Questions & Advice

What you may see as a few simple questions on your end, has often taken me years to learn through a lot of consideration, challenge and difficulty. When I receive and email asking for advice or answers to questions, it sends a signal that someone would like an answer not a relationship. I believe relationships are at the heart of life and  I know that I do my best work in relationship where I can get to know someone and provide heartfelt care and consideration in my response. 

2. Honouring my wellbeing and knowledge

Part of taking care of my wellbeing and modelling that to other people, is considering the value of the work I do and also the value of my down time. 

My time and knowledge is what I am paid for. Whether I am training, supervising clinician’s, mentoring people on their private practice or working in therapy. With this in mind you can imagine how my heart sinks a little bit when I am asked to provide my knowledge and guidance for free. In my journey as a therapist I have learned from some amazing people I looked up to, I valued their time and paid for their knowledge. I honour myself, my knowledge and my value by asking others treat me in the same way. This is not about money, or because I don’t want to see everyone succeed, I absolutely do!  it is about valuing and honouring myself and others (read above)..

3. I believe good mentoring is less about advice and guiding you to find what is right for you

I'm happy to share my perspectives and thoughts, but clearly I am going to be biased. Rather than giving advice, which is mostly unhelpful, I believe a good mentor doesn’t come from a place of ‘expert, but is collaborative and can help you discover what the right path, actions and goals are for you. Again, this isn’t something I can do via a quick email or call.

Another option that makes my heart sing: You can book in a paid mentoring session here.

These sessions give you an opportunity to reflect and prepare questions you would like answered. Whether it pertains to your future career aspirations or building your own private practice.

You can ask all the important questions you want answers to and it’s an opportunity for me to focus 100% of my time and attention on you. Instead of quick answers which are rarely good answers, I’ll be able to give you much better answers to your questions than what you would receive in a 5 minute email response. I also don’t make you pay for a package or number of sessions of my time. You can have all your questions answered in the 50 minutes and if you think you would like ongoing support, you can book in for further sessions.

You can also : Head over to my about page all my trainings are listed there. 

You can also have a look at my reccommended reading list

Check out my blogs, which have lots of free information about complex trauma and the approaches I work with. 

Take my Understanding Complex trauma mini course.

Head over to PACFA (Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation Australia). They offer a range of information including free and paid short courses and webinars

Check out the Blue Knot Foundation (The national centre for excellence in complex trauma) I am a trainer and supervisor for Blue knot and they offer a range of free educational resources online.

And finally… for future therapists, If you after all this, you are still  wondering about modalities and what to study or train in…I want to let you know that I believe the right clients get drawn to the right therapist. The thing that people will be drawn to is you and your presence rather than your modalities and interventions. I say this because I hope that you will trust that who you are, your passion, values and energy will all shine through. 

I also recommend you try out different modalities that feel aligned to you. Whilst it is important the training and the modalities are all important, the research shows us that the biggest predictor of therapeutic outcomes being achieved, is the relationship the client has with the therapist. In other words, it’s the relationship not the techniques that heal.

A great way to get a sense of this is to work with a few different therapists so that you can get a feel for what therapy is like. One of the things I believe is crucial to our healing and development is doing our own work. You have to have the experience of sitting in the clients chair and feeling your bones, not just your mind, what therapy is like. We cant expect our clients to go to the places that we have also not yet dared to enter.

I hope this is helpful and I look forward to connecting with you if you feel a resonance to book in a session.