Counselling | The Willow Tree Clinic

Counselling

At The Willow Tree Clinic we work with children, adolescents and adults with a broad range of mental health concerns, including:

Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal and healthy human emotion. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, particularly in response to situations such as completing an exam, your first day at a new job or going through a break-up. However, severe or continual anxiety is different. It is often not linked to a specific stressful event or the anxiety continues long after the event has ended. This type of anxiety gets in the way of everyday life.

When anxiety is ongoing or severe it typically falls into one of the below categories:

Generalised anxiety
Social anxiety
Separation anxiety
Panic attacks
Obsessions and compulsions
Phobias and fears

Our psychologists have experience helping people to overcome anxiety, using evidence-based treatment approaches that are effective in shifting anxious thoughts, reducing physical symptoms, decreasing avoidance and improving overall functioning and quality of life. Anxiety doesn’t have to rule your life. Effective treatments are available that can help you overcome anxiety and enhance your wellbeing.

Depression

Most people feel flat or down from time to time. However, when people feel depressed their low mood lasts longer (two weeks or more), is more intense and gets in the way of daily living. When you are depressed, everyday tasks can feel like a struggle. For some people, depression can appear “out of the blue”, while for others, it may gradually build up over time. It can be a direct response to a situation, such as the death of a loved one or losing your job, or it can seem to come out of nowhere.

The Willow Tree Clinic psychologists have experience helping people to recover from depression. We use evidence-based treatment approaches that have been shown to be effective for depression. Our psychologists work with clients to tailor an individual treatment plan for overcoming depression.

If you feel like you are in need of immediate assistance, please dial 000 for emergency services or call LIfeline on 13 11 14.

Bipolar

While we all experience mood changes in response to life’s stressful events, some people’s moods fluctuate up and down much more than usual. People with Bipolar Disorder can have extreme moods of feeling really low and depressed or feeling really high and very active. It is important to seek help when these shifts in mood cause changes in how you are able to function in your everyday life.

The Psychologists at The Willow Tree Clinic are able to support people with Bipolar Disorder through working collaboratively with the client to tailor an individualised, evidence-based treatment plan.

If you feel like you are in need of immediate assistance, please dial 000 for emergency services or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress

When people experience or witness a traumatic event such as emotional or verbal abuse, physical violence, sexual assault, death or serious injury they can sometimes develop symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of PTSD may also arise when:

There is a threat that these events will happen, even if they do not actually end up happening
You learn that a close family member or friend was exposed to trauma
You experience repeated or extreme indirect exposure to trauma, for example, paramedics repeatedly witnessing horrific injury or death

Left untreated, PTSD can be a debilitating condition that significantly affects a person’s quality of life. The Willow Tree Clinic Psychologists have experience working with people who have experienced trauma to help reduce their symptoms and increase their overall wellbeing, so that the trauma no longer dominates their thoughts, emotions and life.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Children and adolescents experience a range of challenges and emotional difficulties, just as adults do.

The Psychologists at The Willow Tree Clinic have experience working with children and adolescents with a variety of developmental and psychological disorders including, Depression, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), PTSD, Adjustment Disorder, Attachment difficulties, Intellectual disabilities and Learning difficulties.

Our Psychologists provide a comfortable, respectful and nurturing space where families are able to come and talk about their concerns. We work collaboratively with families to build on their strengths and move them through challenging times. We understand that every parent wants the best for their child and we aim to help children and adolescents thrive.

Our Psychologists also work from an attachment-based framework and offer specific therapeutic modalities that align with this. Theraplay works to build and enhance the attachment relationship between children and their parents/adoptive parents or foster carers, whilst also supporting the reduction of challenging behaviours.

Our team can also support people who are experiencing challenges in the following areas:

Functional Skill Development
Adjustment to stressful life changes
Anger Management
Impulse Control
Grief and Loss
Low Self-Esteem
Social Skills
Thoughts of suicide or self-harm
Wellbeing and Self-care
School-based challenges

Therapeutic approaches we use:

Depending on your needs and preferences, our psychologists have experience in a variety of evidence-based treatment approaches to help you improve your mental health and wellbeing. We are client-centred psychologists, which means that we work collaboratively with you to tailor an individualised plan to help manage your current challenges and struggles. Our therapeutic approaches include:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Narrative Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Theraplay
Mindfulness
Motivational Interviewing
Strengths based approaches
Trauma informed practice

If you would like to make an appointment or find out more about this service, please call The Willow Tree Clinic on (02) 4989 7878 or click here to complete an enquiry form and we will be in touch with you shortly.

Therapeutic approaches we use:

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