How do I know which counselling approach is right for me?

You do not need to choose a counselling approach before booking. We will talk about what you are experiencing, what you would like help with, and what feels comfortable for you. I then tailor our sessions using approaches that suit your needs, goals, personality and circumstances.

What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps you respond differently to difficult thoughts and emotions rather than becoming controlled by them. It can help you clarify what matters to you, develop psychological flexibility and take meaningful steps towards the life you want to build.

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, explores the connections between your thoughts, emotions and behaviours. It can help you recognise unhelpful patterns, develop more balanced ways of thinking and practise strategies for managing challenges such as anxiety, stress, low confidence and emotional overwhelm.

What is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)?

Emotionally Focused Therapy, or EFT, focuses on emotions, attachment needs and patterns of connection. It can help individuals, couples and families better understand the emotions beneath their reactions and develop safer, more supportive ways of relating to one another.

How does attachment theory inform counselling?

Attachment theory helps us understand how early and later relationships can shape the ways we seek connection, respond to conflict, manage emotions and protect ourselves from rejection or hurt. Counselling can help you recognise these patterns without blame and develop healthier ways of connecting with yourself and others.

Do you use only one type of therapy during counselling?

No. Counselling is tailored to the individual rather than following one approach for every person. Depending on your needs, I may draw from ACT, CBT, EFT, attachment-informed practice, person-centred counselling, mindfulness, narrative therapy, DBT-informed skills and other evidence-informed approaches.

Are counselling sessions practical or focused mainly on talking?

They can include both. Some sessions may focus on exploring your experiences and understanding emotional or relationship patterns. Others may include practical strategies, exercises, coping skills or steps to practise between appointments. We will work collaboratively to find a balance that is useful for you.

Counselling Approaches
Tailored to You

Counselling is not a one-size-fits-all process. Different people may need different kinds of support depending on what they are experiencing, what they hope to change and what feels helpful to them.

At Shifting Perspective Counselling, I offer a person-centred and collaborative approach. This means you are treated as a whole person rather than as a diagnosis or a collection of symptoms.

Together, we can explore what is happening in your life and draw from different counselling approaches to support your individual needs and goals.

My work may incorporate principles and strategies from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and attachment theory.

These approaches are not applied as rigid programs. They are thoughtfully integrated into counselling while respecting your experiences, values, relationships and preferred pace.

Counselling is available in person on the Sunshine Coast and online across Australia.

Book a free 10 minute call

A Person-Centred Foundation

The foundation of my counselling approach is person-centred. This means creating a supportive and non-judgemental space in which you can speak openly, better understand your experiences and decide what meaningful change looks like for you.

You won't be told what you should feel or pressured to move forward before you're ready. Instead, counselling is a collaborative process that recognises your strengths, autonomy and capacity for personal growth.

Depending on your needs, we may combine open exploration with practical strategies. Some clients benefit from having space to process what has happened, while others would also like tools to help them respond differently to thoughts, emotions, behaviours or relationship patterns. Often, counselling involves a combination of both.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, commonly referred to as ACT, focuses on developing greater psychological flexibility. This is the ability to remain connected to the present moment while choosing actions that reflect what matters to you, even when difficult thoughts or emotions are present.

ACT does not assume that every painful feeling needs to be removed before you can move forward. Grief, fear, uncertainty and self-doubt are natural human experiences. Trying to control or avoid them completely can sometimes leave people feeling even more stuck.

Using ACT-informed strategies, counselling may help you:

Notice difficult thoughts without automatically treating them as facts
Make room for uncomfortable emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them
Clarify your personal values and what is genuinely important to you
Take manageable steps towards a meaningful life
Respond more flexibly when circumstances cannot be changed
Reduce the influence of unhelpful self-criticism or avoidance

ACT may be particularly relevant when working through grief and loss, life transitions, ADHD-related challenges, performance pressure, confidence difficulties or situations involving uncertainty and change.

For example, someone experiencing grief may not need to “let go” of the person who died. ACT-informed grief counselling may instead help them make room for the pain of the loss while identifying ways to remain connected to their relationships, responsibilities and values.

Learn more about grief counselling

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, commonly known as CBT, explores the connections between thoughts, emotions and behaviours.

The way we interpret an experience can influence how we feel and what we do next. Over time, repeated patterns of thinking or behaviour may contribute to feeling anxious, discouraged, overwhelmed or unable to move forward.

CBT does not involve simply replacing every negative thought with a positive one. Instead, it can help you become curious about your thoughts, consider whether they are accurate or useful and develop more balanced ways of responding.

CBT-informed counselling may help you:

Recognise recurring or automatic thoughts
Understand how thoughts influence emotions and actions
Question unhelpful assumptions and thinking patterns
Develop practical coping and problem-solving strategies
Experiment with new behaviours
Break large or overwhelming tasks into achievable steps
Build confidence through gradual action and experience

These strategies may be helpful for people experiencing anxiety, emotional overwhelm, reduced confidence, procrastination, ADHD-related executive-function challenges or performance pressure.

The approach remains collaborative. We can consider which strategies fit your circumstances rather than expecting you to complete a standard program that does not reflect your needs.

Learn more about ADHD counselling and coaching

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotionally Focused Therapy, or EFT, is an attachment-based approach that explores emotional experiences and patterns of connection within relationships.

In relationship counselling, recurring conflict is not always about the immediate subject being discussed. Arguments about responsibilities, parenting, money, affection or communication may be shaped by deeper concerns about feeling unheard, unsupported, rejected or disconnected.

When these concerns are not expressed clearly, couples can become caught in a repeating cycle. One partner may criticise or pursue reassurance while the other withdraws or becomes defensive. Each person’s response can then intensify the reaction of the other, even when both partners want the relationship to improve.

Drawing from emotionally focused principles may help couples:

Recognise the cycle occurring between them
Look beneath reactive anger, criticism or withdrawal
Better understand their own and their partner’s emotional needs
Express vulnerable emotions more safely
Respond to each other with greater understanding
Strengthen emotional connection and relationship security

The purpose is not to decide which partner is at fault. Instead, counselling can help both people understand the pattern and develop different ways of responding to each other.

Emotionally focused and attachment-informed principles may also be incorporated into individual or family counselling where relationships, emotional safety and connection are important concerns.

Here, EFT refers to Emotionally Focused Therapy rather than Emotional Freedom Techniques or “tapping.”

Learn more about relationship counselling on the Sunshine Coast

Attachment-Informed Counselling

Attachment theory provides a way of understanding the human need for emotional safety, connection and dependable relationships.

Our earlier experiences can influence what we expect from relationships and how we respond when connection feels uncertain. Some people seek immediate reassurance or become highly alert to possible rejection.

Others withdraw, avoid vulnerable conversations or rely heavily on themselves when relationships feel unsafe.

These responses are not viewed as personal flaws. They may have developed as protective ways of maintaining connection or reducing the possibility of being hurt.

Attachment-informed counselling may help you explore:

How earlier relationships influence present expectations
What happens when you feel rejected, criticised or disconnected
Why particular conflicts or situations create strong reactions
Patterns of pursuing, withdrawing, pleasing or avoiding
Difficulties trusting others or expressing emotional needs
Ways of developing safer and more secure relationships
How attachment experiences can influence grief and separation

Understanding an attachment pattern does not mean placing yourself or another person into a fixed category. People can respond differently in different relationships, and patterns can change through awareness, supportive experiences and new ways of relating.

Attachment theory may inform individual, relationship, separation and family counselling. It can be particularly useful when people understand what they are doing in a relationship but remain uncertain about why the pattern keeps happening.

How Do We Decide Which Approach to Use?

You do not need to know which counselling approach you need before booking an appointment.

We can begin by discussing what has brought you to counselling, what is currently affecting you and what you would like to be different. I may then suggest particular questions, exercises or strategies and explain why they could be relevant.

You're encouraged to provide feedback throughout counselling. If an approach does not feel helpful or appropriate, we can adjust, slow down, or consider another way of working.

The aim is not to fit you into a therapy model. It is to use therapeutic knowledge and practical strategies in a way that supports you as an individual.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between ACT and CBT?

CBT commonly explores how thoughts, emotions and behaviours influence each other and may involve evaluating or changing unhelpful patterns. ACT focuses more on changing your relationship with thoughts and emotions, clarifying your values and taking meaningful action even when discomfort is present.

The approaches are not necessarily opposites. Elements of both may be used where they are appropriate and helpful.

Do I need to choose a therapy before my first session?

No. You only need to explain what has been happening and what you would like support with. We can discuss suitable counselling approaches together.

Does attachment-informed counselling focus entirely on childhood?

No. Earlier experiences may be explored when they are relevant, but attachment-informed counselling can also focus on your present relationships, emotional responses and recurring patterns. You will not be required to discuss experiences before you feel ready.

Is EFT only for couples?

Emotionally Focused Therapy is widely associated with couples counselling, but emotionally focused and attachment-informed principles may also contribute to individual and family work. How these principles are used will depend on your circumstances and counselling goals.

Will I be given strategies to use between sessions?

Some clients value exercises, reflection questions or practical strategies between appointments, while others initially need space to talk and process their experiences. We can decide collaboratively what would be most useful and manageable for you.

Counselling on the Sunshine Coast and Online Across Australia

Shifting Perspective Counselling provides compassionate, collaborative counselling for adults, teenagers, couples and families. Support is available for grief and loss, ADHD-related challenges, life transitions, separation, relationship concerns, parenting, family difficulties and performance pressure.

In-person appointments are available on the Sunshine Coast, with online counselling available across Australia.

You do not need to determine the right therapeutic approach before contacting me. We can begin with what you are experiencing and work together from there.

Book an Appointment

Contact Shifting Perspective Counselling

Counselling Approaches Tailored to You