About Me

I am a gentle, affirming, and understanding therapist, with experience in supporting adults, teens, and children with Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, learning disabilities, mental illness, disabilities, chronic health conditions, and more. I draw from lived experience and welcome clients from all backgrounds. I am non-judgemental and I will do my best to support you regardless of why you're here or what your situation is (as long as it is both within my capabilities and meets ethical guidelines). I am LGBTQIA+ allied, sex-positive, and anti-racist.

Counselling Approach

I am passionately person-centred in my counselling style. I listen to what you need, and I adapt what I'm doing to work with you. Some examples of what that might look like are:

If you prefer to communicate through text, we can do text-based counselling and we don't have to speak out loud at all
If you tell me you mostly want strategies to reduce anxiety, we can talk through common strategies people use and try to find some that work for you. We might also talk about unique strategies that might work for you as an individual.
If you want to talk about your relationship problems, we can talk about them. If you just want to vent, I can listen, or if you want to strategise on what to do next we can make a plan together.
If you want to fidget, or pace, or eat snacks, or hold a comfort object, I encourage doing those things.
If you're not sure where to go next, I can suggest ideas based on my own counselling knowledge, but it will be up to you to decide if we pursue them.

In addition to being person-centred, I tend to be gentle and accepting of all people. I take genuine joy in seeing someone be their unique selves and finding ways to do things or work through problems to bring greater meaning, happiness, or contentedness to their lives. It doesn't matter what it is, it matters that it's important to you.

I believe we all have some ideas of what works for us (or what DOESN'T work for us!) and I encourage you to bring that knowledge to our sessions. I can bring the counselling knowledge, and then we can work together to figure out what will help you. If you're really not sure, we can find out!

Values

I am neuroaffirming, sex-positive, LGBTQIA+ allied, anti-racist, respectful of your relationships, disability-friendly, and work hard to make everyone feel welcome without forcing my perspectives on them. This means I will treat you with respect no matter what you believe, whether you agree with me or not, whether you're fitting in with what's "normal" or not. You have a right to live your life how you want to live it and I support you in doing that.

Past Experience

I have been working primarily with neurodivergent clients since I began counselling.

I previously ran Text Counselling Online, my private practice, where I provided text-based counselling to people who prefer not to speak out loud. This allowed me to gain experience in working with adults with Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, mental health diagnoses, disabilities, chronic health conditions, and others.

I have also worked with Minds Support Network to provide counselling to people of all ages who prefer an interactive approach (mostly through video games). This allowed me to gain experience working with children and teens, the majority of whom were Autistic, AuDHD, or ADHD.

When I was studying, my placement helped me gain experience in providing counselling to women with trauma, addiction, or who had experienced domestic violence.

Lived Experience

I have lived experience of:

Late-diagnosis Autism
Autistic burnout
Mental illness
Being a carer for a person with a disability
Disability (my own)
Non-traditional relationships

If any of these lived experiences are particularly important or relevant to you, you are welcome to ask questions about them. If I feel the question is too personal for me to answer, I will let you know.

Qualifications

I am a registered Counsellor with ACA (Australian Counselling Association) Level 2.
I have a Master of Counselling degree and have been working as a counsellor since 2022.