When our son was born in 1985 I quickly realised I knew very little about parenting.

Life gave me plenty of time to think about this and how I might do things differently second time around, before our daughter arrived 11 years later. The learning started all over again when I realised that each child is a unique individual. Children don’t come with rule books.

Starting school was an anxious time for her, and she would cling to me on arrival. Then, when I picked her up in the afternoon, she would often kick the back of my seat, angrily yelling at me.

I was Completely at a Loss

I had no idea why she was doing this, or what to do about it. For some reason, I decided I needed to read education philosophy. Coming across Steiner Education, I enrolled to train as a practitioner in The Extra Lesson program. This program supports children who are struggling with behavioural and classroom learning.

As a seven year old, my daughter started asking to be home schooled. We changed classes, then changed schools, and finally embarked on our home schooling journey two years later. This was the beginning of three wonderful years. My only regret is that we hadn’t started sooner.

Training in the Extra Lesson Program

During this time, I trained as an Extra Lesson practitioner, and we both went through the program. The Extra Lesson is a neuro-development program supporting learning and behaviour through movement and individualised exercises

Along the way, I realised that, although I had always achieved well at school, I had learning difficulties. It was confronting to realise that learning didn’t have to be that hard!

In 2005 I began offering the program to families in my local area. Case studies and parent testimonials  highlight the many positive outcomes that have been achieved. I also researched the importance of early movements as the foundation for lifelong learning as part of my Master of Education (CSU, 2012). This supported my belief that delays in early development affected learning, not only in the classroom, but also physical, behavioural and emotional learning.

Training as an Holistic Counsellor

I began to feel that I would like to be able to offer more support to the parents, and began training with the Metavision Institute in 2014, graduating as an accredited Holistic Counsellor and Psychotherapist in 2017.

During this time I researched links between experiences of stress and overwhelm during infancy and early childhood, learning difficulties, developmental delay and challenging behaviours. I found the links to be very strong, and well researched. I delivered a paper based on my research at the Australian Childhood Foundation Conference in Melbourne in 2018.

Circle of Security Parenting

Growing from my desire to offer parenting support, I have been offering the Circle of Security Parenting program to parents in my area for several years. Feedback has been very positive. Parents have commented on the positive changes they were seeing in their children’s behaviours as they adapted their parenting styles.

Circle of Security Parenting is a relationship-based early-intervention program. It is designed to help you to understand how your children might be feeling, and what you can do to help them. During the 1:1 sessions, I often find parents are able to work through some of their own childhood issues. Benefits flow not only to their children, but also other relationships.

How Holistic Counselling Can Help You and Your Child

Practising as a PACFA Registered Clinical Counsellor allows me to combine Holistic Counselling and Psychotherapy with my background in child development. This gives me a unique perspective in offering support both to children and their parents.

Your Counsellor will not tell you what to do or offer advice. Rather, I see the therapist’s role as walking alongside you, supporting you on your own journey of self discovery. 

The theme of self discovery has accompanied me throughout my life. For several years, I taught classes in Patchwork and Quilting, calling my course Patchwork, a Journey of Self Discovery, never realising that I would one day become an Holistic Counsellor and Psychotherapist!