I genuinely love working with other psychologists and therapists (including counsellors, social workers, occupational therapists). I appreciate how important it is to find the ‘right’ fit and some of the unique concerns we hold when trying to find a therapist for ourselves.
I am Clinical Psychologist by registration but prefer to use the title Perinatal Psychologist as it’s more reflective of the space I work in. I draw heavily from the inter-personal neurobiology and attachment research. My main modalities are Compassion Focused Therapy, EMDR and ACT (however I appreciate sometimes based on whatever challenge you are facing some clients may want brief solution focused therapy with a lot of psychoeducation about the current life stage you / your children are at). I am not schema trained (if you are wanting a schema specific therapist I have some great colleagues I can recommend). I place great value on the therapeutic alliance and I believe in the power of creating a really safe supportive ‘base’ in the therapy room for my clients to explore their feelings and experience without shame or judgement.
I acknowledge and respect that you may have a lot of the ‘knowledge’ because of your professional background and in session I hold in mind and speak to some of the unique challenges that we can face as therapists when we become parents, while also trying to create space for you to take your therapist hat off and be a regular person. I understand the unique challenges that can come when you are trying to translate the theory and evidence to the reality of parenting. I have strong memories of cursing Dan Siegel when ‘connect and redirect’ wasn’t having the desired effect with my dysregulated toddlers. I also remember the distinct pressure I felt to ‘get it right’ with attachment and build a secure relationship with my babies. Its also very common for my therapist clients to have significant future fears (based on what they’ve heard in session work with teens or adults) about ‘f***ing up’ their children and I’m here to support you and reassure you that you are probably doing a better job than you think.
In terms of style I am quite personable and informal in session but if there is a certain style / line of questioning / ways of sessions being run that would help you get the most out of it I am open to feedback about this, I am happy for directive suggestions with style and treatment planning. I hold no judgement or expectation towards my therapist clients, I have no interest in analysing or thinking about whether you would be a ‘good therapist or not’ based on your own personal challenges. I felt like a bit of a fraud working as a perinatal psych supporting others with parenting challenges while having to go to my own therapy for my own struggles within that period. However, thanks to Brene Brown, Kristin Neff and compassion focused therapy I embraced my humanness and genuinely believe we can still be ‘good therapists’ despite our struggles at home (and that our kids don’t need us to be perfect).
I appreciate how small the psych community can be, so in order to maintain that confidentiality and respect for my clients I don't take 'other therapists' to any peer / group supervision discussions, if I ever need to talk something through I take it to my professional supervisor Julie King (based in QLD) and never use names or identifying factors.
