Martina is a psychotherapist, counsellor & social worker. She has a Master of Social Work (MSW), a Grad. Dip. in Gestalt psychotherapy, and an Adv. Cert. in Bowen Family Systems Theory & Practice. Martina also has training in Brainspotting, Gottman Method Couples Therapy and a Certificate in Group Leadership and Facilitation. She is a member of the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) and a clinical member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA). Martina co-owns Affinity Psychotherapy, a private practice in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
For over fourteen years Martina’s clinical work has included private practice, adult and youth mental health, couples counselling, family therapy and group therapy. She has experience in youth mental health having done a placement at ‘headspace Bondi Junction’; drug & alcohol, having worked in relapse prevention programs & being skilled in the area of recovery from addictions. Martina has also worked in organisations such as ACON (AIDS Council of New South Wales) and has experience working with LGBTQI people and people with HIV.
Martina has been a faculty member of two Sydney based psychotherapy institutes. She has experience in facilitating both Gestalt and Yalom psychotherapy groups, mindfulness based groups and professional development workshops.
Martina became interested in the work of Dr Murray Bowen in 2013, since then she has been an avid reader and a committed scholar of Bowen Family Systems Theory which she applies to both her clinical work and personal life. Martina has published two articles on Bowen Family Systems Theory through Wiley publishers in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy which were amongst the top 10% downloaded articles in both 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. She has presented her work at symposiums and conferences.
Martina has been embedded in contemplative practices and the healing arts for over twenty years, with experience in the practice and teaching of Yoga, a Diploma in Zen Shiatsu and a long term commitment to meditation in the Theradavan Buddhist tradition. Over the last two decades she has regularly partaken in silent meditation retreats to enhance her knowledge of the mind with some of the world’s principal meditation teachers.
Martina brings a wealth of experience to her clinical practice in the form of presence, warmth and incisiveness.
Martina speaks English and Italian and employs a culturally-sensitive practice.
Publications:
Palombi, M. (2016). Separations: A Personal Account of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 37(3), 327-339.
Palombi, M. (2018). From Gestalt Therapy to Family Systems: How Theoretical Frameworks Inform Clinical Applications. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anzf.1334
