FAQ

Counselling is absolutely of benefit for any help-seekers. However it’s not usually a one-stop quick-fix, and counsellors don’t generally give advice. We believe in consulting your own expertise and co-creating pathways out of troubling situations with you for the very best long term outcomes.

The first session is about getting to know each other, it can take a little time to do that before moving forward. Your identity is precious, which is why many counsellors try to give lots of information about how we work through our website and blog posts: so you can choose a counsellor who is the best fit and have the best chance of healing and success. As for coaching, YES!!! No matter how well things are going, coaching can help make things (even) or unstick a specific issue.

A lot of people think you have to be in agony to go to counselling, or that something specific has to have happened- like someone died- before it’s ‘bad enough’. And sadly, most couples believe they should be able to weather storms without counselling help. None of this is true. Anyone can go to counselling, and in fact it’s probably better to find a counsellor if you are struggling before things get worse. This applies TRIPLE to couples. Most folks wait until it is too late to seek couples counselling for problems that are quite common. Non-monogamous and monogamous couples alike get stuck in unhelpful and occasionally toxic patterns that get harder to change as the years go on. Don’t let that be you.

Online relationship coaching is ideal if you’re struggling with a few problems, you’re stuck, but nothing too serious has happened (yet). It’s also ideal if things are great and you want them to be even greater, deepening your connection and feeling that love for years to come. If you’re non-monogamous online relationship coaching with me can help you negotiate the evolving nature of your relationships.

Yup. I have a Masters degree in Narrative Therapy and Community Work from Melbourne University which i completed in 2014. Before that I got a Post-Graduate Degree in Counselling from La Trobe University. And before that I completed a Bachelor Degree of Social Science from Southern Cross University, way back in 2003. Along the way I have also done loads of extra training (in couples counselling, grief counselling, life coaching, relationship coaching, non-directive play therapy for children, mindfulness practices, somatic experiencing, person-centred counselling, solution-focused sessions etc…)

I am Australian, but I can practice as a counsellor anywhere in the world except the USA and Canada. However I CAN do relationship and couples coaching or personal and dating coaching if you are located in those countries, so please do ask if you think coaching with Unveiled Stories is something you’d be interested in. I am a digital nomad so I understand some of the complexities of living away from your home country.

No. Only doctors and psychiatrists can diagnose and medicate people (not counsellors or psychologists). My intention is to help you with what you see as being problematic in your world. I have even helped a number of people reduce reliance on meds when they desired. If however you were in an extreme situation or needed more help than I can offer, I would be obliged to recommend you seek extra support. This isn’t as scary as it sounds. I have years of experience as a caseworker and counsellor in various organisations that abide by high ethical standards, so I can safely and supportively guide you to other support options if need be. We can also continue working together while you are accessing other supports at the same time if we agree that’s a good option.

That is something we decide together, and then revisit along the way. There are no limitations. A common pathway for many people is to talk once a week for 4 weeks, then push out to fortnightly, and then monthly check-ins. I will also let you know if I am concerned in any way about anything over the time we work together. It may interest you to know that 80% of my clients find resolution with less than 6 sessions. You can find out more about my 2018 statistics here.

It’s really common to feel unstuck and even elated after just 1 or 2 counselling sessions. Taking charge of your life and the one thing you have some ‘hold’ over (yourself!) can feel amazing, and can prod some action that may have been stagnating. For some people, that’s all they need. For others this feeling is just that: a great feeling. It doesn’t last.

While I have no intention of keeping you in therapy forever, if you really want to change something that usually takes some time. If that’s your wish: to change something, then it’s worth showing up even when you feel good. It can be helpful, as you are calmer and more able to create pathways and absorb information when not in crisis. When we first meet, we’ll begin deciding what it is that YOU would like to be different (and what you’d like to be the same) and then our conversations will be shaped by those desires or goals. This could take 2 – 7- 20 – 30 sessions depending on what comes up over the time we meet. It’s worth making a commitment to plan for the longer term and investing in yourself beyond the ‘magical cure’ effect.

Narrative Therapy was co-created in Australia, and has become one the most internationally recognised support interventions for various challenges of a psychological and social nature. A long time ago I made a video (hello short pink hair!) talking about it, so check that out. The Dulwich Centre provides more detail if you’d like to know more.

Narrative holds the point of view that YOU are the expert in your own life. We want to walk with you to enrich your sense of self by exploring, discovering and thickening your preferred and stronger stories. We locate and name problems ‘outside’ of you so we can work on them most effectively.

Narrative therapists, coaches, counsellors and social workers all around the world also believe that we are not separate from our environments, and it is for that reason Narrative is considered to be a safe cross-cultural approach. Individuals are not separate from discrimination, homophobia, sexism, ableism, racism, gender bias, judgment, good-looks-ism, unconscious bias, pandemics, really bad hair days, and all the other experiences that happen in our world. Our brains don’t live alone, floating about in our heads having no relationship with the things that we encounter every single day.

We aren’t separate from the people around us, from our grief, from our workplaces, connections, our children… We ARE ‘in motion’ and being created as we go along- and often times ‘who we are’ doesn’t seems real anymore, doesn’t make sense. You can rebuild- or build- identity no matter what your situation.

We aren’t seeking to ‘remove’ anything ‘negative’ or ‘change’ your story, or ‘change’ your thinking- we are looking for neglected moments that might deserve some enhancing, to create a more balanced life. Narrative therapy is a multi-storied, holistic approach to online counselling, coaching, and life.

I’ve been trained in numerous styles that I adapt and mould depending on what might suit. If Narrative is my overriding philosophy as well as a set of tools, then different approaches provide more tools for us to work together. These include: somatic therapy, strengths-based, person-centred counselling, mindfulness techniques, play therapy, recovery models, creative expressions, family therapy, couples and relationship counselling from various schools such as The Gottman Institute and Relationships Australia. I no longer do trauma work, but I have been trained extensively in trauma-informed practices.

Yes I do offer online relationship & couples counselling, and online relationship coaching for non-monogamous couples and singles in Australia, and for folks all over the world. I am a sex-positive and open-minded therapist and offer my help to all relationships that are respectful and loving. Many of the non-monogamous or polyamorous folks I work with have been concerned about seeking a counsellor because they’ve experienced ignorance or outright judgement in the past from professionals. That saddens me. It should be an honour to work with anyone who is so dedicated to relationship fulfilment that they’re regularly willing to discuss, re-negotiate and adjust what it looks like on an ongoing basis.

Put simply, ‘online counselling’ is the provision of mental health support via the internet. In the modern world the internet is an incredible social equaliser and has become just as important to get our voices heard and stay in touch with one another as face-to-face interaction. In some ways it has even surpassed that. When I started in 2015 it felt necessary sary to explain this, but now we’ve all been on Zoom and we all know the benefits and the issues. The biggest benefit by far is that you can work with whoever you want (like me) no matter our locations. Oh, and you can completely chill after a session, with your dog/cat/fish/pillow and a cup of tea.

There are 4 modes of communication used in online counselling and online coaching. We simply book a mutually suitable time to meet, and then be online at the same time for our session (except for email counselling).

These modes consist of: video coaching session, IM chat (real-time texting), talk without video (phone counselling) and email counselling which are elaborated on in this post on why you should consider choosing online therapy (bear in mind that post was written in 2016 when I started out, and while many things have changed, there are still some interesting things to note). Email counselling is discussed in more detail on the fees page.

Does the idea of online coaching kind of appeal to you, but seems unfamiliar? Or did you hate working online during the pandemic and assume it will be the same? Please be aware that it’s part of my role as your coach to make these styles of communication feel safe and be comfortable, relevant and useful to you. I want you to experience the most benefit and gain exponentially from our time together. Online coaching is not just a poor ‘second option’ to in-person coaching, there are loads of benefits to sitting with me while in your home.

Check out this post on Instant Messenger counselling that might spark your curiosity. The general idea is that we address any of the same problems as face-to-face sessions, but we can use a variety of ‘omnichannels’ to communicate. These methods enable a much wider variety of support to be offered, because they make Time, Travel, Talking and Access no longer necessary to a counselling process.

Online counselling is now well-and-truly established in Australia. Skype is not an acceptable platform for the delivery of counselling but Zoom and other health platforms with high-level security are.

Once we decide to go ahead with counselling, I invite you to meet me in the secure space. All the types of communication outlined above are available through Zoom at the paid level of which I am a member. They are highly encrypted, protected and private spaces.

I provide free and unique tips, ideas, stories and helpful information in my blog, which I include in emails I send to my list. You can sign up for my email list here. To get an idea of whether it’s helpful to you or not, here’s a link to my most popular blog post so far: Real Self-Care: More Than Just Taking a Bath (sex, politics, and other non-traditional acts of caring for selves).

Sure have! Well, expertise and opinions.

To name a few:

CNN Health (interview)

Sydney Morning Herald (interview)

PsychCentral

Tiny Buddha

The Social MedWork

Internations

ABC Radio (varying interviews on topics from ‘Why some men only show their emotions when it comes to sports’ to ‘being childfree: how our society responds)

TIME magazine (interview)

InterviewIQ (job-seeking videocast and company interview)

The Online Counselling Podcast (interview)

I’m glad you asked! You can contact me, or get on my email list and gain free insights that could help you think outside the box.