Who We Help
Counselling and Therapeutic Services
All Services
We provide therapy services, holistic counselling and clinical hypnotherapy services for young people (12-18), adults (18-64) and older adults (64+). Our goal is to promote health and wellbeing, as well as long term emotional stability, cognitive changes, and behavioural changes in the clients that we serve. We provide individualized psychotherapy services in and around Blaxland, in NSW Lower Blue Mountains area.
We work with people with a wide range of emotional, cognitive and behavioural issues, for example, people who have anxiety, depression, panic attacks, emotional disturbances, stress management, anger management, trauma and PTSD. We use a holistic approach - which takes into consideration the physical body, emotional and cognitive processes, and well as spiritual considerations - always... always working within the clients framework (e.g. Christian counselling for Christians, Buddhist based counselling for Buddhists, and working with a persons "sense of self" for Atheists and others).
Adolescents and Young Adults
- Having trouble at school, TAFE or Uni and finding it hard to focus?
- Are you feeling sad or anxious and don't know why?
- Are you having friendship problems or being bullied?
- Do you suffer from panic attacks or 'melt downs' and want them to stop?
- Have you tried counselling before and found it useless, or didn't like the counsellor?
In our experience, young adults and young people can smell "BS" a mile away, and, quite frankly, they can't stand the stench! They don't want to see a counsellor or psychologist who tries to be their friend. They (usually) don't want to talk to a stranger about their feelings (not initially, anyway), and they certainly don't want to speak to someone who talks about other people (e.g. "I had another client just like you and this is what they did..."). They hate being judged and told that they are wrong!. For parents reading this... your daughter or son is unlikely to want to change in order to please you!
However, like almost everyone else on the planet, adolescents and young adults DO want to feel better about themselves... and they DO want to understand what's happening to them and around them... and they WILL (usually) talk to someone who is willing to listen and is willing to coach them on how to "get through" their current problem, without coming out the other end damaged or broken.
So if you are a teenager or young adult reading this, I promise:
- I will be friendly, but won't try to be your friend
- I will maintain confidentiality in almost all situations (this will be explained at the first appointment)
- You won't have to talk about anything that you don't want to talk about
- I will do my best not to use those AWFUL third person examples - and you can pull me up on it if I do
- I will guide you through processes to help you identify what you want to change (or not change) and how you want to do that, then I will provide practical strategies
- I WILL talk to you using stories from time to time (did you hear the one about the frog who got stuck in a rut?) - but I will do my best to make sure the story is relevant and useful, and helps you find the motivation to get out
- Finally, if after 3 appointments, if what we are doing hasn't helped you, we can discuss this, and I'll refer you to someone else! I can't be fairer than than, can I?
Want to give it a try? Give us a call, ask for an appointment with Janine.
Adults and Older Adults
- Are you feeling more stress, anxiety or depression than you used to?
- Do you feel stuck, and have tried everything, and are out of ideas?
- Have driven your friends nuts, going over and over the same thing, or the same behaviour, year after year?
- If you are a prisoner of your own mind - are you ready to escape?
- Are you ready for change... just not sure how to create it?
Just like adolescents, adults and older adults have their own specific likes and dislikes, needs, wants and desires. At Skills4LIfe, we aim to help you, no mater what your age or stage of life, to feel better. Just like teenagers, you might not want to change (or see the need to) but if you are reading this page, you are likely to want to "feel better" than you do at the moment! Am I right?
So what do you need to do to "feel better"? Depending how low your mood is, you may want to pick up the phone and make an appointment - or if you are very low, you may choose to speak to your GP and ask for a referral. Talking to a psychologist for the first time can be daunting - so for this reason, you can ask for me (Janine) to call you for a 10 minute phone chat - this will give you an opportunity to make sure I sound ok to you, and I'll be able to help you identify what you might say to your GP, or what types of issues you might want to work on. Counselling and therapeutic strategies can help with a wide range of issues, from daily stressors, life changed, difficulties at work (or home) and within your relationship, self-esteem and confidence problems, through to severe trauma.
- If you are feeling stuck, let us help you get moving
- If you are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed, let us help you understand what is happening and provide you with practical strategies to improve your mood, reduce your stress and have some self-compassion!
- If you are driving your friends nuts, let us be your listening ear, to help you gain a new perspective and move forward
- If you have been a prisoner of your own mind too long, let us help you find the keys and break free from the barriers that have been holding you back!
Therapies offered
- Holistic Counselling
- Client-centred therapy
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy
- Meta-cognitive therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Mindfulness including mindfulness meditation
- Interpersonal Pyschotherapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Behavioural interventions
- Clincial Hypnosis and Clinical Hypnotherapy
- Trauma Informed Therapy
- Adoption and OOHC Countselling
- Parenting Skills, re-parative parenting skills, and boundary coaching