About
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage" - Anais Nin
To my mind, my entire life has been gearing me – or setting the stage – to work as an experiential psychotherapist and as I see it there have been two stagehands at work – the personal and the professional narratives – that have co-ordinated their efforts beautifully to bring it to pass.
Vicki’s Profile
On a Personal Note …
As a highly empathic sensitive soul I’ve always felt drawn to hear and hold the sacred stories of others. Coupled with this, from the age of 16, I’ve had an insatiable appetite for learning about human nature, theories of self-actualisation, spirituality and the underlying causes of human suffering. I was a bit of an ‘emo’ like that but it’s no secret. As a trauma survivor myself, my younger life was strongly impacted by a longstanding battle with depression and anxiety; a result of ongoing PTSD. Indeed, my own mental health journey was the subject of my award-winning book, ‘Wobbly: One Woman’s Journey to Onward and Upward’ (published in 2010). As a self-confessed Wobbler, it was that journey and the success of my own therapeutic process to bring about real and lasting change that ignited an unshakeable desire to help others in similar fashion.
Professionally Speaking …
After completing a Bachelor of Music in voice at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music I worked for 26 years as a singer and a voice therapist who sought to help people ‘unlock’ or ‘find’ their voice both literally and figuratively. Besides vocal technique, my performance studies exposed me to two intriguing integrative, body-based approaches called Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique. As I worked with even the little I knew back then, I observed how any powerful vocal breakthrough in a singer would naturally involve postural adjustments, reorganisation of breath and often a deep emotional release to a more empowered sense of embodied Self.
This process, observed time and time over, piqued my interest in the body-mind connection and reinforced to me the necessity to work holistically and experientially as a means to addressing outdated scripts and limiting mindsets. To this end I have immersed myself in ongoing study and, given how much I love to learn, suspect I will continue to for the rest of my days.
Since graduating myself I have provided ongoing education for tertiary students of counselling and expressive arts therapies. I also run experiential workshops called ArtFelt Converstaions for various groups in the community as need and interest arises. After working in two Brisbane based clinics for five years, 11 years ago I opened my own private practice where I continue to see clients both on-line and in person.
I am now based in Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast, land of the Gubbi Gubbi people who I acknowledge as the traditional custodians of this beautiful region.
Qualifications
Master of Counselling
Graduate Diploma in Arts Psychotherapy
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (Dr Peter Levine)
NeuroAffective Touch (Dr Aline LaPierre)
Bachelor of Music (Voice)
Cert III Somatic Psychotherapy
Certificate in Clayfield Therapy (from the Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy)
Certificate in Guided Drawing (also from the Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy)
Current First Aid Certificate (2022)
Current/Ongoing Trainings
Somatic Resilience & Regulation (with Kathy Kain & Stephen Terrell) Module 1 completed 2021
Memberships
PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia) Registered Clinical Member, Reg: 22358.
I have been married for 35 years and am an empty nester with two grown children and one naughty beagle ...