Leila Abduallah, the mother who tragically lost her children when a drugged driver mounted the footpath and ran over her three children and their cousin early last year, has recently been awarded the Mother of the Year award. One can only imagine her grief and that of her family. Much has been made of her
A common theme in my clinical work as a psychotherapist over 33 years, is how people struggle with managing difficult emotions. We are rarely taught how to be with our emotional pain and suffering. Given that Life tends to serve up its fair share of disappointments, tragedies and plain old ‘unfairness’, it is helpful to
I wrote a piece on Face book recently, in response to the terrible murder of 23 year old Celeste Manno, killed in her family home in Melbourne by a man who had been stalking her for months. I expressed that it was high time many more men shouted out loud their protest at male violence
I meet so many people who say to me “I never expected my life to turn out this way”. Whether it be, they thought they would be married by 30, have everything sorted by 40, dealing with broken relationships, broken hearts, suffering from wayward children, illness or an accident and so the list goes on.
Professionally I have 33 years experience as a Clinician, Lecturer, Group Facilitator, Educator and Supervisor in Education, Social Services and Mental Health. I currently live in Melbourne, Australia and work in Mental Health. I have a particular interest in supporting and empowering women and men to be all they can be, by assisting the discovery of tools that help them find strength to transform difficulties into opportunities, enriching their lives both personally and professionally. I am a New Zealand Registered Psychotherapist with PBANZ, member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists and have a Masters of Health Science (Psychotherapy) First Class Honours. My research thesis was about the long term consequences of intimate partner violence for women. I am influenced and informed by both my professional experiences and my own personal journey, which has involved many challenges and celebrations along the way.