Services

Counselling
Semper Amore is a safe place for humans of all ages, cultural backgrounds, diverse sexual and gender identities and expressions, faith and lifestyle choices.
- individual therapy for teens and adults, and couples via face-to-face (Caboolture) and online sessions
- outdoor therapy (walk and talk) at various locations (see below for more details)
I truly believe seeking support from a qualified and skilled mental health professional can benefit everyone…for problems big and small (and everything in between).
Therapeutic support is available for a range of concerns:
- anxiety and depression
- disability
- grief and loss
- healthy mind habits and coping tools for life
- lack of direction, joy and/or spark in life
- limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours
- loneliness and loss of connection
- making changes and transitions in life, health, career, study
- parent/child relationship struggles
- parenting support and understanding child behaviours
- relationships and interpersonal connections
- school refusal
- self-awareness and understanding
- self-compassion and personal growth
- shame and guilt
- past traumatic experiences
- understanding repeating life patterns
What is Counselling
Counselling can be defined as a safe and confidential collaboration between a qualified counsellor and client, to promote mental health and wellbeing, enhance self-understanding and resolve identified concerns. A holistic approach to counselling considers every aspect of a person’s life because each piece is considered equally important to the whole.
From my training and my own therapeutic experiences, I am conscious of what factors help to make a person feel safe, secure and connected to fully engage in the therapeutic journey. Feeling safe allows the emotional brain (limbic system) to calm and we are then better able to use the part of the brain, the pre-frontal cortex or thinking brain, to fully engage in the process of therapy.Â
What to expect
Research tells us the likelihood of positive change occurring is supported by several important factors, including the quality of therapeutic relationship and the goals and tasks of therapy. Therefore, from the outset my priority is to establish a sense of safety for clients and begin building our relationship. Through the relationship we will then work collaboratively to identify goals and use several strategies and tools to work towards achieving your preferred outcome.
I aim to not book back-to-back sessions, which allows clients the space and time needed. This results in a session feeling paced and unhurried. This also allows me as a practitioner to reset between sessions, so I am in the best possible emotional, psychological and physical state to support each and every client. I prioritise my wellbeing to provide the necessary holding space for you as the client.Â
Our lives are made up of stories. The stories of what has happened to us. Stories others have about us. I am interested in the story you have about your experiences and what your preferred story is.Â
The content of our life is often out of our control, but how it is written can be up to us. There are multiple perspectives of any one situation. As your practitioner, I am interested in learning about your version, your experience and ultimately how I can support you to write the remaining chapters… and perhaps rewrite some of the previous ones. Best sellers are not written alone – a team of editors and co-creators are essential in creating a well-rounded piece of work… seeking counselling can support you in the same way.Â
Overall, I am committed to providing you with experiences of:
- walking away feeling stronger
- build a picture of your hopes for coming to counselling
- acknowledge your existing skills, capacity and resiliencies
- assist in the development of new skills
- assist in the movement toward new possibilities
- you will receive genuine care, support and a holistic approach to therapy which is grounded in evidence-based interventions
Sessions & Cost
Session Length:Â 50 mins
Cost: Â $150 (individual)/$165 (couples) (GST included). NDIS participants are charged as per NDIS price guide.Â
Please note, that all appointments charge 50% of the booking fee to secure your appointment. This amount is taken off the full cost of your session and refundable if you cancel within the 48 hours of your appointment time. Telehealth and outdoor therapy sessions require full payment prior to the session.
The remaining appointment fee can be made via EFTPOS (Square), direct deposit or cash. Health fund rebates may apply.Â
Appointments: Monday – Friday 09:15am-4pm. After hours may be available through negotiation.
Relationship Counselling
I have completed level 1 training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method Couples Therapy in my work. The aim of Gottman Method Couples Therapy is ultimately to equip you both with the skills and understanding you need to be able to reconnect and continue to nurture your relationship and deal with new challenges and conflicts in a way that enables both of you to feel heard, respected and understood and to be able to make effective repairs when required. I choose to work with couples in a way described as ‘intensive’ – please note this is decided collaboratively after the assessment phase (you will note below there are several options for you both, depending on what is happening in the relationship).
What does the 'intensive' approach look like
The approach generally consists of four phases, including:
-
Assessment phase – 4-6 hour assessment
-
Therapy Phase – 2 day intensive (can be consecutive or up to one week apart)
-
Integration Phase – Weekly/fortnightly sessions (between 1.5 – 3 hours)
-
Relapse Prevention Phase (monthly/bi-monthly/3 monthly/6 monthly)
What to expect
A Two-Day Couples Therapy Intensive (also known as Marathon Couples Therapy) is a dynamic and effective alternative to traditional weekly sessions. This approach provides you with the time and space you need to address your most painful and challenging issues as a couple and get your relationship back on track in a short, but intense period. The Marathon itself is condensed over two days (either consecutive or up to one week apart) of structured, evidence-based couples therapy with both of you and myself. Each intervention I introduce in your Marathon is based within the Gottman framework and has been subjected to rigorous testing and research. In this way, your individualised Marathon helps you move forward to a place of hope and reconnection.
Intensive couples therapy can be especially effective because it enables both of you to feel heard and understood in a safe environment and get to the heart of the problems more efficiently than if meeting week to week. I help manage the intensity of the experience by pacing what is worked on and closely monitoring your physiological state, through the use of technology (finger heart rate/pulse oximeter) whilst helping both of you learn how to manage your physiological distress and overwhelm. Preliminary research on Marathon Therapy shows that Marathons can help to quickly reduce distress, resolve specific conflict issues, and increase a sense of closeness and intimacy, leading to a stronger, more resilient and more satisfying relationship (Gottman & Gottman, 2015).Â
The Marathon approach can also be especially useful when you want to engage in Gottman Method Couples Therapy but live in an area without access to therapists trained in this method, those who have hectic schedules, or if you or your partner have work or family commitments that make weekly therapy appointments difficult to attend. It is also helpful for couples who require immediate, intensive help to move through a particularly rocky patch. Â
What will we learn?
Using interventions drawn from the Sound Relationship House, I will work with you to:
- help you learn to communicate in more effective and less damaging ways
- support you to manage your physiological state to enable you both to talk about conflict areas in a calmer way to help you both feel more heard and understood
- deepen your understanding of each other
- strengthen your bond and leave you feeling more connected as a couple
- improve your intimate connection
- identify shared values and dreams
- put mechanisms in place that will help safeguard the progress you have made and build ongoing connection
Following your intensive, a collaborative decision on the best way forward will be made to help you consolidate what you have learnt and be able to implement the skills gained to new situations that may arise.
Phase 1 – Assessment Phase (between four to six hours):
Before a Marathon, each partner will complete a comprehensive 2-hour online survey called the Gottman Relationship Health Check-up (which incurs a fee of USD39 payable via the link you receive). This information will all help me understand both of your individual histories, the history of your relationship, your satisfaction within the relationship as well as some of the main issues that have developed over time and bring you to couples therapy now. Â
You will be sent a link where you will create an account via the Gottman Connect website. Please remember your password since you will need to log into this account again. Provide answers to the items in the questionnaire as best you can. It is important that each person completes all the questionnaires independently; you will not review one another’s responses. Some of the questions provide a space for adding notes to the answers (I read each of the notes, so please make use of this feature when appropriate). Once both partners have completed both surveys, I receive a report via the Gottman Institute with your results which will be shared within the feedback component of the assessment phase.
Joint Session: Both partners will join me for a one-hour relationship history interview to help her understand how your relationship has developed over time and to fully understand your current difficulties.Â
Individual Sessions: You will each attend an individual 60-minute consultation with me to obtain your own personal history. This helps me get a deeper understanding of your perspective and experience in your world.
Feedback Session:Â All the information you have shared is brought together in a report that will inform the feedback and help set the goals for the therapy. This evaluation is helpful in understanding your relationship and charting the way forward for an improved future.Â
By the end of your feedback consultation you and your partner will:Â
- have a much deeper understanding of both the strengths and challenges in your relationship;
- have a greater understanding of what it takes to create a strong, healthy, stable, satisfying and long-lasting relationship based on Gottman’s evidenced based model of Sound Relationships;
- receive specific tools, strategies, ideas and resources to help you work towards creating the relationship you both want; and,
- receive a range of recommendations to help you address any of the challenges your relationship may be facing.
Depending on the current state of your relationship, your feedback session may include recommendations such as:
- accessing and utilising apps
- obtaining and reading books and articles
- watching YouTube videos
- agreeing to engage in weekly activities together
- engaging in therapy with myself or another therapist
Can we get a report?
- You will receive a written report after your feedback consultation based on the data collected in your Gottman Connect Questionnaire that will provide you with a summary of the strengths and challenges in your relationship.Â
Phase 2 – Therapy
If it is determined that an intensive approach is likely to be helpful and you wish to proceed, you will be scheduled for two full day intensive therapeutic sessions (9am to 5pm) – can be consecutive or up to one week apart. The focus of these sessions will be to help you learn how to move out of painful gridlocked escalated conflict, repair old unprocessed hurts and misunderstandings and move towards a relationship that feels more understanding, connected and attuned.Â
At this point you will most likely have developed a range of new relationship skills and ideas for how to keep working on your relationship. We will together discuss your progress and any ongoing needs for additional follow-up appointments as you move into Phase 3.
Â
Phase 3 – Integration
Now is the time to spend time working together at home to ensure you can consistently put your new skills, strategies and behaviours into action. Most couples will continue to engage in weekly to fortnightly one-to-two-hour follow-up appointments for a few weeks to ensure they are able to consistently utilise the skills, strategies and ideas that have been learned.
​
Phase 4 – Relapse prevention
At this point most couples feel confident to continue their re-building on their own and research has indicated continuing with monthly check in appointments for a few months are important in guarding against relapse. These are then faded out to three monthly and perhaps six monthly until you feel confident you have all the skills to continue to deepen and strengthen your relationship into the future.
​
How do we begin?Â
Once you register for your relationship health assessment, you and your partner will each receive an email with links for each of you to complete the questionnaires mentioned above.
Once you have decided to engage in a couples therapy it is important that you both try to hit the pause button on any ongoing issues and tensions in the relationship knowing that you have taken an important step in creating a different kind of relationship. Booking in for a couples therapy intensive is a gesture of courage and commitment to explore new growth in your relationship.
Sessions & Cost
Cost estimates (I charge for the hours we work together @ $165):
The assessment phase – approx. $900
The intensive therapy phase – approx. $3000
The integration phase – approx. $1500 depending on your needs
The relapse prevention phase – approx. $1000 depending on your needs.
The remaining appointment fee can be made via EFTPOS (Square), direct deposit or cash. Health fund rebates may apply.Â
Appointments:Â Tuesday-Wednesday 09:15am-5pm. After hours may be available through negotiation.
Professional supervision for helping professionals (individual and group)
The role of a helping professional exposes the practitioner to situations that impose a great demand on their emotional and professional well-being. Practitioners cannot in all cases be objective about their own abilities, agendas and practice. A supervisor can be objective and help the helping professional grow and learn. Supervision can help ensure the practitioner is meeting the needs of clients and keeping to ethical and professional standards, as well as helping relate practice to theory, and vice versa.Â
My supervision framework is influenced by my professional knowledge and experience in a variety of case management, therapeutic and counselling roles. Like my therapeutic practice, I draw on a variety of models and theories to make up an integrative practice framework. I am passionate about supporting all helping professionals through providing effective supervision and continued learning opportunities.
What is Professional supervision?
Professional supervision is an essential safeguard for clients, a support for helping professionals and a process in which practitioners can develop skill and competence. The process allows for the supervisee to reflect on their own practice, discuss workplace and professional issues in a safe environment. Â
Supervision exists for three reasons – fundamentally to protect clients; to improve the ability of practitioners to provide value to their clients, patients and/or students, and to monitor the self-care of the practitioner.
Professional experience and qualifications include:
- private counselling practice
- public sector (corrections, disability services)
- non-government sector (foster carer assessments; working with separated parents)
- sessional academic
- Bachelor of Social Science (Counselling); Masters of Counselling
- training and practicums in Theraplay; Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and Yoga teacher training
What to expect
A supervision session can vary depending on your needs and preferences, however there are generally six major areas of inquiry in a typical supervision session:
- clarifying hopes and priorities for the session;Â
- reflection and discussion in a relaxed conversational and collaborative style;
- opportunity to debrief on core issues, review cases and develop skills (learn from work);
- independent and impartial perspective;
- discussing future possibilities; and
- reflecting on the session.
Sessions & Cost
Individual Session Length:Â 30 mins; 60 mins or 90 minsÂ
Cost: Â $165 per hour (includes GST)
Group Session (minimum four supervisees). Please enquire for quote.Â
Please note, all appointments charge 50% of the booking fee to secure your appointment. This amount is taken off the full cost of your session and refundable if you cancel within the 48 hours of your appointment time. Telehealth and outdoor therapy sessions require full payment prior to the session.
The remaining appointment fee can be made via EFTPOS (Square), direct deposit or cash.Â
Appointments: Monday – Friday 09:15am-4pm.


Telehealth
I have chosen Zoom to conduct counselling sessions as it meets extensive encryption criteria. This provides the safest and most private space for your session that I can manage online. Video is always the preferred method for the conduct of the sessions.Â
For Zoom a unique code will be emailed to you for each session. To use Zoom the program will need to be downloaded to your device. And if you have not used Zoom before, do not worry, I will support you through the process.

Walk and Talk Therapy
What is outdoor therapy, or walk and talk?
Basically, it means walking and talking during your therapy session, rather than being enclosed in a clinic room, sitting in designated chairs. We know sunshine, green spaces and regular movement are all linked to improvements in mood and mental health. Walk and talk therapy aims to harness the benefits of physical movement and the outdoors, within the context of an intentional therapeutic relationship. Several studies have supported the restorative effects of nature including positive physiological effects, such as decreased heart rate and blood pressure; positive impacts on managing emotional and psychological states by reducing tension, confusion, anger and depression and how just looking at nature results in positive effects on mood, stress, concentration and self-esteem.
What are the benefits
-
Being in natural environments helps our nervous systems unwind – we know that being in nature helps to quell anxiety and rumination, is grounding and can soothe the mind.
-
Exposure to natural light and fresh air combined with light exercise carries opportunities for mood benefits through increasing release of endorphins (feel good hormones) and decreasing cortisol (stress hormone).
-
Being outdoors with a therapist is also a fantastic place to practice refining your mindfulness skills, as there is ample opportunity to tune into sensory information from all of your senses.
-
Being outside and moving while talking about your difficulties can help create distance between yourself and your problems and this can build hope and confidence knowing you are a person first, not the problem
-
Movement can help shift your emotions both physically and emotionally through integrating the mind and body
-
Increased cognitive abilities (helpful for talk therapy) is increased during movement, such as light walking. Sitting for prolonged periods decreases our cerebral blood flow.Â
-
Gentle walking promotes better sleep cycles and improves circulation
-
Walk and talk therapy can feel less confronting and overwhelming, compared to traditional clinic setting
-
Increased emotional and physical connection between client and therapist because of rhythmic, in-sync physical movements of walking side by side.Â
Who does it suit
Walk and talk sessions may not suit every situation, but it can provide you with the opportunity to meet and speak comfortably, while being immersed in a natural surrounding that appeals to you. Whilst walk and talk therapy is generally considered as a low intensity activity, and the pace is always set by the client, assessments are undertaken to ensure you are physically and psychologically suitable to engage in outdoor therapy.
Secondly, clients who have an attraction to natural spaces, perhaps having a memory or experience of the healing power of nature are often better suited to this approach. Walk and talk therapy is particularly useful for people who feel they can become blocked or overwhelmed by the intimacy of therapy in an office setting. It can also be a good way to practice Mindfulness skills with your therapist.
What to expect
Sessions are typically facilitated within the traditional ‘therapy hour’, 50 minute sessions. Whilst nature is an active ingredient to change, or merely a beautiful backdrop, talk therapy remains at the forefront. Clients set the pace of the walk which enables you to feel more in control of the session. Whilst the relationship between the therapist and client is less formal, all elements of the therapeutic relationship remain, including me as the therapist being solely focussed on bringing about positive change for you.Â
Given the unpredictability of external factors such as weather, walk and talk therapy is truly a collaborative process where client preference and autonomy are at the heart of the process. Other important factors such as location, confidentiality, timing and your fitness levels are explicitly discussed and negotiated through initial and continuous contracting processes. The therapeutic space therefore collaboratively emerges, is constantly negotiated and is unique to each client. We generally engage via in-person or telehealth (video) consultation prior to engaging in our first outdoor session to make sure it is the right approach for you.Â
Please note, that all appointments charge 50% of the booking fee to secure your appointment. This amount is taken off the full cost of your session and refundable if you cancelled within the 48 hours of your appointment time. Telehealth sessions require full payment prior to the session.
The remaining appointment fee can be made via EFTPOS (Square), direct deposit or cash. Health fund rebates may apply.Â
Appointments: Monday – Friday 09:15am-4pm.