About Us
Patricia
Attentive listening and therapeutic presence underpin my approach as a counsellor and social worker.
I practice mindfulness every day and use grounding practices to give clients my complete attention. I am also trained in therapies that are well researched and use them with confidence, knowing they are effective.
I have always been a good listener. Quite informally I provided emotional support, through empathic listening, to close friends and family. I became a Lifeline telephone counsellor in 1996, where I gained skills and practice in active listening. I decided to go to university as a mature age student to study social work, and I graduated in 2002. One of my elective subjects on trauma sparked my interest and future passion. I went on to do postgraduate study in developmental trauma and over my career I have worked in a range of organisations with this focus. During my career I have continued to take every opportunity to increase my knowledge in the areas of trauma and trauma recovery.
My personal journey has also ignited a passion for providing support to women who have experienced miscarriage or stillbirth and women who are struggling with perinatal depression and anxiety. When I was birthing my babies there were no services or support available, which resulted in ongoing repercussions for myself and one of my children. Being able to provide this support to others was one of the highlights of my role as a hospital social worker.
Another passion for me is providing support to women who have experienced sexual abuse as children or sexual assault as adults. These women often need a space to heal and that is a space I want to create for them.
Natalie
My approach is a relational one, being with and holding the space for people so they may feel seen and heard.
My goal is to listen and assist so that people can look inwards. In walking alongside people, it is their journey based on their own unfolding and their own inner-strength.
My life’s path has come out of my experiences as a child of illness and medical trauma. My direction of learning has always been driven by a desire to find healing and wholeness. I spent many years learning about the body and trauma, and how to bring healing to trauma. I also began to meditate and study Buddhism.
On this spiritual path, I learnt how pain really is the path, offering the doorway to healing when kindness and attention is brought to it. My life is now centred around my spiritual practice, which is underpinned by a sense of loving kindness and interconnectedness.
In 2017 I went back to university to study a Masters of Social Work in order to draw together my knowledge and understanding of trauma and my practice of mindfulness, meditation and spiritual inquiry. I wanted to develop direct practice skills to work with people to find their own path to healing.
As a person who’s “been on the inside”, I accompany people with the true Buddhist sense of compassion. It is a natural and intuitive response, based on a sense of interconnection. It is a response in the moment, based on loving kindness and empathy.