Melbourne Psychotherapy

I am a counselling psychotherapist working in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond.

One of the things that troubles us is our self esteem and our self confidence. We can sometimes see ourselves as;

• worthless,
• weak,
• being of no value,
• unimportant to others, and,
• insignificant

To have these feelings can sap us of energy and the ability to start new things. They can affect our relationships and lead to other problems down the track. As things go badly for us it only reinforces the things that we feel about ourselves. This cycle only reinforces itself, and it is very hard to break out of it on our own.

However, using psychotherapy, we can break down the operation of this cycle and start to replace it with a different pattern. We can start to address these views, seeking to replace them with feelings of;

• self respect,
• self appreciation,
• being valued,
• being important to others, and,
• self-acceptance

The four most important things that you can know about self esteem and self confidence - the things I would really want to impress on you - are these;

1. You weren't born this way. When you were born you were probably just a normal happy baby, like any other. You would have had your own individual characteristics but you were probably pretty much like any other baby.
2. You lost your self esteem and self confidence through repetition. Most likely, this started small and it was only with constant repetition over a sustained period did your view of yourself harden into the way you think of yourself now.
3. It started with someone else. Since a loss of self confidence or self esteem can seem all encompassing, it can seem as if us losing our confident self was our own fault. This is not true. It was done to us by another, usually unconsciously.
4. You can get back your self esteem and self confidence through repetition. Through repetition you can replace one set of thinking with another. This is how brains work; repetition builds new physical pathways in your brain.

Getting treatment

My approach with working with my clients is in two stages;

1. The Counselling stage

In this stage we work with the immediate problems. The aim is:

• to reduce your symptoms,
• to get you stabilised, and,
• to allow you to cope better.

2. The Psychotherapy stage

In this stage we start to look at the underlying causes. The aim is;

• to get you back on your feet,
• to give you greater resilience, and,
• to allow you to develop and grow.

These two stages almost always overlap in practice - we deal with the immediate problems at the same time that we look at their causes. My work is always guided by the needs of my client, and our experience of what works best for you. The psychotherapy work is usually deeper and more longer term that the counselling work.

For new clients the first session is at no cost or obligation. Check out the details here. I see clients in Richmond - more location details here.