New Start Counselling and Psychotherapy
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I entered counselling with a deep-rooted passion for supporting women and promoting mental well-being, so that women can live full and empowered lives.
Long ago, I realised that true counselling was being present, listening, and truly understanding where someone was at in that moment.
I let go of excessive note-taking, scripts, buzzwords, and the quiet pressure to be the rescuer and emerged far more honest and authentic.
I am a Counsellor / Psychotherapist who has lived a full life, faced significant challenges, and understands what it feels like to be stuck.
I’m still professional, but I’m also very real.
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I believe bringing my lived experience into my therapy practice is fundamental for many women. You want to know that your therapist knows where you are and what you are going through. My life has definitely been shaped by experiences that many women quietly carry.
As a teenager, I lived with the emotional aftermath of childhood trauma and learned early roles like the fixer and the rescuer, patterns that often follow us into adulthood. Challenging those roles has been a profound journey for me, and one I now support my clients through with care and compassion.
As a single mother to twin daughters, I understand the complexity of parenting, particularly during the teenage years, and the emotional burden that often accompanies it. More recently, I’ve also navigated the unexpected grief of becoming an empty nester, learning firsthand how deeply these transitions can affect our sense of self.
Alongside living with MS, I also have lived experience of ADHD and complex trauma. Like many women, these issues were understood later in life and helped me make sense of long-standing patterns related to coping, responsibility, and emotional overwhelm.
This insight shapes how I work, with patience, flexibility, and an understanding that the nervous system, identity, and life history are always part of the picture.
These experiences have been my greatest teachers, offering insight, depth, and understanding that no textbook alone could provide.
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Working with women navigating grief, uncertainty, emotional pain, and identity shifts that come through life changes is a space I am privileged to offer. I support you to feel heard, understood, validated, and steadied as you make sense of what’s happening in your life.
I never push a direction, and I work at your pace.
Many women tell me this is the first space where they’ve felt truly listened to, without judgment, labels, or pressure to be “fixed”. That trust is something I don’t take lightly.
My approach to counselling is particularly supportive for women navigating life changes, chronic illness, trauma, and identity shifts.
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In-person sessions in Seaton, South Australia, and Telehealth across Australia
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After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2020, change stopped being a concept I spoke about with clients and became something I was living every day.
Through both my personal and professional experiences, I’ve come to understand that change sits at the heart of much emotional distress. Whether it comes through illness, relationship breakdown, identity shifts, parenting transitions, or life circumstances we didn’t choose, change unsettles us. It asks us to grieve, to question ourselves, and to sit with fear-based thoughts about the future.
MS taught me a great deal about myself. I found my way through, not by bypassing the hard parts, but by allowing space for grief, fear, and uncertainty, without staying stuck there. Over time, I reinvented myself and now live a life that feels more aligned and meaningful than before.
What I’ve learned is this:
We don’t need to avoid change or rush to “fix” it; we need space to understand it. To sit with it. To make sense of what it’s stirring up, and then gently find our way forward after all, it is aligned with grief and loss.
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Women often come to see me when they’re navigating the grief and uncertainty that comes with:
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Life after an MS diagnosis or chronic health condition
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Ongoing health changes that affect identity, energy, and independence
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Parenting challenges, including parenting through the teenage years
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The emotional impact of life transitions and changing roles
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Empty nesting and the unexpected grief and loss
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Carers issues
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Relationship changes or breakdowns
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The lasting effects of childhood trauma
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A late or adult ADHD diagnosis
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My counselling space is located in Seaton, South Australia, and I also work with women across Australia via telehealth and phone.
Outside of my work, I find grounding in playing the drums (the inspiration behind "Diagnosis to Drummer"), poetry, reading, meditation, walking my dog, Rosie, slowly becoming the mad cat lady, tending to my garden, especially my roses, and spending time with loved ones. I’m currently stretching myself with new challenges in improv, poetry slams, and guitar.