Please reach out on 0494 631 041 or at Kate@beyondwordspsychotherapy.com.au if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Therapy is usually worth considering if you feel stuck in ways that insight, self-help, time, or conversations with friends or family are not changing. In these instances, it might help having someone who can assist you to make sense of your experience and help you work through it.
Additionally, whilst therapy may be helpful if you have a diagnosed mental illness or have experienced a trauma, it is not essential to have either of these in order to be eligible for therapy. In fact, there are no special criteria that you need to meet, beyond the willingness to turn up as you are and let the rest unfold.
That really depends on what your concerns are.
For instance, some people come to therapy to work on something specific such as support during a major life transition. Support during these experiences might require a shorter period of time.
For others, understanding and shifting relational and emotional patterns that began early in life and became habitual through repeated experiences may be of interest.
In these instances, the therapeutic journey may require more patience as it takes time for these patterns to be identified and brought into awareness.
Additionally, change in these instances arises through opportunity for you to have new positive repeated relational experiences with your therapist that allow for the resolution of unmet needs or ‘unfinished business’ and the formation of new beliefs and relational patterns toward self, other, and environment. This may take more time.
It’s not always immediately apparent whether we will work well together, it’s usually something that is figured out over a few sessions.
During that time there are some signs that you could look out for. For instance:
Do you feel understood and empathised with rather than judged or misunderstood?
Do you feel comfortable enough to share at your own pace or pressured to move quicker than you would like to?
Does the way that we are working together make sense to you, even if it’s unfamiliar?
And do you look forward to coming to sessions, even if you feel a little anxious or nervous at times, or do you feel apprehension or dread before each session?
When deciding, it’s important to keep in mind that a good fit doesn’t necessarily mean that I will always say the perfect thing or that everything will always feel comfortable. There are sure to be moments where something I say doesn’t land well and you end up feeling misunderstood or perhaps you notice yourself withdrawing or shutting down. These moments do not always represent a poor fit, rather they can be important opportunities during therapy to explore what is happening between us, which, if done appropriately, can lead to incredible insights and reparative relational moments, that contribute toward change.
Additionally, therapy can at times feel challenging, especially when working with long standing relational patterns. However, even when things feel challenging they should still feel safe, not confusing, dismissive, or beyond your capacity.
Therapy tends to be most effective when there is a strong sense of trust and alignment between yourself and your therapist, so if at any time it doesn’t feel like the right fit, then it’s ok to decide to continue elsewhere.
It’s very normal to feel scared, nervous, anxious, or apprehensive about starting therapy, especially when arriving for your first session. You’re walking into a new situation, meeting a new person, and you may be worried about how it will unfold, all of this is completely understandable. Rest-assured that I am mindful of this and will help create a space where you can feel comfortable, supported, and welcome. It might help to remember that therapy is a journey and that you are allowed to move at a pace that feels comfortable for you, so there is no expectation that you need to share everything immediately or that you need to know what to say, we will figure it out together as we go.
It can be easy to feel discouraged if you have tried something before and it hasn’t worked. I would suggest, that just because a previous attempt at therapy didn’t feel helpful, doesn’t automatically mean that ‘nothing works’ or that you can’t be helped. There are many factors that can contribute to what may feel like a stalled or seemingly unsuccessful therapy. In these cases it is always the therapist's responsibility to utilise their knowledge base, felt sense, experience, and supports (such as professional supervision) to determine what is leading to this outcome and how to best progress.
Yes, I believe therapy can lead to meaningful and lasting change and research across many decades consistently demonstrates psychotherapy’s effectiveness.
In my perspective, change occurs paradoxically, meaning that change happens more effectively when we stop trying to force ourselves to be something or someone we are not and instead allow ourselves to be as we truly are.
At first glance, this may seem contradictory. However, constantly striving to be different often leads to self-criticism, self-rejection, resistance, denial, and pretence, making things worse. The paradox here is that fuller awareness and acceptance of how we truly are, is what creates the conditions for genuine change. This, coupled with a therapist that is capable of creating psychological safety, providing corrective emotional experiences, making unconscious patterns visible, and that supports experimentation of new ways of relating to self and other, is the means through which I believe change becomes possible.
Yes, absolutely. Many people prefer to start with an initial session during which they can get a sense of whether my approach and the therapeutic relationship feel like a good fit. There’s no obligation to commit to ongoing sessions after the first appointment, and you are free to terminate the therapy at any time.
To book an appointment you can either:
I do not offer Medicare rebates, therefore a referral or mental health care plan from your GP is not required to start or continue therapy with me.
As I do not offer Medicare rebates, my fees have been adjusted to compensate clients for this. I offer a flexible sliding-scale fee structure (from $80 to $110 per session) based on your individual financial circumstances, allowing you to choose a fee that is manageable for you. My aim is to make therapy accessible without compromising the quality, depth, or effectiveness of the support you receive.
The first session is usually about getting to know each other, establishing clarity and mutual understanding about how we will work together, and helping you decide whether therapy with me feels like the right fit for you. This means we will usually discuss things like what brought you in and what you hope to achieve from therapy, as well as answer any questions or discuss any concerns you might have. By the end of the first session, I hope to have established enough safety, clarity, and direction between us to begin working together safely and meaningfully.
If you are in crisis, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. In an emergency call 000. I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where I work and live, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and pay my respects to Elders past and present.
Beyond Words Psychotherapy 0494 631 041
Copyright © 2026 Beyond Words Psychotherapy | Principal Therapist: Kate Zammit (PACFA Reg. 32002)
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