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This quote from Frankl essentially means that because we can’t always control what happens to us in life, we need to find a way to change our response to a difficult situation because our reaction is often the only thing we can control.

Otherwise, we may be left feeling stressed, overwhelmed, helpless, trapped, anxious, or depressed.

At Balanced Wellbeing Centre our Psychologists and Counsellors complete several years of university or educational training including various therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness, Acceptance & Commitment, Solution-Focused, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy.

Psychologists and Counsellors must follow strict ethics, and participate in ongoing development. Only Psychologists are legally required to register with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) after their training. 

By seeing one of our Psychologists or Social Workers, you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate with a referral from a GP or you may use Private Health.

From time to time we have additional Counsellors, Mental Health Care Nurses, and Child/ Adolescent/ Adult Psychologists who we have not added to the website yet. Feel free to check if we do offer a practitioner service that’s not listed.

Therapy helps people to overcome their reaction to adversity, builds resilience, and promotes emotional fitness. 

In therapy, you are supported to deconstruct negative thinking patterns through evidence based strategies to encourage positive thinking. This leads to healthy feelings and changed behaviours. 

Call us if you need help to choose a therapist, as the connection between a therapist and a client is an important factor that facilitates change and growth.

Our Team

Dr Marie Anderson

Dr Marie Anderson

Clinical and Health Psychologist
Strategic Coach

BBSc(Hons)
DHealthPsych MAPS
Fellow, APS College of Clinical Psychologists (FCCLP)
Fellow, APS College of Health Psychologists (FCHP)

Frequently Asked Questions

A survey on stress and wellbeing (2015, Australian Psychological Society) showed that a major cause of stress is problems with maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The same survey showed that focusing on the positives, undertaking healthy activities, and seeking support are all important factors that help manage stress and, therefore, wellbeing.

Key areas our practitioners address include mood problems, self-esteem concerns, chronic health issues, and lifestyle changes.

Theoretically, emotional growth is about evolving into a sense of ourselves. A simple way to look at it is like physical growth. We know, and can see, ourselves and others growing from a child into an adolescent into an adult and then into age-hood.

Emotional development is similar, yet different.

As humans, we have evolved with some basic needs that require satisfying for optimal emotional fitness. For example, shelter, safety, companionship, intimacy, creativity, etc.

There are various human needs theories proposed but the one most popularised is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow (1943, 1954, 1969) devised a model to describe people’s motivation to achieve emotional growth. Essentially, it gives us a pretty good picture as to why sometimes we struggle emotionally, to cope, or to feel good about ourselves.

Emotional growth relies on:

• Becoming more aware and more conscious of who we are in the world.

• The conscious unravelling of self-limiting, self-defeating, and self-sabotaging patterns (Self esteem Stealers) and replacing them with a positive sense of self (Worthy Words) and self affirming beliefs (Constructive Cognitions).

• The effort we put in through self-development, attending workshops, reading books and therapy.

Despite the fact that Counselling, Psychology, Psychotherapy and Life-Wellbeing / Strategic Coaching overlap, there are some main differences.

Common elements:
• To help people overcome difficulties or problems.
• To talk things through.
• Discuss possibilities for change.
• Explore different points of view.
• Relationship of trust and confidentiality.
• Facilitate positive change.
• Ethics are important.

Main differences:
• Training, where employed, who they work with, and focus of support.
• Counsellors and Psychologists tend to work with people whose functioning is compromised, whereas Coaches aim to work with well functioning people who need help moving forward.

Counselling 
• To process emotional difficulties and feelings.
• Client to feel validated and heard.
• Deal with the here and now.
• Help clients come to terms with the difficulties they are going through.

Psychology
• The same as counselling. Discuss how and why people do what they do and how these patterns emotionally impact the individual.
• Education and therapeutic strategies to help people resolve their emotional problems.

Coaching
• Help people achieve their goals by exploring motivational strategies, obstacles to change, and creating action plans.
•  Helping people bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
•  Help move people forward.

Psychotherapy
• Long-term therapy. To process emotional difficulties and feelings.
• Client to feel validated and heard.
• Focus is on discussing how the past has impacted personality development and generating insights for change.

Psychiatry
• The medical and pharmacological management of mental health, particularly for severe challenges.

See FAQ page for general questions.