Meet your counsellor
Hi, I'm Gary.
I grew up in England with tough-love and 'man-up' bred into me. Married, divorced, remarried, raised a family. Nearly lost it all when a personal tragedy almost took someone I love, and felt so crushed I decided to quit life. But I found help, and deciding to help others gave me purpose and keeps me smiling every day.
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Do you feel like the people around you need you to be strong, but you feel like you’re about to break, or have already broken? Does a voice in your head criticise everything you do and leave you feeling miserable and alone? Are you feeling like you're different from everyone around you? You’re not alone, you’re not broken, and there is a way to change those feelings and to handle those pressures and fears. You might be looking for solutions and feeling trapped, or hopeless. You’re not trapped, and there is hope - you just need someone to share this with, and to help you see your way forward. That’s what I do.
I use simple, ‘guy-friendly’ methods to help you take control of your life and find the solutions you’re looking for. That means making it easier to handle the pressures you face, the stresses of life, and communication in your relationships and work. It’s a no-nonsense, no-bullcrap approach that puts you in charge of finding your way out of the dark.
Call me, I’m easy to talk to. I know it’s hard to reach out, especially when we need it most; but I’ve been there. I'm ready to listen.
I can help with:
My approach
I offer individual therapy in a safe and empathetic space. Life is painful at times, and it's natural to try and escape or avoid that pain - but it's the struggle to escape it that causes us the most suffering. Instead of trying to escape it, we can choose to accept it - and therefore reduce its power over us.
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I practice the well-renowned Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT approach to counselling. ACT is a person-centred therapy that accepts the fact that you're the expert in your own life and should have control over your own choices and goals; I'm not here to tell you what to do, only to help you to find the way to achieve the goals you need to achieve. ACT helps you via a simple pillar of six beliefs, delivered whilst practicing mindfulness. We offer online counselling so you can receive counselling in your own home, at times that work for you.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is based on the idea that we can stop negative thoughts from bothering us as much if we:
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Learn to sit with and observe our painful thoughts and feelings rather than trying to escape them
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Focus on our own values and take committed action towards them.
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ACT has been proven to be highly effective in treating a range of issues that we face in modern life.
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When you start counselling with me your first session will be spent learning about each other, learning what has brought you to counselling and agreeing on a counselling plan. I'll walk you through my approach to working with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I may recommend we then have 6-7 more sessions, each focusing on a unique aspect of ACT and providing you with homework activities, to put what you learned into practice.
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It's a flexible and practical approach.
Managing anger, depression and emotional distress
Exploring new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
Improved self-esteem and boost self-confidence
Finding new resolutions to issues and concerns
Processing grief and loss
Managing life transitions
Changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours
Managing addictive tendencies in your life
Help in setting goals and finding your strengths and potential
25+ years of experience and empathy
I've worked with people and their needs since 1997, helping people to identify their needs and find solutions to their problems. I've been a certified counsellor since December 2021 and volunteer weekly with GriefLine for telephone support.
Qualifications & professional registrations
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Diploma of Counselling - 2021Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors
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Counselling clients with addictions - 2021 Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors
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Mindfulness-Based Therapies - 2021 Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors
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Member of the Loss and Grief Practitioners' Association
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Level 1 member of Australian Counselling Association (ACA)
