About Bel

Currently not taking new clients as books full:

Hi! Welcome. Depending on the reason you are here (counselling, supervision or NDIS support) you’ll find out a little bit more about me below!

My name is Bel and I have over twenty-eight years of experience in the counselling field. I am a qualified social worker, and I work predominately as a narrative therapist in my practice. I am also trained in solutions focused therapy and mindfulness-based body therapies and do utilise these in our session where helpful.

I am also a very proud Autistic ADHD Therapist who wholeheartedly works from a neuroaffirming paradigm! This means:

  1. You can choose to have your camera on or off- not look at the camera, walk around
  2. Stim as much as you like
  3. I will be checking in often to find out if the questions i am asking are helpful and working specifically with how you process information
  4. Have a session via phone, text or zoom
  5. Most importantly, your neurodivergence (be that Autism, ADHD, OCD, Bi-Polar, Schizophrenia and many, many other neurodivergences) are not seen by me as illnesses but differences in brains (inclusive of nervous systems and sensory systems) and how we experience the world. You do not need “fixing” but you might need help coping with a world based on neuronormativity.

I have worked in diverse environments, first beginning my career twenty-eight years ago counselling and supporting young adults diagnosed with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. Over the years I have counselled young people, families, activists and artists, refugee survivors of state based and political torture and the LGBTIQA+ community.

I have worked widely across the sector, including: Education, Working it Out, Anglicare, Newport and Wildman, Migrant Resource Centre Tas, Migrant Resource Centre North, and Neighbourhood houses and many others.

I am a white, cisgender, married woman with a child. I understand what it’s like to go through hard times and fundamentally believe every human has capacity, wisdom and skills even if it feels buried beneath the problem.

I am also a lover of bush walking, listening to birds, cups of tea, dance, reading, poetry, writing, creating music, gardening, mountains and snow and deep conversation.

Some things I dislike: small talk, groups bigger than 3, strong smells, injustice, indirect communication, itchy clothes, crowded cafes and bright lights (hello all autistics relating!).

Some people love to know what the theories are that underpin my work so if that’s you, keep reading!

Some things that are crucial in how I work and view emotional distress are: your problem does not develop because “you are faulty “ or “broken or not resilient enough” but because we live in a world that is highly stressful and problematic and the context of problems remains largely unseen. I work with you to make visible the way problems develop and gain traction in our lives. Some of the things we talk about are:

gender/sexuality/relationship choice and experience of this in our society and culture.

How your neurodivergence shapes your understanding of the world and your place in it and how ideas of “normality” are constructed and leave people feeling like they don’t measure up.

How your race/colour of your skin/ethnicity can shape how others see you and the subsequent barriers you face.

How experiences related to our income, education, health and body size all influence how the world will treat us and influence feelings of worth, opportunity, belonging, substance dependence and choice.

Making visible the way problems are created and kept alive and then finding ways to navigate this together helps you see that you are not broken and to find a solid sense of identity that is not the problem.

Testimonials

When people who have seen me have been asked to say how they describe me, here’s what they said. I’ve elected to not use any names here because of confidentiality.

“Like chatting to your really good friend but realising you are actually working yourself out”.

“I find Bel so incredibly real, gentle and safe, we all need a Bel in our life”.

“Through Bel I was able to understand just why I was approaching burnout as a social worker, and to take steps to avoid this.”

“Bel has such a calming and grounding effect on me. I feel so safe to share how I feel and that is massive to me as I’ve had professionals that are just so clinical and leave me feeling judged.”

Formal Qualifications:

Bachelor of Social work :UTAS 2011

Levels 1 and 2 Narrative Therapy Training (Dulwich Centre)

12 Month Advanced Narrative Training (Dulwich Centre)

Responding to Hardship and Trauma (Narrative Therapy week-long training-Dulwich Centre)

Tree of Life training (Narrative Therapy-(Dulwich Centre)

Introduction to Narrative Therapy (5 days-Narrative Centre, Hobart).

Diploma Community Services:Canberra Institute of Technology (Welfare Studies) 1998

Diploma Early Childhood Education:Australian Early Childhood College.