Suzanne sees adults and older adolescents above the age of 16.
Suzanne provides face-to-face as well as telehealth services using a secure video conferencing platform. As of March 2020, a Medicare rebate applies to both face-to-face and telehealth sessions; however, this is subject to change in accordance with Medicare regulations.
Suzanne can help with these issues:
depression
stress
grief
insomnia
fears and anxiety – panic attacks, agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, fear of flying, fear of needles, and fear of vomiting
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following an accident, childhood trauma or other traumatic events
adjustment to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and other physical illnesses
weight management, using a non-dieting approach that focuses on dealing with emotional eating; as well as eating disorders such as bulimia and binge eating disorder
chronic pain, tinnitus and other long-term health conditions
Suzanne is a very experienced therapist highly trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). It is a form of psychological therapy that teaches you a set of skills that help you deal with your psychological or emotional difficulties. These skills, individualized to suit each person, are designed to help you understand and change the thoughts and behaviours that are causing or maintaining the problem. CBT is usually conducted over 6 to 12 sessions. Its effectiveness for many psychological problems is supported by a large volume of clinical research.
For many psychological disorders (e.g. mild to moderate depression, anxiety), CBT is often found to be more effective than medications alone in preventing relapse, or recurrence of the problem.
CBT is an evidenced based therapy. As its name suggests, it combines two treatment approaches, namely 'cognitive therapy' and 'behaviour therapy'. Cognitive therapy focuses on our pattern of thinking, while behaviour therapy looks at changing the way we do things. Together they can provide a very powerful method to help overcome a wide range of emotional and behavioural problems in children, adolescents and adults.
Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in a large number of research studies around the world, and is often considered the standard treatment for many problems.
Unlike medications, CBT aims not just to help people control their current symptoms, but also to teach them new skills and strategies that can be applied to future situations.
While many health professionals provide CBT, Clinical Psychologists receive specialist training in providing CBT cognitive behaviour therapy as part of their postgraduate training. Most controlled trials (the gold standard of scientific research into the effectiveness of any treatment modalities) of CBT are conducted by clinical psychologists in universities around the world.
CBT is not one skill that is applied to all problems. Rather it is individually tailored to suit each person and his/her problems. For this reason, it is best to see a qualified and experienced health professional for CBT. In Australia this person is most likely a Clinical Psychologist.
To understand the basic principles of CBT, a good introductory book is “Change Your Thinking” written by Dr Sarah Edelman, a Sydney-based Clinical Psychologist, and published by ABC.
Schema Therapy combines proven cognitive-behavioural techniques with elements of other therapies to help people identify and change long-standing patterns of relational and emotional difficulties. “Schemas” are broad organizing principles that help us make sense of the world. They often guide the way we react to situations emotionally, and our behaviours.
Children rely on their parents or carers to meet their emotional needs such as safety, emotional connection, realistic limits, autonomy, and self-appreciation. Negative schemas develop when some of these needs are not met, and sometimes they are severe enough to cause relationship and emotional difficulties.
Schema therapy involves helping clients identify how their schemas may be affecting them. We explore their origins in therapy, using a variety of techniques to allow past hurts to heal and to have current emotional needs met. Outside of sessions, clients continue to work on changing unhelpful schemas by doing behavioural and cognitive “homework” in everyday life.