Teen Counselling & Mental Health Support - Byron Bay & Bangalow
You're worried about your teenager's anxiety, mood, or behaviours but you don't want to just medicate them and you're worried about how things might get worse if you do nothing.
You're not sure if you should push them more, or if you're already pushing them too much.
There's so much conflicting advice and this underlying message that parents are always somehow to blame.
You're wondering how professional support might make a difference.
You're not sure if you should push them more, or if you're already pushing them too much.
There's so much conflicting advice and this underlying message that parents are always somehow to blame.
You're wondering how professional support might make a difference.
How I can help:
I've worked with young people for 15 years, in a lot of different contexts - including as a high school teacher, and in nature-based Rites of Passage and Adventure Therapy programs. Community-based experiences, where young people feel a sense of belonging in community, are genuinely powerful and necessary.
There's also something powerful about a private, confidential, and safe space to explore deeper fears and emotions - and sometimes this is what makes it possible to show up more authentically in those shared spaces.
Young people are often nervous about counselling, and might be resistant at first. This is one of those times a gentle push can be helpful. The unknown is scary, and that's you can acknowledge and validate this, while simultaneously ensuring they get the support they need.
It's essential that your teenager feels safe and comfortable with whoever they see. You can reassure them that giving it a go doesn't mean committing to something that isn't working. An initial session, potentially together with you, can give everyone a clearer sense of what to expect, and we can go from there.
There's also something powerful about a private, confidential, and safe space to explore deeper fears and emotions - and sometimes this is what makes it possible to show up more authentically in those shared spaces.
Young people are often nervous about counselling, and might be resistant at first. This is one of those times a gentle push can be helpful. The unknown is scary, and that's you can acknowledge and validate this, while simultaneously ensuring they get the support they need.
It's essential that your teenager feels safe and comfortable with whoever they see. You can reassure them that giving it a go doesn't mean committing to something that isn't working. An initial session, potentially together with you, can give everyone a clearer sense of what to expect, and we can go from there.
My Credentials and Approach
I have a Grad Cert in Counselling and a Masters of Social Work (as well as a Grad Dip in Secondary Education). As an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker I'm approved by Medicare to provide psychological therapy.
I have a Grad Cert in Counselling and a Masters of Social Work (as well as a Grad Dip in Secondary Education). As an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker I'm approved by Medicare to provide psychological therapy.
My approach is collaborative, paced, and non-pathologising. Which mean I prioritise building trust and engagement, before moving into deeper processing work. I work together with your teen to clarify goals and hopes for sessions, and how they would prefer their life to look moving forward.
For more of an idea about how I work have a look at this blog - Supporting A Teenager With Anxiety.
If your teenager is experiencing any kind of disordered eating or challenges with food and body image - I'm also a Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician and can provide support with these concerns.
For more of an idea about how I work have a look at this blog - Supporting A Teenager With Anxiety.
If your teenager is experiencing any kind of disordered eating or challenges with food and body image - I'm also a Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician and can provide support with these concerns.
Questions?
I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands where I live and work - the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation - and the elders, ancestors, creator spirits, and living custodians of this oldest continuous culture on Earth. I honour their ongoing connection to the Land and Waters that has been cultivated over thousands of generations.
