PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR COUPLES, FAMILIES & INDIVIDUALS
I see people for a range of issues emerging from their lives including depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, couples issues, workplace concerns, family issues, behavioural problems, parenting, and life transitions.
People who engage in therapy with me undertake the process of relating to their difficulties in new ways, discovering that with awareness comes the possibility of change. As much as human beings we have a tendency to blame others for our problems (parents, partners, bosses, etc) in psychotherapy we learn to assume responsibility for the direction we want their life to take. This creates more freedom as the more we take responsibility for our part, the more we can take control of how we feel, think and behave. Once committed to, psychotherapy involves a process of self-growth, emotion-regulation, and personal evolution.
My approach is based in Bowen family systems theory, a theory of human behaviour developed by Dr. Murray Bowen. Bowen family systems theory views human beings and their problems as embedded in the broader context of their social and family environments. A person’s problems, from this perspective, are not separated from their relationship systems. Bowen family systems theory does not view issues as belonging solely to the individual but rather sees human functioning as co-created by people’s relationship systems. From this perspective, a symptom in an individual is a reflection of a stressed system (family, work-place, couple).
PARENT HOPE PROJECT PROGRAM
A 6 session, individualised coaching program for parents who have a child who is struggling with mental health and/or social/behavioural issues. An optional introduction and review session can be included. The program is designed to provide parents with fresh awareness and guiding principles to optimise the way they support their child’s wellbeing. Parents are supported to manage their feelings and reactions towards their struggling child and to consider their role in encouraging their children’s potential for healthy development.
It aims to:
• Optimise the way you support your child’s wellbeing
• Shift focus to yourself rather than trying to change your child
• Promote more autonomy and responsibility in your child through how you manage yourself
• Help you get back on track as a loving and firm leader
• Establish a longer-term project of parent leadership. This is not a quick fix, but with changes to old patterns of interaction, the child is helped to improve the way they manage their own life challenges.
Key message:
Parents are not to blame for their child’s difficulties – many complex factors contribute to
symptom development including genetics and their broader family and social environment.
However, parents can contribute to sustainable improvements in their child’s mental health and wellbeing by adjusting how they interact with their child.
Hope building: From child project to parent project
It’s natural to want to fix and change a child who is struggling to manage life. Hence it may be a surprise to hear that this program is designed to focus on the parent rather than change the child. A repeated idea in this program is that when parents shift their energies away from trying to fix or change their child and invest in what is in their control as parents, new hopeful pathways open up. Changing another is outside of anyone’s control. Changing oneself however is always achievable. When a parent discovers ways to promote more autonomy and responsibility in their child through changing themselves, they can recover hope and confidence. Even gradual changes can make a huge difference to a child’s path towards adulthood. Moreover, a parent’s changes can have a ripple effect and be of benefit to the whole family.
SUPERVISION
I provide clinical supervision for mental health clinicians, mental health team leaders and teams. My area of expertise is Bowen Family Systems Theory, a theory of human behaviour which helps supervisees navigate where they may be getting stuck with their clients or teams. This way of ‘thinking systems’ can help tackle work-place and clinical issues as well as ethical dilemmas.
I offer a confidential, structured and collaborative space to facilitate reflective practice and systems thinking to enhance clinical practice and leadership. This way of engaging builds the supervisee’s capacity to reflect on their own clinical practice, increase self-awareness and become more autonomous.
I can supervise mental health clinicians working with families, couples, and individuals (including adolescents) as well as mental health teams or leaders who would like to develop further knowledge and skills in a family systems framework.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy (Shapiro, 2001) was initially developed for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a structured therapy that encourages people to briefly focous on the traumatic or stressful memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the traumatic/stressful memory.
Martina offers EMDR to people who want to target specific unresolved issues (stuck in the nervous system) which may be difficult to shift through talking therapy. EMDR is an evidence based therapy that enables people to resolve symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
