Counselling & Consultancy
SERVICES
Welcome to Mirna Tarabay counselling & consultancy
About Mirna Tarabay
My passion for working with people and supporting them is what lead me to become a counsellor. I believe in the value of respect and trust, and this belief is evident in all of my training, counselling and support work.
I began my working life as a school teacher in Sydney. After some time, I realised I very much preferred the welfare part of the job and I left the school system to take a position in a women’s refuge.
Working in a women and children’s refuge reinforced my commitment to supporting people to live free of violence. I began my studies in counselling and continued to work with people experiencing domestic violence in a range of settings. I was particularly interested in the experiences of migrant and refugee families and worked at a migrant & refugee women’s service in Sydney. I also worked as a counsellor with the Department of Community Services Domestic Violence Line.
My love of teaching remained. I decided to pursue a pathway which would allow me assist others in their learning, whilst continuing to focus on my interests in the helping field. For many years, I worked as a Training and Development Co-ordinator for the Centre for Community Welfare Training. I delivered training in many areas including domestic violence, counselling, child protection, cultural diversity and early intervention work with children and families.
I have also worked as an educator in The Cultural Equity Unit at the Education Centre Against Violence and I continue in my role as an educator at the Australian College of Applied Psychology.
While mostly working with women and children who have experienced trauma, I have also worked with people facing a range of issues, including struggles with family and relationships, sexual abuse, childhood abuse, anxiety and depression.
Over the past few years I have been involved in the counselling program at the Aids Council (ACON), conducting individual and couples counselling and running therapeutic groups for the gay and lesbian community. My counselling at ACON has focussed on the issues of intimacy, sexual identity and addiction. I have also been involved in the personal counselling program at Lifeline.
In supporting others to live a fuller life, I believe it is important that I continue to undertake my own personal and professional development and I do this regularly.
Common topics/issues:- Relationship issues
- Abuse issues
- Trauma
- Communication difficulties
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Childhood experiences
- Loss & grief
- Eating disorders
- Addictions
Philosophy
It is my belief that counselling is not a response to illness or sadness, but rather an opportunity to live a fuller, richer and more rewarding life.
Often there is confusion about the meaning of the terms counselling and psychotherapy. Counselling refers to work aimed at solving issues which may be immediately impacting on your life, while psychotherapy is work at a deeper level aimed at addressing longer term issues and patterns. I will use the approach which is most suitable to your needs, allowing you to work at your own pace.
While I am influenced greatly by the humanistic model of counselling which underpins many of our current models of counselling/psychotherapy, my approach is a holistic one. This enables me to extract from many models of therapy in order to best support you and your needs.
Humanistic work relies heavily on an environment of trust to assist you to explore and work with your feelings, experiences, and concerns. I provide a judgement free and confidential environment, working with you ‘in the moment’ to discover and unpack the painful feelings which may be getting in the way of your happiness and well-being.
I believe that therapy provides an avenue for learning about ourselves which can lead to an understanding of our behaviours, feelings and patterns of relating to others. Without this understanding we can feel trapped and limited in our possibilities to take action. Through counselling we may be obtain the tools for taking action and for implementing change.
We do not always know what it is that is bothering us. Often we only know that there is discomfort or that we want things to be a different. I will work with you and help you to discover what is preventing you from living a fuller life.
My work respects what you know about your life and what you want to gain from your counselling experience.
QUALIFICATION DETAILS
Counselling, Psychotherapy
|
|
|
