FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General
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Counselling is an effective way to get help with the issues you may be facing in your life. You can get help with stress, anxiety, depression, relationships, work, self-esteem, and many other life challenges and adjustments. Like starting your journey into motherhood or fatherhood.
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Coaching is a useful tool that aims to help you broaden your awareness of your unique potential and limitations to maximise your resources towards your goal. Your dream. Your desired outcomes. To make your life better. And find your purpose and meaning.
What can you expect while working with me?
Discover your potential
Uncover hidden tastes and talents
Improve existing relationships and refine your social skills
Take your performance and productivity remarkably higher
Feel equipped to make better decisions
Find success and achieve results
Deal with transition and uncertainty
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With Counselling, you can explore, in a safe and confidential way, the various aspects of your life and feelings by speaking freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends, family, and work colleagues. Feelings that are often hidden or repressed, such as fear, anxiety, mourning, pain and humiliation, can become very intense and disruptive to your wellbeing if there’s not an opportunity to work them constructively.
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Seeking counselling is a sign of weakness. Actually, it takes a lot of courage to explore personal feelings and painful experiences. When you decide to start counselling you're taking the first step in improving your life.
A counsellor will not understand what I am going through because he/she is not going through it. In reality, counsellors are fully trained to be sensitive, empathetic, and respectful of individual differences, including gender, race/ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.
The counsellor will tell me how to "fix" my issues. In fact, counselling is not a quick 'pill' for what you're going through. The counsellor will help you see the situation more clearly, possibly through a different pair of lens. And, allowing you to make new and healthier choices, implement new changes faster, and reduce the instability you may have in your life. The emphasis is placed on your internal resources and assets, and the natural ability to grow that exists in every person. Even you.
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If you are in a life-threatening situation, do NOT use this site or my personal contacts. In Australia, call the 24-hr National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 13 11 14. Or Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 000 (Emergency Services) if life is in danger.
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I’ve been meditating for the past 15 years, even before apps! Luckily, we've them now to make meditation simple. There's a few available like Headspace, Smiling Mind or Insight Timer.
Have you just started?
Integrate: Make meditation part of your daily habits, like eating or drinking
Be Realistic: 5 to 10 minutes/day and build on from that
Commit: To see results, you have to do it
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Your privacy and safety are always my first priority. I take great care to ensure that all personal information you share is kept secure and confidential. I comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which guide how personal information is collected, stored, used, and disclosed.
All client records, including session notes and correspondence, are stored securely — whether electronically or in hard copy — and are only accessed by me. Information is only shared with others if you provide informed consent, or if disclosure is required by law, such as in situations involving serious risk of harm, child protection, or a court order.
I am also guided by the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics, which reinforces strict confidentiality and professional responsibility. Your trust is fundamental to our work together, and I am committed to protecting your privacy at every step.
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I will keep all you say confidential, except in exceptional circumstances. Under my professional responsibilities, I may disclosure information when:
you're considering of seriously harming yourself
you're being seriously hurt by someone else
there is a legal requirement to do so
Where possible, I will work with you honestly, letting you know if my concerns reach a stage where I need to involve other services.
As my client, if you have any questions or concerns regarding confidentiality, I am entirely open to discussing these with you.
Privacy
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We will work out a meeting schedule that fits your possibilities. Most clients begin by meeting on a weekly basis, sometimes changing to longer intervals (fortnightly, monthly, or bi-monthly) when positive change has begun.
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The sessions are of 60 minutes duration.
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Medicare only covers the services of a Clinical or Registered Psychologist who provides support to an individual. Coaching or counselling by a professional counsellor are not covered by Medicare.
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You do not need a referral to access my counselling or coaching service.
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I am dedicated to accepting diversity and rejecting all forms of discrimination in the provision of my counselling and coaching services. I welcome all people regardless of ethnicity, lifestyle choice, faith, ethics, sexual orientation and gender identity.
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I can consult in your home when illness/disability or carer responsibilities make travel difficult. Please get in touch so we can discuss the details.
Sessions
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You can use any computer or other device (tablet, mobile phone) capable of running a modern web browser, Zoom, Teams or FaceTime.
You will also need a functioning external or integrated microphone and webcam for video sessions with me.