Supporting You

At Calm & Co. providing counselling 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 activities to help them feel calm.  She practices art therapy and play therapy techniques to help 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 became aware of the different presentation of Autism in girls and women a number of years ago, when she provided support for children with Autism and their parents.  With little understanding of the female presentation of Autism at the time, she saw the struggle girls faced to get support at school and in the community.  While there has been some progress made towards supporting girls and women, there are still many outdated ideas about how Autism presents, and who is "Autistic enough" to receive support.  Rachel is also experiencing her own lived experience of supporting a female family member with Autism, and understands first-hand, the challenges, and joys, that come along with this journey.  Rachel can provide interventions and support around 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 or practical experience in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of adults, in a counselling setting and in the community, particularly in disability support. She has supported adults in areas such as; understanding the support needs of neurodiverse children, working through relationship issues, addiction, abuse, custody issues and working through major career/life decisions.

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 - including Social Anxiety

• Drug and Alcohol related issues

• Relationship Issues

• Parenting Issues

• Trauma

• 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 sessions enables each person's story to be told and listened to in a non-judgmental way, which can be difficult in the usual family environment.  Family counselling supports healing in a holistic way, that safely addresses family issues and difficult 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.

• Loss and Grief

• Supporting family members with understanding a diagnosis, such as Autism or ADHD, and associated behaviours.