Professional Counselling

Many of our problems in life come from struggling with our uncomfortable experiences. The more we struggle, the worse our problems become.

That’s when most people seek professional counselling support.

We get stressed about being stressed. We feel down about feeling down. Our stress can lead to anxiety. Feeling down can lead to depression.

Some hope counselling can help us get rid of our uncomfortable experiences. Life involves a lot of suffering. It’s normal to want to avoid discomfort.

Often the best way to cope with our uncomfortable experiences is to become better able to live with them, rather than struggle with them.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment. Research shows that we spend as much as half of our waking life lost in thought. Often we get stuck, over-analysing the past or the future. We become caught up in our thoughts and our feelings.

Mindfulness helps us to be aware of this, by shifting our attention back to the present moment. It can help us to struggle less with our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.

Rather than escaping our uncomfortable experiences, we can make space for them. We can live with them more easily.

When we spend less time struggling with uncomfortable experiences, we can focus more energy on what is meaningful to us in life.

The Many Different Concerns Professional Counselling Can Address

Professional counselling can help address a range of concerns:

• Depression
  • For example, loss of interest in life, constant sadness, low energy, little or excessive sleep, withdrawal from relationships, unintended weight gain or loss, feeling hopeless or even feeling suicidal

• Relationship problems
  • For example, loss of affection, constant arguing, or conflicting values

• Anxiety
  • For example, unmanageable levels of stress, excessive worry about past or future events, sleeplessness, difficulty interacting with other people, feelings of panic, or difficulty relaxing, especially after work

• Anger 
  • For example, always feeling agitated; feeling like nothing seems to go the way we would like; angry outbursts; snapping at people close to us; constant shifts in our mood; or difficulty controlling rage.

• Grief and loss 
  • For example, coping after the loss of a loved one; divorce or separation; migrating from another country; moving home; or losing a long-term job

• Alcohol or drug use
  • For example, wanting to stop, reduce or better manage use of alcohol or drugs.

• Traumatic events 
  • For example, when we keep having painful memories from the past keep come up; feelings of agitation, nervousness, or even panic; feeling spacey and detached from people and events in life

Registered Counsellors with Extensive Experience

Here at PsychMaps, we offer many years of experience counselling members of the community, struggling with alcohol and drug and mental health concerns.

This experience includes working with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, social phobia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol or drug dependence, domestic violence, relationship concerns, parenting concerns, psychosis (for example, schizophrenia) and personality disorders.

Professional Counselling Process

Our counselling approach follows your goals and timeline for change. The first session is an opportunity to meet and discuss a plan for working together. The first few sessions will also involve an assessment of your needs for support and factors contributing to your concerns.

Counselling will work toward meaningful change from the start. It can be short-term (4-10 sessions), or longer-term for more in-depth counselling (10-30 sessions).

Counselling Locations

PsychMaps provides professional counselling services in Carlton and Brunswick. See the link above for directions to these locations.

Helpful Counselling Frameworks

Counselling frameworks often used by PsychMaps include:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – see the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS)
• Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – see the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (AACBT)
• Schema Therapy (effective with relationships of all kinds) – see the Schema Therapy Institute
• Narrative Therapy – see The Dulwich Centre
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy – see the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association (SFBTA)
• Interpersonal Neurobiology and Attachment Theory – see the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies (GAINS)

How to Get Started

Please email PsychMaps – or call us on 0401431931 – to discuss how we can help you with counselling or other services.

Counselling via Skype or phone is also available.