Anita

I completed my six years training in 1997, and have worked primarily in private practice settings in NSW and QLD since obtaining full registration. I previously worked for five years as a Rehabilitation Counsellor with CRS Australia, assisting people with physical and psychological disabilities to return to meaningful employment. I established my practice in Caboolture in 2006, and have since expanded the practice to include a team of Psychologists, two Receptionists. a Business Manager and a Practice manager. In addition to Caboolture, I also travel to Bribie Island with another Psychologist once a week.

My approach to counselling is relationship focused. The style of counselling is taylored to the needs of each individual person, with particular emphasis on an approach called Acceptance and Committment Therapy (pronounced "act"). The goal of ACT is to help people live rich and meaningful lives while dealing with the inevitable pain and stress that life brings. I have found ACT to be very effective in treating depression, anxiety, and long-standing emotional difficulties. Acceptance and Committment Therapy is a relatively new form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which integrates mindfulness components. Mindfulness is an state of mental alertness which allows you to engage fully in what you are doing in any moment, to reduce the impact of difficult thoughts and feelings. There are some wonderful hand-outs available on the ACT website which I sometimes use during the counselling sessions.

In addition to ACT, I am also trained in CBT, brief solution focused therapy, dialective behaviour therapy, critical incident debriefing, motivational interviewing, nature guided therapy and existential therapy.

Often clients are nervous about seeing a Psychologist for the first time. It is important to me that people feel understood, validated and comfortable with me in sessions. For most people, the experience is reassuring, and can certainly lead to enhanced emotional well-being.