Trauma Support Providers

Sandra maintains a clinical practice in Psychodynamic and Somatic/Dance Movement Psychotherapy in Canberra, working with a spectrum of issues from complex trauma through to psychosomatic issues. Over thirty years of exploring body and movement therapies as well as clinical training in psychoanalytic Self-psychology inform her work. As Australia’s most experienced Certified Laban Movement Analyst, Sandra has applied this comprehensive movement theory to fitness, contemporary dance, rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. She has been an invited presenter in Laban Movement Analysis in Australia, Canada, and Asia. She has also presented on psychotherapeutic issues such as chronic pain, multiple personality disorders, and trauma at conferences in Australia. Sandra is a professional Dance/Movement Therapist and has trained Dance Movement Therapists for Wesley Institute (Sydney), IDTIA (Melbourne), and Apollo Training Institute (Beijing). She regularly teaches professional development workshops, sharing her LMA/BF and psychodynamic psychotherapy expertise with a variety of professional communities.

Santo Russo established Better Life Psychology in 1999 after a 25 year career focused on human development across the lifespan. Before becoming a psychologist, his work in early childhood development gave him a solid foundation for his support for individuals, of all ages, in the challenges that they face on a day to day basis. Santo has had a keen interest in trauma, especially Developmental Trauma experienced by children and its insidious lifelong effects. After completing a Bachelors Degree in Education, Santo completed a double major in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Psychology at the University of Queensland. Santo continues to work with children, adolescents, adults and families in their daily challenges. Santo has continued his professional development with training and work in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Through his interest in Mindfulness based therapies Santo had developed additional skills to assist clients of all ages meet the challenges that life inevitably brings. Santo Russo is NDIS approved.

Sarah is the CEO and founder of Mental Awakening as well as a highly experienced Psychotherapist with years of involvement within the sector. She is also an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and a member of the AASW.

Sarah has been working within the field of trauma recovery and mind-body disorders for a decade, specialising in chronic pain and Tension Myositis Syndrome – TMS (basing her approach on Dr. John Sarno and Dr. Howard Schubiner’s research on Mind Body Syndrome – MBS). Her clients are based all over Australia as she offers face-to-face and Telehealth Counselling sessions (over phone/video) at Mental Awakening. Her motto is simple: “Supporting clients in creating authentic power within themselves and in turn being able to make what was once difficult, easier”.

Sarah’s interest lies in helping her clients feel heard, understood and supported so they can start to connect with their true nature and learn to live their lives from a space of love as opposed to fear. She is a great believer that life is a mirror and that our outer world reflects our inner world and once we start to understand that, we have so much more power than we can imagine.

Sarah is passionate about helping clients achieve meaningful connections, assisting them to reconnect and work towards developing a closer, stronger and more secure relationship with themselves and their body. It is her aim to support clients with experiencing a new reference point for happiness and to overcome struggles, feel fulfilled and develop enhanced self-compassion, irrespective of adversity.

For Sarah, life is about growth and expansion. Her focus lies in remaining present with her clients while creating a fully open and authentic space where healing can take place. Her approach is to respond to the client’s unique situation, by developing individually tailored sessions that are inclusive of Humanistic Therapy, Meditation, Yoga, Mindfulness, Inner Child Work, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Somatic Therapy, Shadow and Archetypal work, Art Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy and The Polyvagal Theory. Sarah has great interest, personal experience and familiarity with TMS (Tension Myosistic Syndrome) and feels passionate about supporting her clients towards recovery. She is also acquainted with compassionate Inquiry, which is a psycho-therapeutic method developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearances that we present to the world.

I have a Master of Clinical Psychology and have trained and been educated in several evidence-based approaches, including trauma-focused and informed therapies. I also continuously seek to improve my knowledge and skills through regular professional development. I am a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), APS Clinical College, APS psychoanalytically-oriented interest group, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP). My therapeutic approach is based in curiosity, compassion, understanding, meaning-making, and relational experience. I place emphasis on working through what arises in the therapeutic ""here-and-now"", and focus on helping individuals understand and bring together all the different parts of themselves and all of their experiences into a meaningful, cohesive, rich and complex whole.

I am a Clinical Psychologist with over 30 years' experience assisting people presenting with a wide range of difficulties, providing an integrated approach to treatment to address each individual's needs. Short and long term therapy is available, both for individuals and couples. I have a particular interest in assessing and working with adults with a history of childhood or adolescent trauma and have training and experience in providing trauma focused therapy.

I am a member of the Australian Psychological Society; a Fellow of the Clinical College of the APS and a member of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA). I have been an Approved Counsellor and Authorised Report Writer with Victims Services since 2000.

My practice reflects these strands of experience and training: two degrees in social work; approximately 30 years of working at STARTTS (Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) as a counsellor, psychotherapist, social worker and clinical supervisor; a five year post graduate training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with NSWIPP; working in my private practice as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and Approved Victims Services Counsellor. In my practice I work with people with a range of issues, including childhood sexual assault, domestic violence, loss and grief, refugee trauma, depression and anxiety, identity and relationship issues and other issues. I have continuously tried to remain up to date in the trauma field, and my aim is to remain open to any interventions and knowledge which could be useful. However, I do work in a psychodynamic style aiming to listen deeply, trying to work gently and thoughtfully, and trying to work in a collaborative, respectful way, at a pace which suits my client. If I am not the right person for my client, I will try to refer them to someone else who is. I think that trauma informed principles are very important - the safety of the client, gradually building trust rather than assuming that it is there, being trustworthy, providing support which is needed, setting clear expectations together, these are all principles which I aim to follow. I focus very much on process and gradually building safety and a trusting relationship, I try to listen very carefully to my client, for example, what are they seeking in the therapy, what triggers them, what helps them to feel safe. I encourage my client to choose what they wish to talk about and not talk about. Working as a psychotherapist for me is a genuine commitment, challenging and rewarding, and I enjoy listening to people. Please see my website for further information.

I have worked as a Clinical Psychologist, on the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie areas of NSW, for over 30 years. I gained a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) Honours Degree from the University of NSW in 1979, and a Masters of Clinical Psychology from the Australian National University in 1985. Early on in my practice (in a mental health service on the Central Coast) I developed a special interest in the impact of psychological trauma on a person's psychological well-being over the course of their life. Over many years now, clients with a history of trauma have made up a large part of my clinical practice. I have been in my own private practice now for nearly 20 years and have had vast and ongoing training in relation to the understanding and treatment of trauma, using a variety of evidence-based treatments. These include EMDR and Cognitive Processing Therapy. For many years I worked as an Outreach Counsellor for the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service, as well as for Victims Services NSW Attorney General's Department). I currently work in Toronto, Lake Macquarie, 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday, 9am-5pm).

I live in the Bega Valley and work from a room at the Red Door Health Clinic in Bega for the last 2 years. In my capacity as a general psychologist, I have been working directly with people affected by relational trauma of sexual violations for more than 20 years, with the Community Health Sexual Assault Service team. Before that I worked in Sydney with people with dual diagnosis of mental illness and developmental disability. I also worked at a university in the 90's, teaching and supporting students in clinical placements. In this context I directly encountered and responded to systems abuses and obstacles to justice when safety had been violated.
My work with NSW Sexual Assault Services brought clients from many contexts to me. Apart from the direct therapeutic work of overcoming trauma and life consequences I have assisted with and am familiar with court, tribunal and family law processes. My therapeutic framework is well informed through a commitment to ongoing professional development, attending workshops and conferences with key leaders in the field. This has supported my role in responding to many features of trauma such as regulation issues (anxiety, depression, anger and self-medication), relational challenges, learning difficulties and symptoms of complex PTSD. My framework is informed by recognition of principles of the traditional owners of this land, the need for belonging and purpose with others. It reflects a commitment to ensuring safety and empowering clients, through the careful development of a shared therapeutic understanding of the experience of recovery. My broad experience enables engagement and promotes change through client awareness and choice. Where indicated I can work with symptoms of extreme distress including relational conflict, mental disorder and physical reactions. Using awareness and interruption, reframing and grounding techniques, I assist my client to manage and make new meaning of the distress. I also understand the value of team work in stabilising distress. I have developed strong skills in monitoring process and assessing, reviewing and pacing client goals. I have a well-established sense of session landscape and outcomes in the context of balancing safety and overall goals, using reflective summary and re-entering tasks to maximise boundaries around the experience between sessions.

I have found the role of supporting recovery from crisis of disclosure through to wellbeing with women, men and children and their families highly rewarding. The challenges and possibilities are as endless as the individuals and the benefits of relational health are far reaching. When ending a therapeutic relationship, I use the therapeutic relationship understanding to review and determine closure with my client. I now work part-time in a small private practice, enjoying a range of professional experiences and still welcoming the opportunity to use my experience to support healing from relational trauma.

Sarah is a registered psychologist providing both clinic-based and telehealth services to adults. She is registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and the Clinical College of Psychologists (MCCP). Sarah works within an attachment framework and uses a variety of evidence-based therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Schema Therapy (ST). Sarah has extensive experience and a special interest in working with complex trauma, particularly trauma resulting from adverse childhood experiences. At the centre of Sarah’s approach to therapy are compassion, creativity, and dedication to evidence-based intervention. She devotes her efforts to creating a supportive and culturally sensitive therapeutic environment, and to building on people’s strengths to enhance overall wellbeing.

I am a qualified psychologist and social worker. I am a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). I am a member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. I have completed a Graduate Certificate in Dance Therapy. I am an accredited EMDR practitioner. I have completed extensive training in somatic trauma therapy with Babette Rothschild.
Central to my work is a belief that each person has their own resources that serve as foundations for recovery. The core principles of trauma informed care form the foundation of my approach. The principles include; safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, empowerment and respect for diversity. I have a particular interest in the role of body awareness throughout the therapeutic process. My role is to support clients in identifying, strengthening and adding to resources. Facilitating a collaborative journey towards a healthy and full life.