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Supervision for those in the helping professions
Written by Barbara ChurcherThose of us who work in what may be called ‘the helping professions’ such as nursing, midwifery, mental health practice, disability support or any profession that involves working with people who are in crisis or needing assistance in other ways, are often called upon to make great demands of ourselves. Long hours or very busy days, the challenges of working within a bureaucracy, the sometimes difficult relationships with our colleagues and our managers, and the needs or demands of our clients can leave us feeling hollow, exhausted and sometimes resentful and confused. Often too, without realising it, we manage and absorb vicarious trauma on a far too regular basis.
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Quick Links
- Individual Psychotherapy
- Management of Panic and Anxiety
- Working towards understanding Your Body, Your Self
- Pregnancy, Birth and Early Life Counselling
- Guidance through Ch ... Ch ... Ch ... Changes
Individual Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, sometimes called talk therapy or counselling, aims at helping you heal old hurts and learn more useful ways to deal with the problems, issues or challenges in your life. It can also be a supportive process when going through a difficult period or when you find yourself under increased stress, such as starting a new career, going through a divorce, feeling unsure of where to turn or what to do, or realising that you need to make some changes in the way you live your life and/or make decisions. Later pages on this site offer more information about some of the issues my clients bring to therapy. Most people see their therapist once a week for 50 minutes.
It is best to keep an open mind while in psychotherapy, and be willing to try out new things that ordinarily you may not do. Psychotherapy is often about challenging one’s existing set of beliefs and often, one’s very self. It is most successful when a person is able and willing to try to do this in the safe and supportive environment that is the therapy space.
Millions of people visit a psychotherapist every year, and the research shows that most people who do so benefit from the interaction, and that the work done in psychotherapy goes on helping and changing people even after they are no longer attending. The treasures you find in this often difficult work are hard won but they are yours for life.
Management of Panic and Anxiety
I see many people who struggle with the crippling effects of anxiety and panic attacks. There are many reasons for the onset of these very difficult feelings. Talking with a counsellor/therapist can help to get to the bottom of the trouble and to sort out how best to manage it.
I work with people who are experiencing trauma or trying to manage the after effects of trauma. Sometimes people are surprised to discover that a life which has seemed to them comparatively normal has led them to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or you may already know that you are managing the debilitating effects of this disorder.
Abuse of all kinds wounds us deeply at every level, the implications of it reverberating throughout our lives. You may feel it's too hard or too shocking to talk about but there is no requirement to talk about anything until you are ready. This is your space and may be used at your own pace and to your own comfort level. It is usually necessary to feel you can trust your therapist before you begin to be able to discuss harrowing events.
Working towards understanding Your Body, Your Self
I will be encouraging you, at times, to pay attention to your body and what it might be telling you. You may have had a lifetime of disregarding your body, cutting it off from your head, using it as a storeplace for unwanted and painful self-knowledge. Sometimes this leads to feelings of stress and anxiety, to fatigue, loss of appetite, body aches, headaches, stomach problems, and many other symptoms. Of course it may be that you have a physical illness, and if you haven’t explored that with your doctor, you will be encouraged to do so.
Pregnancy, Birth and Early Life Counselling
With a background in midwifery and breastfeeding support, I have a strong interest in the issues people face as they bring children into the world. I work with both birth partners who may experience postnatal depression or birth trauma. Depression can strike before birth also for either of the birthing couple. Surprisingly, depression can also affect those who adopt. Anxiety often complicates matters at this time, as people manage the transition to a new and demanding lifestyle.
The new dad or same sex birth partner can find themselves managing their own feelings of anxiety, depression or even loneliness and confusion as they negotiate the new relationships and the new role, trying to meet the needs of the baby and the birth mother.
Early parenting is a time when conversation with an experienced counselor/therapist can be very helpful.
Guidance through Ch ... Ch ... Ch ... Changes
“Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me..”
(David Bowie)
Your change might be:
Getting older – what lies ahead?
Receiving an unwelcome or devastating diagnosis (physical or mental)
Finding oneself isolated & alone for all sorts of reasons
An unexpected or indeed an expected loss
Or you are confused by choice – what to do?
Transitions require a passage from one stage to another, but often there is not time for this or you just thought it would be OK, easy.
Then it turns out that you’re a bit discombobulated or knocked about by what has happened.
So…grin and bear it? Worry, worry, worry? Stop sleeping? Get some pills from the doctor?
Or talk with someone qualified to help break it down and sort it out.
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If you have any questions in the meantime, please call me on 0423 256 373.
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As you may already know, am a psychotherapist/counsellor and I trained in New Zealand with the Gestalt Institute of New Zealand (GINZ). I have also completed a three year training about the theory of psychotherapy at the Ashburn Clinic in Dunedin, New Zealand.
If you would like to contact me please do so when you're ready.
Groups and workshops will be offered at various times. Venues vary, depending on the size (groups no bigger than 8 to 10 participants) and purpose of the group. They may be held online. If you would like to arrange to share one of these groups with friends or colleagues, then that is possible also and we can agree on a venue.
Please contact me to ask any questions you may have.
Group therapy for women
Eight meetings with a closed group of 6 - 8. A closed group means that once a group is formed, no other members will join. It is important that trust is built within the group. Each session begins with a topic (these vary and are intended to stimulate discussion) and is then led in whatever direction best serves the group.
Poetry Therapy/Bibliotherapy
This is the interactive use of literature – poetry, prose, fiction and non-fiction as well as objects from art and nature – to stimulate writing and other creative responses with a view to promoting self-expression, self-awareness and wellbeing.
I offer groups for this gentle and enjoyable therapy. I can also offer this to individuals.
I have a special interest in the climate emergency and can tailor sessions around this important topic, as well as other foci of interest you may have.
The Climate Emergency
I will be offering day, and sometimes weekend, workshops for people who are interested in exploring their feelings and concerns about what is happening to our world, and what may happen to us and many other species as time goes on. These workshops will include lots of discussion and utilise various media to support our exploration. We will be looking at the work of the many important thinkers currently active.
Aging, who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?
Working with the inner journey in the last third of life. Let us meet together and learn how to deny the anti-aging hype. Warrior women, this is not the time to lie down in fear and anguish.
Who am I?
As we talk and discover our values and our beliefs about ourselves, we will choose from a variety of materials to create masks, perhaps aprons, or dolls that illustrate the journey we will make together. Using music, images and poetry as well as our own memories, this will be a time to consider who we have become.
You can contact me on 0423 256 373 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alternatively if you would like me to contact you please complete the form below. Use the comments box to tell me if you would prefer phone or email contact. If you have a shared phone, you should let me know also if you would prefer not to have a message left. If that is the case, I will try a few more times to contact you in person.
For a long time, hundreds of years, we have believed that the mind was separate from the body. No one was very clear about where the mind was situated, maybe in the brain somewhere, but it was this mysterious substance that was referred to as ‘myself’.
Many practitioners now, and Gestalt practitioners especially, regard the whole self as ‘myself’, meaning body, emotions, mind and spirit. This is what is meant by holism.
I will be encouraging you, at times, to pay attention to your body and what it might be telling you. You may have had a lifetime of disregarding your body, cutting it off from your head, using it as a storeplace for unwanted and painful self-knowledge. Sometimes this leads to feelings of stress and anxiety, to fatigue, loss of appetite, body aches, headaches, stomach problems, and many other symptoms. Of course it may be that you have a physical illness, and if you haven’t explored that with your doctor, you will be encouraged to do so.
However, if it transpires that you have become disconnected from your body, numbed to the reality of old and uncomfortable knowledge, we will try to bring your knowing back into awareness, to give you a sense of being in your own body, to feel ‘gathered’.
Jim Kepner wrote: “If you can’t feel and identify with much of what’s happening in your body, you are missing a lot of critical information about your own life”.
Take some time to consider some common phrases:
- My heart broke
- I can’t stomach it
- It hit me in my guts
- I am so tired of this
- He/she is a pain in the neck
What have you been telling yourself? And what have you not been telling yourself?
People decide to come to a counsellor or therapist for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes you may feel unsure for a while. If you have never done this before, it can feel pretty strange. Or coming to therapy may be something you are unwilling to reveal to others because of shame or embarrassment - in our culture there is still some stigma attached to attending a therapist. Rest assured that your attendance will be held in confidentiality as much as your work will be.
Abuse of all kinds wounds us deeply at every level, the implications of it reverberating throughout our lives. You may feel it’s too hard or too shocking to talk about but there is no requirement to talk about anything until you are ready. This is your space and may be used at your own pace and to your own comfort level.
In recent years I have worked as the team leader for a group of people who support those with severe and enduring mental illness. Some of the people managing such challenges respond well to therapeutic support which I am happy to provide.
Many address depression, anxiety and the after effects of trauma by harming themselves, by having suicidal thoughts, and perhaps even by making attempts on their own lives. It is very important to seek help if this describes you. Help is available through counselling and therapy as well as many organisations.
We can talk about how best to find the help you need but if you need urgent assistance, let someone know now.
Call your doctor, a mental health crisis service or dial 000 and say that your life is at risk.
You can go to the local hospital emergency department for assessment, or call:
Lifeline 13 11 14 for 24hr Telephone Crisis Support
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
These days we can find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place. We know a lot more than we ever did about children and their needs but our world has changed. Many of us want to have children but are passionate about a career, or really need to continue to work to meet all the expenses of modern life. Many really don’t want to have a family but find it hard to say so, or find themselves at odds with their partner. And many decide to wait until the time seems right, but then have difficulty conceiving.
These are just some of the issues that people face. Prenatal counselling can be a good idea to consider these and other problems, for example:
- Do we want to have a baby?
- What is the reality of a baby in the family?
- What do babies need from us?
- How can we prepare ourselves?
Maybe you made all these decisions, constructed a dream, and now the baby is here – but somehow the joy you expected has not come with this tiny creature. Life is hard, you’re always tired, there’s no space for you to be you any more. We can talk about:
- Finding it hard to love your baby
- Adjustment from the old life to this demanding new one
- Post birth trauma
- Postnatal depression
- Losses – in health, yours or your baby’s; of the perfect pregnancy; of the imagined birth; of the plan to breastfeed; of your life as a couple
- Being a Dad is lonely and there seems to be no room for me
- I am worried by all that is expected of me as a Dad
Or there may have come to you a great grief. The loss of a baby is an unspeakable thing but it must be spoken and it must be endured, perhaps for much longer or more deeply than those around you expect. Not alone though.
“Give sorrow words.
The grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break.”
(William Shakespeare)
My initial training was with the Gestalt Institute of New Zealand (GINZ) and the Ashburn Clinic in Dunedin, New Zealand.
My interest in this work grew out of a ten year career as an independent midwife. Covering a large area geographically, I visited my clients in their homes and supported them to have their babies at home or in hospital. I worked with them throughout the childbearing year, meaning that they booked with me early in pregnancy, and I cared for them throughout their pregnancy, birth and to six weeks postpartum. This work meant a deep involvement with my clients as my care was delivered within the context of their families and their lives. This insight into family life and relationship, together with my curiosity about my own history and development, inspired a desire to know more and to work with people in a different way.
Later I qualified and worked as a lactation consultant to support myself during my training in psychotherapy. This work proved to be a gift as I saw, at close hand, the formation of new families, or the adjustments that are made in established families as they accommodate their new member. Many people do not realise that lactation work is about more than food: its success is deeply based in the family relationships, and particularly the mother/baby relationship, the dyad. This is where we begin to make who we are in the world, and much of what happens during this early time will have a profound impact on the rest of life.
My work is challenging but deeply satisfying. I love it. Sometimes people spend only a short time with me, looking for solutions to problems and ways to manage particular events, or sharing their sorrows and finding their way through grief. Others come for the longer term, exploring and reflecting on the way they are in the world, and looking for ways to effect deep and lasting change.
The research shows that the work done in psychotherapy goes on helping and changing people even after they are no longer attending. The treasures you find in this often difficult work are hard won but they are yours for life.
Accreditation
