I have three main areas of expertise:
- Working with Individuals
- Working with Relationships
- Organizational Consultation and Staff Development
Services
I am well qualified by my education, training and experience to meet the needs of clients seeking help with
Relationship Issues
Individual Issues
Bereavement & Loss
Until its disbandment I was a member of the National Association of Loss and Grief for 15 years and I am an accredited counsellor and supervisor.
Very few people are untouched by grief and loss. Some people have experiences of loss and or trauma which can be beyond the individual’s ability to cope. This may be because the loss is extreme and outside the normal range. Sometimes people have a special and unusual relationship with a person and this leaves them more vulnerable to this loss.
Prolonged grief disorder is a term used to describe a range of symptoms which continue for 6 months or more following a loss. These include: emotional pain, longing, anger, difficulty accepting the loss, and difficulties getting on with life. In this situation, some people increase risk taking behaviours (alcohol, drugs, smoking), some develop physical symptoms and some may feel suicidal. 7% of people are severely impacted. Medications are generally not regarded as effective. CBT in combination with exposure therapy are regarded as central treatment tools.
It is at these times that it can be helpful to talk about the person and the relationship you had with an especially trained practitioner.
Psychotherapy
I understand that making sense of our experiences is complex and clients seek someone to work with to help unfold the themes which baffle and interfere with getting on with life. Clients can feel quite distressed when efforts to resolve their own problems aren’t working. They may be experiencing a variety of symptoms including:
- depression
- anxiety
- difficulty resolving conflict
- a range of physical symptoms
- panic
- relationship problems
- rumination
- addictions
- stress
- adjustment to life transitions
- work themes
Psychotherapeutic interventions seek to increase the individual’s understanding of their behaviours and broaden the range of options available to deal with their lives. Psychotherapy can offer the opportunity to understand the deeper, more unconscious, blockages and patterns which impact on life. Therapy can be a profoundly rewarding and life changing experience.
Trauma
Over the years I have had considerable experience in working with clients who have experienced trauma. This may be sexual abuse, violence, accidents or war related experiences. These events have the potential to impact both body and mind and to disrupt a person’s capacity to have peace in their life. These experiences also impact on the families of the traumatised person.
Over the past decade I have made a point of preferencing this important field by attending a range of training and professional development courses.
Couple Therapy
I started my career in a relationship focused organization. I worked for several years solely with couples. This area forms a substantial proportion of my current practice. I hold the view that it is worthwhile working to maintain and support the relationship that currently exists as separation and divorce are rarely simple solutions. Grief and years of distress plus the greater complexity experienced in stepfamilies are encouragement to work at the relationship at hand. Where the relationship is not functional I am able to help couples navigate this journey to enable all parties to achieve wellbeing.
I have successfully worked with
- Infidelity
- Financial problems
- Parenting & family matters
- Sexual difficulties
- Addictions
- Stepfamily themes
- Communication problems
Family Therapy & Parenting
My PhD was in the area of family functioning (successful and failed remarried families). I am a member of the Israel Family Therapy Association.". Although I work with individual children and young people, the starting point and often the only necessary work, is with the parents in enabling them to become more confident and successful in their role. Often parents feel powerless. The goal for each of us in raising children is to strike a balance between unconditional love and setting safe and developmentally appropriate boundaries. The sessions seek to increase our capacity to make sense of each child’s feelings and experience of the world. My approach to parenting is both open and broad and practical and specific. I seek to gain an understanding of individual family values, history and goals as well as giving parents alternate strategies. I have co-authored a book on Parenting (The Parenting Puzzle, Lewis and Lewis, ACER1989).
Training
This course has been described by participants as inspiring and engaging. I draw together the theory and practice of supervision in an innovative manner. I have a Masters Degree specializing in staff supervision and have conducted over 500 days of training in supervision for professionals in the human services field both within Victoria, Tasmania and in N.S.W.
The Supervision Course is offered to Professionals working within the field of human services and private practitioners. It is preferable for applicants to have or have had experience in supervision.
The course looks at issues related to the role of supervisor, history, purpose and functions of supervision. The aims of the course are to develop an understanding of theory and practice of conducting professional supervision with an emphasis on opportunities to observe and practice skills. Too often I have had the experience of attending professional development sessions which have limited ongoing impact. My goal is to provide sufficient challenging opportunities within the course to stimulate and alter participant’s practice as supervisors.
The course offers a combination of experiential and didactic methods.
The course content covers the following themes:
- Models of supervision include an understanding of clinical theories which underpin our style as supervisors.
- In addition we learn about the impact of a range of structures on the process of providing supervision including traditional, live, peer, and various group structures.
- The educational function is covered with a focus on making an educational assessment.
- Participants are encouraged to increase their knowledge of self as it impacts on their role within their organisation, in their private consultations and with clients.
- Processes and techniques of supervision include increased awareness of parallel processes, unconcious processes and family of origin.
- Organizational/professional tensions,
- Understanding leadership/management functions.
Participants will acquire a number of skills:
- A capacity to effectively work alongside staff in a supportive and challenging manner
- A capacity to form an educational assessment,
- An ability to develop work related self awareness in both the supervisee and supervisor and in particular, to understand how to more effectively utilize their authority as line managers
- A capacity to accurately assess and work with the tensions inherent within the organization and within the supervisory relationship
- Participants should increase in their ability to focus, prioritize and evaluate performance.
- Participants are given an opportunity to observe and critique a live supervision session.
Overall, participants are enabled to better integrate the multiple layers of meaning in the interface between client, worker, supervisor and organization.