FAQs

 

1. Why “Kind Counselling”?
2. What does the Kind Counselling logo signify?
3. Do you offer a Medicare rebate?
4. Who is eligible for concession?
5. How many sessions will I need?
6. What is the difference between you and other types of psychologists and psychotherapists?
7. What are your qualifications?
8. What are the main benefits of this therapy?

 

Why “Kind Counselling”?

 

The word ‘kind’, here, is multi-faceted. The most obvious meaning is a place in which you are treated kindly - where you and what you are currently dealing with are held in compassion and love so that you feel truly safe, and are held, to heal whatever wounding or issues you bring into therapy.

 

‘Kind’ also refers to us, as client and therapist, being of one ‘kind’ – humankind, and therefore kindred.

 

The therapeutic process is a shared journey. One of the reasons I am able to stay the course with you, is because of my commitment to the deep personal work I have done and continue to do myself. We are all in the same boat -of a kind.

 

Unlike some other models of psychology in which the therapist is “The Expert”, or the person that magically ‘has it all together’ and is somehow invulnerable and separate, a transpersonal counsellor is more like a mentor on the journey, like a kind companion – educated and informed but just like you, a true mirror: of one kind (or herd) with you. A nice way of considering this is a 'guide on the side, rather than a sage on the stage'; a companion or fellow traveller. We are, quite literally, of the same kind: fellow travellers, ‘kindred spirits’. 

 

Physiologically, a felt sense of this kindness, communicated and shared through the therapist’s embodied, well-regulated presence, literally helps re-pattern your nervous system (helping you learn to de-regulate habits of over or under -activation). 

The corrective experience of being held kindly (that is, in unconditional positive regard, which is what happens in therapy) helps crucial aspects of the nervous system, such as the ventral branch of the vagus nerve (which runs from the chest and heart to the face and brain) to reform in a way that it may never have had the chance to do originally. In neurophysiological terms, there is now hard evidence that the ‘kind eyes’ of the therapist literally help re-pattern and repair your nervous system. Specifically, parts of the nervous system are stimulated through this encounter through the action of ‘mirror neurons’. Through this healing, reparitive interaction, physiological shifts in the nervous system are possible, even to the extent of the amygdala changing size (decreasing) and the process of nerve mylenation, interrupted in early trauma, to revive, contributing to a felt sense of feeling better. The 'kind eyes' are but one way therapy can help the reparenting process.

 

So while traditionally psychotherapy provides a corrective experience and repair of relational wounding, Somatic Experiencing also specifically targets the physiological repair of the nervous system, which fundamentally influences the way we live and feel.

 

A key aspect of psychotherapy is to facilitate the repair of old relational wounds. Through new possibilities of safe relating our own sense of feeling safe grows and deepens with the right therapist. So kindness is of crucial importance if therapy is to be effective. A healing, corrective, good psychotherapeutic relationship even repairs traumatic early developmental and attachment (childhood) experiences, and helps pave the way for better relationships elsewhere in your life.

 

If you're interested in a psychospiritual perspective, this talk by the spirituasl teacher Mooji discusses his teacher (Papaji's) comment that the transformation of mankind will happen when we become 'kind man'.

 

What does the Kind Counselling logo signify?

 

The 5 paint dots of the Kind Counselling logo represent the colours of the lataif, from the Diamond Essence work (AH Almaas, The Diamond Approach to Inner Work), which are essential qualities:

• compassion (green),
• strength (red),
• will, determination, commitment and ‘ground’ (white),
• clarity and power (black),
• … and joy (yellow).

 

Together the colours symbolise the capacity to embody and access these qualities in their pure form, rather than the false variants that are characteristic of living unconsciously in the world of the ego.

 

The Kind Counselling logo symbolises an approach that includes, but also transcends, repairing the wounds of the ego.

 

 

Do you offer a Medicare rebate?

 

No, as unfortunately only Clinical Psychologists and some Social Workers aqnd OTs are eligible for Medicate rebates. However it will generally still cost you less to see me than to see many providers that do offer the Medicare rebate, because their out-of-pocket fees are generally higher, even including the rebate. Currently the recommended fee for Psychologists is $260 per 45-60 minutes (see here for updated information) and Medicare would pay $124, meaning you'd be out of pocket $136, which is close to my full fee.

 

Also, because the Medicare rebate is only for a set number of sessions, if you want to continue with a provider that offers the rebate, additional sessions would be full price, so overall it is likely to be less expensive to see me than to see practitioners who do offer the rebate, both in the short or long term. 

 

In sum, a Health Care Plan is not necessarily better, especially if you're looking for a longer term therapeutic relationship.

 

 

Who is eligible for concession?

 

People currently not working and students. If you're an existing client expewriencing financial hardshipplease talk with meand we can come up with a way to supporet you continuing therapy.

 

How many sessions will I need?

 

It depends. Some people prefer occasional sessions to address a particular issue, others find medium to longer-term therapy to be most useful. I recommend an initial session, to determine whether the fit between us feels right, and then together we can determine what will suit you best.  There is no minimum or maximum – it is what suits your needs at any given time.

 

My commitment to you is over the long term, a bit like an old-style family doctor, someone thar knows you and is there for you as your life unfolds ... who knows you and can support you over time. Many people come back over the years, even after long breaks from therapy, for support as new challenges occur. 

 

What is the difference between you and other types of psychologists and psychotherapists?

 

Like psychologists, I:

 

- am able to help you to address current and long standing life crises and issues

- treat all the issues people generally go to psychologists for including: anxiety, depression, panic attacks; trauma and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), grief and loss, relationship or career issues, existential dilemmas, life-transitions, dealing with uncertainties and the unknown, and issues regarding sexuality, identity and self-worth, etc.

- offer practical, effective strategies and tools to manage any symptoms interfering with your wellbeing and functioning, so you can feel better about yourself, and about being alive, and can life most effectively while you become psaychologically more healthy

- belong to various Professional Associations with Codes of Standards and Ethics, and carry the required Professional Insurances, to protect both you and me.

 

However where the emphasis for many psychologists is focusing on treating symptoms, and on getting you back to ‘normal’, and to functioning as before the symptoms or crisis, transpersonal psychotherapists have a different orientation.

 

We tend to see symptoms and issues requiring psychotherapeutic treatment as a ‘healing crisis’ – an opportunity for significant growth. Therefore, in addition to just addressing current symptoms, we can work with you to address the deep, underlying causes of symptoms and issues, with a view to finding a deeper healing, and to functioning and living in a way that is experienced as being better than before.

 

Although we can work with you if you’re on medications, such as antidepressants, anxiolytics (anti-anxiety) or neuroleptics (antipsychotics) – and although we often work alongside GPs, psychologists and psychiatrists – there is a major difference between us, and practitioners working primarilly within the medical model.

 

Whereas they tend to use medication as a first-line, and mainline, approach, our primary approaches are psychotherapy, including somatic psychotherapy. Our starting point is to see psychological distress as a process (of temporary dis-ease) rather than as primarily an illness or disease requiring often ongoing medication. 

 

Our approach is not to diagnose or pathologise ‘conditions’, but first and foremost to see people as individuals, responding to particular life circumstances in ways that may not be serving you well, and which can be shifted with safe, effective, psychotherapy, which is what we offer. 

 

While behaviorist-oriented psychology tends to work with an evidence-based framework that creates norms of behaviour and approaches to therapy (CBT etc) - and a sense of outliers (the tryanny of the bell curve), we follow Carl Jung's insight of the need for a different therapy for every individual ... an approach which considers each person and their needs, rather than having an idea of how to fix or to restore a person to some kind of prescribed normalcy. 

 

John O Donohue (Anam Cara] expressed another profound difference beautifully:

 

 […] much psychology has abandoned the fecundity and reverence of myth and stands under the strain of neon consciousness, powerless to retrieve or open the depth and density of the world of soul. ~ 

 

See this blog entry for more detail about a more soulful approach to the journey of becoming whole, and of integrating all aspects of ourselves and our experiences, including our own shadow aspects, or the dark nights of the soul which are an aspect of being human.

 

And - importantly - as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, I complement transpersonal counselling with somatic psychotherapy. A recent talk by Peter Levine, the Founder of Somatic Experiencing, has a great introduction that highlights key ways SE extends the traditional psychological paradigm to include the body and nervous system as key to fundamentally transformation experirence and wellbeing. Click here for Levine's Keynote speech upon receiving a Lifetime Achievement award from Psychotherapy Networker. 

 

- The first part of the talk is about SE and how and why it works, and a bit about how it all started. 

- The second part of the talk is Peter's reflections about what the Covid situation may mean for transforming humanity. I found that just watching and listening to Peter is resourcing in itself, and wanted to share this with you.

 

What are your qualifications?

 

I am qualified as a:

 

• Transpersonal Counsellor (Phoenix Institute of Australia),
• Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) (Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute [Peter Levine] USA).
• Voice Dialogue Facilitator (Voice Dialogue Australia).
• Sandplay / Attachment-Focussed Sandplay Thertapist (Monique Rutherford / ACA).

 

Other approaches I study include the Learning Love work and Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy -RLT.

 

My other qualifications are:

 

• B.A. Hons (University of Sydney: University Medal in English Literature),
• M. Phil (University of Cambridge, UK, specialising in literature and myth
• Postgraduate Certificate in Data Analysis (Statistical Computing) (UNSW),
• Cert IV in Training and Assessment

 

What are the main benefits of this therapy?

 

Basically, you will begin to feel a lot better, and to develop a renewed sense of strength, confidence and of being well-resourced within yourself.

 

Specifically you will be able to:

 

• Learn how to process and integrate hurts, issues and triggers – both from your past and any that emerge now and in the future
• Develop more resilience and capacity to weather life events with more trust
• Face the uncertainties, and the existential challenges, of life with grace and a deep sense of hope, optimism and safety
• Have better experiences of being in relationship, whether with an intimate partner, family, friends, colleagues, co-workers or casual acquaintances
• Become clearer about what you want from life, work and relationships, and make decisions that truly nourish and support you
• Develop a greater and greater capacity to feel what it is to live in the ‘here and now’, to feel more vital, more alive, and to be able to live and make decisions based on this awareness.

 

The benefits you feel from therapy can be sustained, and even increased over time as your nervous system becomes permanently regulated and healed, and your brain is ‘rewired’ through creating healthy new neural pathways based on experiences of repair, healing and wellbeing, which become your new norm.

 

To make an appointment at Kind Counselling online or in the Byron Bay area, please contact me directly on 0404 093 865 or send an email enquiry.