ILLUMINE PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELLING: Your Partner in Mental Health

 EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a well-researched therapeutic approach that helps the brain process distressing memories and experiences that continue to affect how you feel and function in daily life.

When something overwhelming happens, the memory can become "stuck" — replaying in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety or emotional reactions that feel out of proportion to the present moment. EMDR works by gently activating these memories while using bilateral stimulation — such as guided eye movements — to help the brain reprocess them naturally.

Many clients describe the experience as a gradual loosening of something that had felt tightly held. Distressing memories don't disappear, but they lose their intensity and no longer carry the same emotional charge.

EMDR can be helpful for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, phobias, grief, disturbing memories and experiences that feel difficult to move past. It can be used as a standalone therapy or integrated within a broader therapeutic approach.

Magdalen is an Accredited EMDR Practitioner with the EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA).

Sometimes life brings experiences that are difficult to navigate alone — trauma, loss, relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression or a persistent sense of feeling stuck or disconnected. Seeking therapy is not a sign of weakness. It is an act of courage and an investment in yourself.

Psychotherapy and counselling offer a safe, confidential space to explore what you are experiencing with someone who is trained to listen deeply and without judgement. Together, we work to understand the patterns — emotional, relational and behavioural — that may be keeping you stuck, and gently find ways to move towards greater clarity, connection and wellbeing.

Magdalen works from an integrative, trauma-informed and attachment-focused perspective. Rather than following a single therapeutic model, she draws on a range of evidence-based and experiential approaches — including psychodynamic and interpersonal therapies, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, narrative therapy, EMDR, Deep Brain Reorienting and Small Figures Work — thoughtfully tailored to each person's unique experience and needs.

This integrative way of working recognises that different aspects of a person's difficulty may respond to different approaches. Some experiences need to be processed through the body. Others need to be understood in the context of relationships and early life. Others still need practical strategies for managing day-to-day distress. Magdalen holds all of these dimensions in her work.

Therapy can help with:

· Trauma, PTSD and complex trauma · Anxiety, stress and overwhelm · Depression and low mood · Grief and loss · Relationship difficulties and recurring relational patterns · Attachment and early relational wounds · Life transitions and identity · Emotional disconnection or numbness · Self-worth and self-compassion

You don't need to have everything figured out before you reach out. 

Many people begin therapy simply knowing that something feels difficult and they would like support. That is more than enough to start.

Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), developed by Dr Frank Corrigan,  Consultant Psychiatrist based in Scotland, is an evidence-based,  neuroscience-informed and trauma-focused therapeutic approach designed to address shock and attachment trauma by targeting the brain’s earliest threat-response mechanisms which thought to occur at the brainstem level.

DBR goes to the roots of trauma and works with pre-conscious orienting responses and neurophysiological sensations that occur prior to emotional or cognitive processing, supporting resolution of trauma .  A defining feature of DBR therapy is its embodiment of an intrinsic healing process that aligns with the evolutionary development of the brain and nervous system.

Magdalen is a Level 3 DBR practitioner.  

More information on DBR can be found on DBR website https://deepbrainreorienting.com 

 Magdalen offers clinical supervision and consultation for mental health practitioners seeking reflective, supportive and clinically rigorous professional development.

Supervision provides a confidential space to reflect on your clinical work, explore what is happening in the therapeutic relationship, develop your clinical thinking and ensure ethical, thoughtful practice. It is an essential part of professional growth — not only for meeting registration requirements but for sustaining yourself in demanding clinical work.

Magdalen brings over 30 years of international clinical experience, a relational and attachment-informed lens, and particular depth in trauma-focused practice, EMDR, neurofeedback and Small Figures Work.

She supervises mental health practitioners across a range of disciplines and experience levels.

Supervision is available in person at Wheelers Hill or via telehealth.

Magdalen offers specialist training in Small Figures Work — a powerful and effective experiential approach for the moments in therapy when words are not enough.

Using Playmobil figurines to concretise the client's inner world, Small Figures Work deepens therapeutic engagement and extends the reach of the clinical relationship. It can be integrated alongside existing therapeutic approaches including narrative, solution-focused, interpersonal, psychodynamic, relational and systemic modalities.

Training is offered through a two-day experiential workshop for mental health clinicians, with a one-day Refresher and Practice Day available for graduates.

For further information, upcoming training dates and registration: www.smallfigureswork.com