Psychotherapy and Counselling Services in Brisbane

How Compassionate Inquiry works. 

An Attachment-Focused Approach

Compassionate Inquiry (CI) is a gentle and therapeutic mind and body-centred approach developed by Gabor Mate that helps you reconnect with your true Self. I hold a certification in Compassionate Inquiry, which I gained through a deeply attuned, year-long professional training developed by Dr Gabor Mate himself. I’m currently continuing my development through a second year of mentorship to further integrate and deepen this framework in my practice. My particular approach weaves together neuroscience, somatic awareness, and compassionate exploration of the subconscious. I believe that at the heart of our struggles is often a sense of disconnection from our authentic selves. This can be shaped by childhood trauma or inherited patterns, and may show up as anxiety, depression, or even chronic health issues. CI helps to heal that disconnection by offering a way to better understand your experiences and feelings with the proper mindset.

Compassionate Inquiry helps you explore the root causes of your struggles with deep empathy and understanding. This approach encourages you to gently investigate your thoughts, emotions, and memories to uncover and heal underlying issues that might be keeping you stuck.

By bringing these unconscious patterns to light, you can start to release long-suppressed emotions and open up new possibilities for joy, creativity, and freedom.

CI provides a safe space for you to grow, heal, and rediscover yourself. And when we each take steps toward healing, the positive effects can ripple out, touching not just our own lives but also the world around us.

Connect with your Body

A Body-Oriented Approach

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) Developed by Dr. Pat Ogden a therapeutic approach designed explicitly for trauma, emotional injuries and attachment issues that places a strong emphasis on the body as a valuable source of insight.

This gentle, body-centred approach recognises that the physical body holds key information that can guide the healing process. It helps you access and process challenging, traumatic, and developmental experiences that you may have gone through.
Trauma often manifests in the body through feelings of tension, pain, or discomfort. This therapy encourages you to tune into these physical signals, allowing you to release the trauma stored within, leading to deep, long-term healing and emotional balance.
In sessions, we’ll work with the physical sensations and movements that arise, exploring how they relate to your emotional experiences. By paying attention to your body’s responses, we can help release stored trauma, change patterns and thoughts that may be blocking your path to healing, and connect with a greater sense of wellbeing.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy supports you in understanding and integrating your physical and emotional experiences for internal harmony and resilience. This is a holistic modality which integrates somatic, emotional, and cognitive processes for overall healing.

This approach also supports healing from trauma, whether it’s a single shocking event like an accident, assault, or natural disaster, or the effects of ongoing stress

Gestalt Therapy helps you become more aware of how your thoughts, emotions, and body are all connected. It’s about staying present in the moment, so you can better understand how past experiences shape your current feelings and behaviours. By exploring these connections, we can uncover hidden patterns and help you find new, healthier ways of being.

Awareness: In relational Gestalt therapy, the goal is to cultivate awareness. You cannot make changes without awareness and understanding of your unmet needs.

In our sessions, we’ll explore what’s happening in the moment through your body language, expressions, and feelings. We may gently look at past experiences to see how they influence your present. The process also involves a spiritual aspect, encouraging a deeper connection between your mind, body, and spirit.

Gestalt Therapy can help identify where certain thoughts, feelings, or behaviours might be limiting your growth. By fostering a deeper self-awareness and connection, you can make decisions from a place of clarity and alignment.

As a Gestalt Therapist, I believe in the inherent goodness of people and their capacity to move towards positive change. I also recognise that challenges often arise when we’re disconnected from our true selves.

What is Relational Gestalt Therapy (RGT)?

Relational Gestalt Therapy (RGT) is an approach that supports you to rediscover and reclaim parts of yourself that you may have felt didn’t belong or weren’t accepted. It offers a skill set to help you meet other people in an honest, respectful, compassionate and vibrant way.

This modality moves beyond the concept of individualism, encouraging a deeper connection with yourself, others, and the world around you. By focusing on the interplay between personal needs and the needs of the broader community, RGT encourages a sense of interdependence and mutual care.

In RGT, the belief is that healthy people are adaptable and self-aware, able to respond flexibly to life’s ups and downs. They understand that while they can take care of their own needs, they’re also part of a bigger picture – one where mutual support and responsibility for others and the environment are just as important.

By finding this balance, we can take responsibility for our choices, and in doing so, create a life that feels more meaningful and fulfilling.

How Emotionally Focused Therapy works

Relational and body approach

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is Developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, focusing on the emotional bonds you share with others, aiming to strengthen and deepen these connections. If you’re struggling in your relationships, EFT helps you understand and reshape the emotional dynamics at play.

This approach helps build trust, intimacy, and stronger, more supportive relationships by fostering a deeper emotional connection.

During our sessions, we’ll explore your emotional experiences and how they influence your relationships. EFT supports you in reshaping these dynamics, leading to healthier, more supportive connections with your loved ones. By addressing the emotional aspects of your relationships, EFT helps you build stronger, more resilient bonds with those who matter most.

How Internal Family Systems works

A ‘Parts Work’ Approach

Richard C. Schwartz developed Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, which explores the different parts of yourself to understand and harmonise inner conflicts. Sometimes, different parts of you might have conflicting desires or beliefs, leading to internal struggles.

IFS helps you understand these inner conflicts and guides you in connecting with and making space for these parts, so you can feel more whole and at peace within yourself.

In sessions, we’ll identify and engage with these various parts, helping you to understand their roles and resolve conflicts between them.

By harmonising these inner aspects, IFS supports you in achieving a deeper sense of inner peace and self-understanding.

How Family Constellations works

Family Constellations, developed by Bert Hellinger, explores the influence of family history on your current life. Sometimes, patterns of trauma or dysfunction can be passed down through generations. This therapy helps you identify and release these patterns, freeing you to live a life that’s truly your own.

During sessions, we’ll use experiential methods to uncover and address family dynamics that affect you. This process helps to release entrenched patterns and promote healing across generations.
Family Constellations supports you in breaking free from dysfunctional patterns, allowing you to live more fully and authentically.