Offering therapy to adults who are ready to embrace positive growth and well-being
Phone: 0405 660 993
IFS and TRTP therapist
Melbourne based Registered Psychologist offering
Online Appointments
In Person Appointments in Murrumbeen
I'm Catherine. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to enquire about the work I do and whether it feels like a good fit for your needs.
I am happy to speak with you about your therapy goals and to answer any questions about my service prior to making an appointment.
I love to work with adults who are ready for meaningful l
I'm Catherine. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to enquire about the work I do and whether it feels like a good fit for your needs.
I am happy to speak with you about your therapy goals and to answer any questions about my service prior to making an appointment.
I love to work with adults who are ready for meaningful life change.
If you feel ready to connect to a sense of inner confidence and improved psychological health I would love to hear from you.
I am committed to providing a therapeutic space in which you feel seen, heard, safe and supported. A space in which you feel empowered toward personal growth and agency.
I believe the power to heal from anxiety, depression, and the trauma of life events is carried within you. My role is to help you to connect with that power within.
There are exciting developments in the understanding of the protective power of the human brain and its neuroplastic capacity.
Poly-Vagal Theory contends the body's autonomic nervous system (ANS) works tirelessly to protect us. ANS is constantly scanning our environment for signs of safety or threat. Structures deep within the brain
There are exciting developments in the understanding of the protective power of the human brain and its neuroplastic capacity.
Poly-Vagal Theory contends the body's autonomic nervous system (ANS) works tirelessly to protect us. ANS is constantly scanning our environment for signs of safety or threat. Structures deep within the brain (eg: the thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala) act as a security alarm system. These structures work in collaboration, at a deeply unconscious level, registering, assessing and coding information as 'safe' or 'not safe'. When information is registered as 'not safe' memories are kept 'on line' to help the security system recognise ongoing threats early so that a quick reaction can be activated to keep us safe. This is the 'fight flight' response.
The fight flight response is both useful and critical for survival. It bypasses 'thinking' and means we can take action immediately without delay. This automatic survival response has enabled animal and human species to continue in existence.
Problems can arise for individuals when the fight flight response remains activated long after the actual event has passed. ANS can remain switched on to 'alert and activate' even when the event is over. Across time this drains the systems energy and leads to the emergence of symptoms which can be psychological and sometimes also physical.
Trauma theorists now believe the hippocampus creates unconscious memories of distressing events, and holds them 'online' for quick data matching. The fight flight safety response is activated when our security system recognises a match between the information that comes in through our senses now and the memory of the conditions when the old distressing event occurred. It doesn't matter whether the current information is real (actually happening) or imagined (thoughts about what could happen). As long as there is a match between the 'now' and memory of 'then', the fight flight response will be activated.
If the fight flight activation persists (because our brains think the threat still exists) we can get stuck in patterns of survival. After time, we might develop more repeated patterns that seem helpful for survival but become draining and depleting.
Happily, there are many new therapies that allow us to communicate to our autonomic nervous system (ANS) that the memory held on line is just that - a memory. We now know that if we provide a corrective experience to the body and the mind, one that communicates to the body and mind that the event is over and that the person is safe now, we see the symptoms resolve. The memory remains. But the distress generated by the memory disappears.
This process of memory reconsolidation facilitates neuroplastic change, allowing ANS to return to a state of flexibility. The data coming in to the persons system now, is matched with data suggesting safety. The person achieves a state of inner calm, creating confidence, resilience, confidence and personal agency.
Integrated Psychology is unable to offer crisis support.
In a life threatening emergency please call 000.
For 24 hour telephone support call:
Acknowledgement of Country We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we usually practice, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, and Bunurong Peoples of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We thank them for guarding country and acknowledge their continuing connection to the land and waterways.
Statement of Inclusivity
We are dedicated to providing inclusive healthcare for all individuals. We foster an environment where everyone, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, or beliefs, feel valued, heard and respected.