Ringwood Counselling & Psychotherapy

Counselling and Psychotherapy offers depression counselling and anxiety treatment with Gestalt Therapy at our clinics in Carlton, Armadale, Ringwood, and throughout Melbourne. Psychotherapy is an approach that facilitates qualities of presence, empathy and authenticity and utilises them in helping the client effectively manage their mental state.

At Counselling and Psychotherapy we recognise that couples face many challenges in their relationship. In fact we would argue (no pun intended) that this is a normal facet of any relationship. However, we also understand that dealing with these challenges takes some effort to work through.

From our experience the benefits of making this effort to tackle the road blocks that we all face in a relationship have only contributed positively to the well being of couples both individually and together.These positive changes have allowed relationships to move to deeper levels of respect, commitment, trust, understanding and love.

Our avoidance to feeling anger, shame, vulnerability, grief and pain keeps us safe but comes at a cost. Our unwillingness to move toward our painful and unwanted aspects of self keeps us disconnected from an authentic, spontaneous and lively way of being. Spontaneity takes us back to our childhoods where life was full of wonder, curiosity and excitement where we would explore, fall, cry and get back up again.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a potent psychobiological method for resolving trauma symptoms and relieving chronic stress, and increases people's vitality, equanimity, and capacity to actively engage in life. Trauma is a fact of life. It does NOT, however, have to be a life sentence.

SE it the life's work of Dr. Peter A. Levine, resulting from his multidisciplinary study of stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, together with over 45 years of successful clinical application.The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the sounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma.

I work closely with both the Gestalt therapy and Somatic Experiencing approaches. With an open, non-judgmental empathic heart, clients are gently supported toward restoring inner balance, enhancing resilience to stress, increasing vitality and their capacity to engage in life. Psychotherapy is an integrative approach that attends to the person from a holistic perspective.