My passion is working with couples and individuals to resolve childhood trauma and attachment injuries to foster more secure attachment internally and with those you love.
If you feel ready to start your healing journey with me, I invite you to book your first session using the link below.
Combining my experience of psychotherapy, couple counselling, and energetic healing allows me to provide unique, holistic support for my clients.
How could I benefit?
You do not have to be at rock bottom to benefit from therapy. You may want to feel more enthusiastic about your life or let go of the past. You could just feel a bit stuck and not sure where to go in your life, or it could be that you are dealing with a trauma or chronic illness.
I help people with a range of issues, including:
- Attachment issues
- Complex trauma
- Family or relationship challenges
- Recovery from depression
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Addiction
- Building inner happiness and a positive outlook
- Creating meaningful and fulfilling relationships
- Better managing everyday stress and anxiety
My Approach
I work from a deeply compassionate place that believes all patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour exist for a reason and make sense when placed in their current and historical context.
I have undertaken my own journey of healing over twenty years of psychotherapy and energy healing, which I discuss in my book ‘Heal Your Anxious Attachment’. Believing it is important for a therapist to continue their personal therapeutic work, I have regular sessions with my psychotherapist and undertake monthly supervision sessions to maintain my high clinical and ethical standards.
My initial training included two years of Kinesiology, two years of Energetic Health and Transactional Analysis before completing a Postgraduate Diploma of Counselling and Master’s of Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy, Certificate of Yalom Group Therapy, EMDR certification, all levels of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and have almost completed my two year ‘Certified Focusing Professional (Trainer)’ program. The foundation of my practice is currently the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. I am trained to Level 2 in the IFS model and undertake regular supervision, additional training and personal work within the model.
I have experienced extensive therapy in all the modalities I practice, believing that it is essential for a therapist to embody what they teach and practice from the inside out. For me, therapy is not just in the head; it is a way of life.
I am also an advocate for social and systems change towards compassionate and non-pathologising approaches to mental distress.
The foundation of my clinical practice for individuals is four-fold:
Internal Family Systems (IFS). This is a powerful model based on the concept of internal multiplicity. This model acknowledges and works with the inner parts of you that have different agendas and want different things for you. In this process, we get to know and heal the parts of you that are holding anxiety, anger, pain, and any parts that might block you from feeling. You can learn more about IFS on my podcast. If you want to hear about a typical first session with IFS, you can listen to my podcast.
Somatic (Body) Psychotherapy: We know that trauma, especially pre-verbal trauma, is held in the body. Somatic psychotherapy helps to defrost and gently release stored trauma and painful experiences from the body. This allows energy to flow more freely through the body, reconnecting you to the body’s wisdom and your deeper inner knowing and intuition.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing): EMDR works on invasive trauma memories that have become ‘stuck’ in neural pathways holding images, sensations and emotions that occurred at the time of the trauma. EMDR is highly effective and uses bilateral movements to process and diffuse these painful memories. You can learn more about EMDR on my podcast. If you would like to hear about a typical first session with EMDR, you can listen to about it on my podcast.
Energetic and Spiritual Healing: I have over twenty years of training and practice in various modalities and practices from Eastern and Western traditions, including an advanced diploma in Energetic Health. I have had a daily meditation practice for over twenty years, which informs my clinical work in assisting clients to work on their minds, rather than being at the mercy of it.
The foundation of my couple counselling combines Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) for couples.
Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT): EFT is a form of psychotherapy grounded in attachment theory supported by empirical evidence. Its objective is to foster the development of a secure and dynamic bond within oneself and in relationships with others. EFT helps you recognise and alter the detrimental thought and behaviour cycles contributing to your relationship struggles. It aids in establishing a stable attachment connection, empowering you to interact with your partner and family in more positive and beneficial ways.
Research indicates that 70-75% of couples who undergo EFT move from distress to recovery, with approximately 90% showing significant improvements.
Here is a link to the extensive research that supports EFT.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) for couples: Different parts of our system are commonly activated in intimate relationships. An angry part might arise due to your partner’s depression or affair, or a hopeless part might wonder if the relationship will last. IFS in the couple space allows for deep understanding and healing in the couple’s dynamic and new experiences to emerge that support and sustain a deeper, more authentic, compassionate connection.
Jennifer is one of the few therapists in Sydney who has experience using both EFT and IFS frameworks to address relationship issues.
How many sessions will I need?
For individual psychotherapy, this varies depending on the person, the issue and their goals. We will discuss frequency and duration in our first session.
Couple counselling typically involves 8 to 20 sessions, varying depending on the couple’s specific needs and progress.
Virtual Sessions
I work with many clients online using a videoconferencing platform. Before our session, you will be sent a client form to fill in.
Healing and the Psychotherapy Central Practice
Psychotherapy Central has a team of therapists who are experts in their field, trained in attachment adaptations, their manifestations and the unique healing processes I teach. Each therapist has a slightly different training, background, personal healing journey and specialisation. Meet the Psychotherapy Central team here.
“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree, and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.
The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, ‘You are too this, or I’m too this.’ That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” – Ram Das