About Cath

I am trained and experienced in therapeutically supporting people who feel challenged by various forms of trauma. My clients are people of all ages across the lifespan.

I spent over six years with CASPA Services Inc., an agency in Lismore offering residential and foster care placements to children and adolescents. This is an industry famously known for its high levels of vicarious trauma and burnout therefore, initially, I was employed to offer therapeutic support to staff. At the same time I developed a deep yearning to support positive change for the children who had been placed into care for complex reasons including trauma and neglect. In recognition that early intervention gives children the best possible chance of recovery I engaged in a study pathway leading me to a speciality in child and adolescent therapeutic care.

Most recently I have extended my practice to include clinical supervision and am registered with PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia) to provide this allowing me to support other clinicians and workers in this speciality field.

Background

In the mid 1990’s I became aware that horses are an incredible support for humans seeking healing because of my own unintegrated experiences with attachment rupture and trauma. In 2010 I began a two year study program with the Gestalt Equine Institute of the Rockies (GEIR Colorado, USA) where I learned how to work alongside horses to help humans in their therapeutic journey. This model of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy has its foundations in Gestalt Psychotherapy and I found that by the end of this training I craved to dive deeper into the world of psychotherapy for humans.

I completed the Masters of Gestalt Psychotherapy in Brisbane in 2016 at Gestalt Therapy Brisbane. This course includes four years of intense and profound personal therapy work. Along with a small private practice including both equine and room based therapeutic work for adults, I began working in Lismore as a clinician for CASPA Services Inc., an organisation that supports children living in residential care and foster care. Children in care have to grapple every day with living with the effects of complex and relational trauma. My passion for learning more about the issues faced by children with complex issues grew, and I began specialist training in both trauma informed practice and play therapy. I chose to be a Synergetic Play Therapist because of its roots in Gestalt Psychotherapy and because it is experiential, somatic and deeply relational which aligns beautifully with my current practice and philosophies. Synergetic Play Therapy is now a hugely successful and a fast growing modality right around the world. Finally, after decades, I have a sense that the pieces have come together.