Healing after Family Violence Counselling 

Healing After Family Violence

Family Violence can have a lasting impact on our lives and the healing journey can be complicated and confusing. I have worked in the healing after Family Violence space for a long time,. I have worked with those who know they escaped family violence, as well as those who on reflection are wondering if they have experienced Family Violence. It is a complicated space that is sometimes not identified until a person has left a relationship and finds themselves in a safe space where they are able to reflect.  I offer Healing after Family Violence Counselling within my private practice alongside other areas of Trauma Counselling.  

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 I  have an extensive work history of counselling those who have experienced Trauma. I deeply believe in healing and creating a thriving life. Sometimes I work with people who are in a thriving life and are just starting to understand that they were not always safe, perhaps they were a child when they experienced Family Violence, or perhaps they are now in a safe relationship which has started them questioning if their previous relationship was with a violent person. Family Violence is much more than physical violence, which is why it can continue unnoticed.  There is also not often such as thing as a violent relationship - it is much more common to be in a relationship with a violent person. 

I will share a little of my Trauma Counselling history so you get a broader understanding of who I work with. 

I have worked in not for profit organisations as a Family Violence and group Facilitator, where I worked with children from the age of 5, as well as men and women who had experienced a violent family member. I have also worked for a Suicide Bereavement organisation where I worked with those who were bereaved by suicide. Within these roles and during my time working in schools, and in my Private Practice I have done both short term and long term therapy with those who have experienced; Childhood trauma, Sexual Abuse, Grief and Loss, Medical Trauma, Natural Disasters, Refugees, Childhood Neglect, Religious Abuse, Physical, Emotional, Financial, Spiritual, Verbal abuse and Coercive Control. 

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Therapy for those healing from Family Violence varies for each person, some want to validate their experience, some want to understand why they didn't recognise it, some want to explore how to stop it impacting their current life, some are at the very beginning of rebuilding their life and are yet to get to know themselves, some want support to navigate their children safely through shared care or big changes, others need to rejoin the workforce or leave it, some people want to explore their options and all their relationships. There is usually a degree of Grief work - grieving the life you assumed you were building, grieving the time lost, grieving the relationships that were lost, the connections, the old home, some need support as they navigate mediation, the courts, and other systems,  some want help navigating starting to date again. There are so many reasons those who are healing come to counselling. ​​

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I often weave psycho-education (Grief models, nervous system, neuroscience, somatic, systems etc) into our sessions along with Compassion, Self-Compassion, Self Care, Storytelling, Identity work, Safety planning and Risk assessments (to help you engage safely in life again), Person Centred, Client Led, Companion Counselling. I am influenced by Poly Vagal Therapy, Emotion based therapy, Somatic Therapy - Yoga and Meditation, Acceptance, Narrative therapy, Existential Therapy. We can work with journalling, art, the felt sense, meditation, yoga and much more.  Most importantly I work at your pace, You need to feel safe and in control to heal. 

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I offer both Phone and Zoom Counselling Australia wide, and Face to Face Walk and Talk in the CBD of Melbourne. For those around the country who want to Walk and Talk we can arrange to do our sessions by phone and you can walk somewhere you feel safe close to your home.  I am often sitting in Melbourne talking to someone walking along a beach in Far North QLD or the Mornington Peninsular. I encourage you to hold your sessions in Nature - after all my whole business is named Conversations in Nature - So that may be your balcony or garden, a local park or beach, as long as you feel safe and you are not driving a car, we can discuss your options. ​​​​​​

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