Working with Children, Young People, Parents, Families and Adults
Offering in-person, video, and phone consultations
Call 0481 060 344
Services
- Challenging behaviour or issues – impulse control, violence, bullying, attention-seeking, defiance, anti-social, shyness, loneliness, social anxiety.
- Familial/sibling relationships – conflict, rivalry, jealousy
- Blended family relationships – conflicting dynamics, adjustment difficulties
- School dilemmas and bullying
- Parental separation or divorce
- Parental Abandonment
- Sexualised behaviours
- Sexual abuse counselling – specialised and highly confidential care
- Self-esteem and identity
- Goal setting and motivation
- Pressure of high school, study, academic demands
- Interpersonal relationships – school, family, friends, bullies
- Social anxiety or phobia
- Family conflict or separation
- Navigating relationships with parents/step-parents
- Coping skills and thriving during teenage years
- Overcoming challenging life changes or events
- Sexual abuse counselling – specialised and highly confidential care
- Supporting a child/children with challenges/issues as a family
- Systemic Family Therapy – addressing and rebuilding healthy dynamics; internal family systems
- Navigating family separation or divorce
- Overcoming family conflict or trauma
- Self-care for the family
- Blended family therapy
- Parenting Concerns or Issues
- Managing teen behaviour
- Interpersonal Relationships – individuals, couples, family, friends, work, conflict, domestic violence, divorce, separation
- Life Challenges – self-worth, self-esteem, work and career, communication, social identity, social behaviour and interaction
- Mental Health Issues – anxiety, depression, stress, anger, impacts of trauma, emotional dysregulation
- Parenting Issues – parenting or step-parenting, blended families, family conflict, challenging child or teen behaviour, separation or divorce, sibling rivalry, support for management of children with chronic health issues, behavioural issues or spectrum disorders, priorities of self-care.
- Personal Development – Goal setting and motivation
- Sexual Abuse Counselling – highly experienced support, utmost care and sensitivity, prevention and intervention, highest confidentiality, privacy and respect, information about access to resources and safety, dedicated therapy to counter fear, loneliness and hopelessness
Individual Sessions (1hr) $160
Couple Sessions (1hr) $180
Payment is due at the time of the appointment
Payment options include: Bank Transfer or Cash
Rebates may be available through your private health fund. Please check with your provider.
Hello! Welcome to Silverthorn Counselling Services
My name is Veronica Woolcott. I am a fully qualified and professionally registered Clinical Counsellor with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) and a Registered Provider with National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). I have been working with children, teens, families, and adults for close to 12 years now, through all manner of challenges and I find my work endlessly rewarding.
I believe wholeheartedly in the value of authentic truth and honesty, where the core feelings of anxiety and fear – so typically related to trauma and distress – can be tended to and moderated, allowing for the steady but certain regrowth of trust and confidence. My practice provides a safe, nurturing, therapeutic space where this can happen. I care for each of my clients with an individualised plan of consultation and evidence—based therapies that are proven to support one’s journey toward healing, recovery and a restored sense of control.
My first foray into specialised counselling was with children dealing or recovering from sexual abuse. This invaluable professional experience sharpened my eye and honed my ability to recognise underlying patterns and vulnerabilities in behaviour. Through skilled observation, I developed a way to not only support and guide, but to honour the unique and specific needs of every individual I counsel. I am passionate that every child, parent, and partner has the right to a voice and to be heard and I ensure that this happens in the midst of privacy, confidentiality and with the utmost respect.
Prior to my venture into formal study and qualification in professional counselling, I was busy
raising my own three children with my husband, both of us being lucky enough to have
extended family here in Australia and in the United Kingdom.
From as long back as I can remember, I have delighted in the joy of children,
watching them grow, supporting them in a nurturing, empowering environment,
seeing them thrive. My own children are now fully-fledged adults living their
own busy lives which brings me great solace and joy, yet I also recognise that
parenting today is more complex and demanding than it has ever been before.
This is why I find my counselling profession so gratifying, working side by
side with children, parents, men and women, to process the impact of
past or current trauma and define a way forward that sees them feel
safer, more confident and empowered about their future once again.
For more information about my counselling qualifications & experience,
please see here. I am available for phone and video consultations, and
in-person at my rooms in Morningside, Brisbane.
Make your first Appointment Enquiry here. I respond to all
enquires as quickly as possible and at least within 24hrs.
I also offer a no obligation 15-minute consultation if you
would like an introductory conversation or
require more information.
Warm regards,
Veronica
Qualifications & Experience
Years in Practice: 12 years
Education: Bachelor of Counselling
Memberships & Accreditations:
- Registered Clinical Member with Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia (PACFA)
- Registered Provider with National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
- Fully Accredited Emotional Freedom Technique International (EFTi) Practitioner
- Level I and Level II in Dialetic Behavioural Therapy
- Level I and Level II in Theraplay
- Circle of Security Parenting (COSP) Facilitator
Private Health Funds include: Medibank, BUPA
Specialisations & Expertise
- Specialist Accredited Practitioner in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) with EFT International (including trauma-informed EFT) stress reduction, phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, pain and more.
- Trauma-Informed Therapy & Counselling for children (4 – 18 years) and adults (Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Coercive Control)
- Emotional Challenges for Children – anxiety, self-acceptance, coping skills, school issues (e.g. bullying), emotional abandonment
- Family Counselling & Systemic Therapy – parent-child/teen relationships, parenting issues, interaction & communication, managing teenager behaviour, family conflict, family separation/divorce, step-parenting.
- Men’s & Women’s Issues – trauma and recovery, interpersonal relationships, anger management, depression, control issues, life transitions, self-esteem and self-empowerment.
Therapies & Techniques
- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Powerful evidence-based stress reduction technique using elements of cognitive therapy, with physical stimulation of acupuncture points. Often referred to as ‘Tapping’ as it uses a two-finger tapping process. Mechanisms behind EFT include deactivation of the amygdala (emotion and fight or flight centre in the brain) and hippocampus (memory centre), as well as recent research into vagal nerve improvement. Demonstrated to significantly lower cortisol levels in the body. Established as effective for phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, pain and trauma.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is about helping a person to behave more mindfully and consistently with their own values and to accept their responses to uncontrollable experiences. Focused on cultivating psychological flexibility. Has been associated with improved outcomes for chronic pain. Preliminary evidence suggests benefit for clients with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), psychosis, smoking, tinnitus, epilepsy and emotionally disordered eating.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a widely recognised, evidence-based talk therapy that seeks to change unhelpful thought patterns. It may involve recognition of distorted thinking, gaining insight and re-evaluating reasons behind certain behaviours or motivations and the learning of more optimised problem-solving skills to cope with difficult and stressful situations.
- Dyadic Development Psychotherapy
DDP involves a child, parent and therapist working together to foster relationship experiences of growth and emotional repair. It supports the development of healthy patterns of relating and communicating, leads to a less fear, shame or control within the family. It encourages flexible responses as opposed to locked-in, rigid and repetitive responses.
- Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy helps people embrace being an authority in their own lives. It examines the stories that people develop and carry with them throughout life, allowing those stories to inform and influence current responses and beliefs. New narratives can be derived that allow healing and provide the momentum to shift past previously problematic accounts.
- Systemic Therapy
Systemic Therapy focuses on how relationships, behaviour patterns, and life choices are interconnected with the issues people face in their life. It examines how parts of a system affect one another and the stability or equilibrium of the whole system. This form of psychotherapy can be applied to an individual, a family or group.
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)
TF-CBT is an evidence-based therapy that is particularly sensitive to the widely researched and known effects of trauma. It is designed to assist children, adolescents, and their families in overcoming the negative assault of a traumatic experience or event.
- Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
DBT is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy or talk therapy that is particularly helpful for people who have trouble managing their emotions. It is designed to cultivate self-acceptance and teaches skills that access different behaviour and thought processes for more positive outcomes and building a better life.
- Theraplay
Facilitated by an accredited practitioner, Theraplay creates playful, attentive child-parent/carer interactions that lead to happy and pleasurable shared experiences. These activities fortify feelings of connection and understanding – reproducing early relationship experiences that are proven to encourage secure attachment. Theraplay is a dyadic child and family therapy that has been recognized by the Association of Play Therapy as one of seven seminal psychotherapies for children.Theraplay interactions focus on four essential qualities found in healthy parent-child relationships:- Structure:The adult, the leader in the relationship, creates organization and predictability for the child which communicates safety
- Nurture:The adult provides caring that can calm and soothe the child in a manner that makes them feel good physically and emotionally
- Engagement:The adult is present in a manner that the child experiences being seen, heard, felt, and accepted
- Challenge:The adult supports the child in the acquisition and mastery of new skills, enhancing the child’s sense of competence and confidence
Source: https://theraplay.org/what-is-theraplay/core-concepts/
- Sandplay Therapy
Sandplay is a non-verbal therapeutic intervention that engage the client through use of a sandbox, toy figures, and sometimes water, to create scenes of miniature worlds that reflect a person’s inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns. This is a form of play therapy utilising symbol work in a safe and protected space where the complexities of the inner world can be explored.8
