Counselling for Individuals, Couples and Families
When life feels overwhelming, you don’t have to carry it alone.
Mount Colah | Hornsby | Online
Managing everything for everyone else. Saying ‘I’m fine’ when you’re not. Holding it together while quietly unravelling underneath.
Maybe anxiety is a constant low hum you’ve learned to push down, until you can’t. Maybe you’re feeling flat, going through the motions, then lying awake wondering how to make things better. Maybe something has shifted: a relationship ending, a job lost, a lost loved one, a diagnosis, something you didn’t see coming, and now you can’t quite find your footing. Or maybe nothing’s ‘happened’ at all. You just can’t remember the last time you felt like yourself.
You don’t need a diagnosis, or a Mental Health Care Plan, to reach out for support. Sometimes what you need is someone to come alongside you, to help you process what’s going on and find the next right step.
I'm Susanne, a PACFA-registered counsellor, psychotherapist and mother of four. I work with individuals, couples, parents and families navigating hard times.
Find out more about how I support individuals, couples and parents & families.
Do any of these sound familiar?
You keep going because you have to, but you’re exhausted in a way sleep doesn’t fix. This isn’t weakness. It’s what happens when you give without being replenished.
I’m running on empty.
Your mind is always scanning for what could go wrong, replaying conversations, or on high alert without knowing exactly why. We work on what’s driving the anxiety, not just how to manage the symptoms.
Anxiety never really switches off.
Whether you’re grieving a person, a relationship, or the life you expected to have, grief doesn’t follow a straight line. You deserve space to feel it, without feeling rushed to move on.
I’m grieving, and life just keeps moving.
You still care about each other, but you’re caught in the same arguments, feeling disconnected, or wondering how you got so far apart.
My relationship feels harder than it used to.
You have a niggling sense that unresolved issues from your past are shaping your life today. Counselling is a safe place to explore these, even if you’re not sure where to begin.
I’d like to understand myself better.
Separation, illness, a new diagnosis, or a big life change can leave you feeling untethered. It helps to have a place to share what you’re carrying while you find your footing.
Everything feels unfamiliar right now.
My approach is warm, practical and down-to-earth, shaped by postgraduate training and experience working in organisations like Barnardos and Relationships Australia. Counselling begins with feeling genuinely seen and heard, in a space where you can explore your experience without judgment, at whatever pace feels right for you.
I draw on evidence-based approaches, including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), always woven through with self-compassion and a belief that meaningful change is possible, even when things aren’t the way you’d like them to be.
I can help you begin, even if you’re not sure what you want to work on.
Want to learn more about the difference between a counsellor and psychologist?
My Approach
What a session looks like
Sessions are 50 minutes, online or in Mount Colah. We start with wherever feels pressing for you that day, then slow down enough to look at what’s going on.
Sometimes that means practical tools to help you get through the week, sleep better, manage a hard conversation, or feel less reactive. Sometimes it means making sense of a pattern you recognise, or a relationship dynamic that keeps repeating. And sometimes it means simply having room to feel what you’re feeling, without needing to rush through it or explain it away.
You’ll leave each session with a clearer sense of yourself and a concrete step forward.
Counselling can help you develop the insight, skills and confidence to meet your challenges differently, so you're not just getting through life, but starting to enjoy it again, feeling steadier, more at ease and with a clearer sense of direction.
Fees
A session is $125 for individuals, similar to the out-of-pocket gap fee most people pay for a psychologist under a Mental Health Care Plan.
A session is $165 for couples, and $195 for families.
No Mental Health Care Plan is required.
You can read more about fees and what to expect before booking on the FAQs page.
Ready to Take the First Step?
You don’t have to wait until things feel unbearable before asking for support.