Supporting You

At Calm & Co. providing support to children and teenagers in a safe and comfortable counselling space is a priority.  Rachel has a background in supporting neurodivergent children and teenagers, and their family members.  Often parents and caregivers struggle when they learn of their child's diagnosis, but want to move ahead in a positive way, with some extra support from outside the family.  Counselling sessions are adapted to meet each young person's specific needs and communication style.  Rachel understands that children need to move, fidget, and be involved in creative activities to help them feel calm and make the counselling experience positive and non-threatening.  Some issues that can be supported in counselling include:

• Understanding new diagnoses and behaviours associated with neurodiversity, such as Autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, as well as depression and anxiety.

• Anger Management.

• Bullying.

• Improving self-esteem.

• School, friend and family issues.

• Understanding divorce and new family dynamics.

• Witnessing domestic violence.

• Experiences of abuse.

• Coping with challenging parental issues, such as addiction and mental health issues.

• Loss and Grief.

• Trauma - managing trauma through trauma-informed practice.

Rachel understands, and has experience with the female presentation of Autism/ADHD.  In particular, she has seen the additional struggles girls and women can face in getting appropriate support at school, work, or in the community.  Rachel can provide support for a number of issues such as:

• Experiencing a lack of support due to social misconceptions - girls and women can be experts at masking their true selves, and may often be overlooked by professionals due to stereotyped expectations about how Autism presents.

• Understanding the increased mental health risks that girls and women may face, especially if they are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

• Addressing risk factors, such as low self-esteem, increased anxiety and/or depression, increased risk of eating disorders or restricted eating patterns, and greater risk of mental health crises, if unsupported.

• School refusal, self-harm, and situational mutism.

• Protection and vulnerability issues - girls and women may be more vulnerable to predators, and being exploited.

Rachel has a wide range of practical experience in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of adults, in a counselling setting and in the community.  

Any number of issues can be addressed in counselling sessions, from working on a single issue for a brief period of time, to addressing past and present complex issues that may require some time and patience to work through, including, but not limited to:

• Depression

• Anxiety (GAD)

• Social Anxiety

• Substance Use

• Addictions

• Relationship Issues

• Parenting Issues

• Trauma

• PTSD and Complex PTSD

• Domestic Violence

• Phobias and Obsessive Compulsive Behaviours

Rachel supports families through a variety of challenging circumstances with a 'no blame' (narrative) approach.  Having a non-biased person guiding therapy enables each person to talk and be listened to in a non-judgmental way, which can sometimes be difficult in the family environment.  Family counselling supports healing in a holistic way, that safely addresses family issues or complex family relationships.  

Family counselling can feel very daunting for everyone involved.  Ideally, Rachel will meet with the whole family in an initial session, to discuss the family dynamics and understand the main issues.  This isn't always possible due to family conflict, or family members having other commitments.  Rachel will support the family with a plan to make progress in the most comfortable way possible for everyone involved. Some family issues that may be worked through include:

• Challenges with adolescent behaviour which may be causing stress and conflict within the family.

• Supporting children through separation, divorce and coping with challenging new family dynamics with step-families. 

• Sibling rivalry

• Parental issues that have impacted the whole family, such as domestic violence, addiction and mental health issues.