us to prepare for what was an incredible second birth. We had the honour to continue receiving Erika’s support in our early parenting journey through her psychotherapy services. We felt held, witnessed and nurtured to heal and grow into the parents and partners we want to be to our children and each other. Erika’s theoretical grounding and her warm, wise heart allow her to offer therapy that feels like friendship. We are so thankful to have her in our village.
Common reasons for therapy
- Mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma and PTSD.
- Couple conflicts and difficult relationship dynamics (particularly when wishing to conceive, pregnancy changes, adapting to parenthood, sex and intimacy, repeating/unresolved issues, exploration of opening up the relationship, consciously uncoupling).
- Life skill building (communication, self-expression, maintaining boundaries and emotional regulation).
- Fears about childbirth and parenthood.
- Lost connection with your body.
- Processing grief and loss.
- Goal setting, organising your mind, time management and other executive functioning skills.
Common outcomes of therapy
- Understand yourself and others better.
- Feel more meaningfully connected with others.
- Be more confident, resourceful, responsible and organised.
- Be emotionally adaptable, calm, tolerant, and intelligent.
- Feel in touch with your body, pleasure and play.
- Know you are lovable and worthy.
- Know you have choices and can act on them.
- Develop life skills for positive relationships.
- Increased self awareness, compassion, agency, empowerment, and acceptance.
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