What to Expect
I am an AHPRA registered Psychologist with over 5 years of experience working across hospital and outpatient settings. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in the treatment and care of a broad range of mental health challenges and presentations over the course of his career so far. As a psychodynamic psychologist my initial aim is to gain a thorough and comprehensive understanding of you as an individual from the moment contact is first made. While acknowledging that your symptoms, suffering and challenges (the reasons that brought you to therapy) form an important part of the picture, there is certainly more to you than your symptoms. My ultimate aim is to work towards real and sustainable psychological change that not only eases suffering but enriches the lives of the people I works with.
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Seeking out help can be daunting, let alone finding a therapist and starting therapy, so well done for getting this far! You may be considering therapy because there is a part of you that acknowledges the need for something to change or perhaps to gain a better understanding of yourself and your suffering, but there may also be a part of you that knows working towards meaningful change can be uncomfortable, scary and involves commitment. Let me start by saying this is all very normal and even to be expected when starting therapy. You may be experiencing a sense of being stuck, empty or incredibly anxious, the reasons for this may exist in circumstances that you can easily identify, or you may be at a loss as to why you could be feeling this way. There may be a sense of isolation and loneliness compounded by a general feeling of disconnection from oneself and others which makes it difficult to engage in and sustain meaningful relationships. It could be that most people and aspects of life appear threatening, and the future is riddled with uncertainty and “worst case scenarios”. The expectations and standards imposed onto you by yourself and what may seem to be everyone else might leave you with a sense of constantly falling short and never being “good enough”. There may be aspects of your past and childhood that were devastating and traumatic that continue to negatively impact your functioning in a way that gets in the way of living a meaningful and purposeful life. Your thoughts may run away with you and leave you feeling overwhelmed which leaves you wanting to detach and withdraw in order to find safety.
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My interests lie in helping people develop an awareness and an understanding the themes and patterns that make people vulnerable to suffering and psychological hardship. We are emersed in a society that is preoccupied with performance and results as a means to derive worth which unfortunately provides a very narrow and confined corridor from which to engage with oneself and the world. It is my aim to explore what exists outside of these confines in order to pursue something more balanced, free and forgiving. With the focus being more on “being” rather than constantly “doing and achieving” while pursuing ultimately what it means to be human.
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The above encompasses, amongst other challenges, the realm where most of the work I do lies. I seek to first understand you and your challenges carefully and thoroughly in order to establish a sound working alliance with clear goals that are geared towards discovering and meeting unmet needs. I aim to provide a containing and attentive environment where time, consistency and commitment are the cornerstones of the work we will do together. Overall, I endeavour to assist people in increasing a sense of self, by improving how they relate to themselves and others to live a meaningful life.