I’m Nat (30, she/her) - A Melbourne based Counsellor & Psychotherapist.

I strongly believe that when working with real clients who have real issues, it’s not the level of accreditation or the amount of years spent studying at University which truly matters here. But rather, lived experience.

Although I’ve completed my Law Degree and am currently a few months off finishing my Masters of Counselling, what has in fact been the most valuable contribution to my services, is that they are built off real, direct, lived-experience, which stems from my own harsh and challenging upbringing as a child. My own challenges and healing journey is the single, most important learning tool which has given me the skills to connect with, understand, and help others in its’ most natural and authentic form. Although education is a vital and imperative aspect, no amount of textbooks or university degrees can teach people how to truly help others in the way they genuinely need.

My first professional experience helping others began in the Family Law field where I volunteered my time at a not-for-profit organisation. I assisted with complex matters involving Domestic Violence, Divorce, Intervention Orders and more. After that, I dove into various people-facing corporate roles, however none which fulfilled my desire to help others on a deep level.

By sharing a little of my own story, I hope this helps you make a well-informed decision as to whether I may be the right fit for you as a therapist.

My conscious experience began as early as 4 years old. Although my mother was a beautiful and gentle person at the core, she was severely riddled with extreme anxiety and depression and as a result, was a heavily abusive and alcoholic parent who raised my brother and I in an unstable and unsafe environment. As a young child, I was forced to step into the parent role and fend for myself. I saw things no child should ever be exposed to, and for over 20 years, I was subject to domestic chaos in the form of shouting, fighting, endless hospitalisation & rehabilitation visits, emotional abuse, and inconsistent demonstrations of love and neglect, on rotation. As a result, for many years, I was emotionally dysregulated, shielded myself from the world, sabotaged relationships, and did not treat myself, and sometimes others, with the kindness, respect and compassion we all deserve. This experience showed me firsthand, what the result of unprocessed pain can do to a person, and the people around them.

It was only when I came home one day at the age of 26 and found my mother had died, that everything shifted. The deep grief I felt as a result of her death was the catalyst for an extremely painful, but extremely necessary, healing journey of everything I had gone through in the first 26 years of my life. For the first time, I had to really look at myself in the mirror, take accountability, and start putting myself, and the scattered pieces of my life, back together. I had to completely rewire all my core beliefs, and challenge everything I ever told myself. It took many years of doing the work, going to therapy, sitting in the silence, participating in breathwork classes, working with various somatic and EMDR healing practitioners, connecting with others, yoga, learning to trust myself again, being kinder to myself, and simply growing older and maturing.

And now, being on the other side , I truly see everything I went through as a gift. For it taught me how to love myself. It taught me how to communicate and treat others the way they deserve. It taught me resilience, compassion and forgiveness. It gave me a tremendously strong intuition and ability to connect deeply with others and understand human behaviour. And most importantly, it instilled in me the skills and knowledge needed to effectively help others with their personal challenges.

It is for this reason that I believe you cannot teach someone to understand and empathise with other people’s problems. Certain things can only truly be understood by those who have walked a similar path, and healing is most powerful when accompanied by individuals who have walked those similar paths.

This is where I come in.

My services are designed to help individuals:

• Shift the nervous system towards a more safe, calm and secure baseline

• Heal from past trauma

• Identify, dismantle and reframe negative / limiting beliefs

• Get to the root cause of destructive / sabotaging behaviours, and dismantle them

• Develop tools to manage stress, anxiety and depression - And understand where these stressors come from

• Build and achieve goals, and assist in finding purpose and meaning