top of page

Services

Our approach to assessment and treatment is individualised and collaborative. We support people experiencing developmental, emotional, behavioural, and relational difficulties such as:

 

  • Skill development or challenges associated with neurodiversity (including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • Recovery from trauma or a stressful life experience

  • Body image and eating disorders

  • Family discord/relationship issues

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Child behavioural or emotional regulation challenges

  • Parent training and support

  • Parent-child attachment/relationship issues

  • School avoidance

  • Social difficulties (skills, friendships and/or bullying)

Child Therapy

As children learn and express through play, traditional talk therapy is often ineffective, not to mention boring! Play is the natural language of childhood, through which children can process, learn about and express feelings.

 

At Bold Steps Therapy we combine our knowledge of childhood development with our expertise in mental health to develop individual treatment approaches that are fun, creative and engaging.

 

Child therapy goals may include:

 

  • Processing and recovering from the impacts of trauma

  • Increasing the ability to recognise, label and regulate feelings

  • In vivo learning of social skills to support great connections and social opportunities

  • Calming anxiety with bravery and learned strategies

  • Building resilience and positive self esteem

Parent-Child Therapy

Sometimes, despite good intentions, the relationship between a parent and child can be tricky. Parents and children might find themselves stuck in an emotionally reactive cycle of yelling and acting out behaviourally. Sometimes this results in aggressive behaviour, verbal lashing out and a range of other destructive coping mechanisms for both the parent and the child.

 

Other parent-child relationships can be disrupted by separation anxiety, clinginess or a child struggling to reach their independence milestones.

 

Relational problems may arise from a range of circumstances and biological factors such as divorce, death, arrival of a new sibling, trauma, parental mental health problems, temperament, neurodiversity or developmental delays.

 

There is rarely one cause and at Bold Steps Therapy we discourage blame and encourage action.

 

Parent-child therapy uses psycho-education, coaching and play to strengthen or repair the relationship. It offers the parent an opportunity be actively involved in therapy and to learn new skills for responding to their child’s emotional or behavioural problems. Parent-child therapy can help parents and caregivers:

 

  • Better understand and practice co-regulation and self-regulation

  • See behavioural problems from a different perspective

  • Learn to enjoy, join in and facilitate play with their child

  • Shift from reactive parenting to responsive parenting approaches

  • Discover new ways to encourage cooperation and discourage power struggles

  • Form closer bonds with their child and the family unit

 

Children who participate in parent-child therapy can benefit by:

 

  • Learning about their own feelings and heathy ways to express to them

  • Building or strengthening their feelings of trust and confidence in their parent

  • Reframing negative self-beliefs of being bad, naughty or a problem to beliefs that are compassionate and empowering

  • Reducing tantrums and oppositional, defiant, and aggressive behaviour

  • Practising problem solving and self-regulation skills to build lifelong resilience

 

Just like children, teenagers need their parents’ support and connection too. We offer parent-adolescent therapy using attachment-based family therapy to help with:

 

  • Navigating the ups and downs of life-stage transitions

  • Resolving family conflict

  • Supporting recovery from mental health disorders

  • Overcoming school avoidance or refusal

  • Talking about gender-sexuality exploration

Parenting Support and Training

A child’s first and often most enduring relationships are those with their parents. Parenting is a lifelong journey and creating a positive foundation in childhood puts your child on a pathway to healthy well-being and connected relationships throughout the years. At times, parenting is challenging, frustrating, overwhelming and tiring. When this becomes the norm or issues start to negatively affect how you see your child or yourself as a parent, it may be a sign to ask for professional help.

 

At Bold Steps Therapy we offer parent support through psycho-education, coaching, guidance and training in practical strategies that targets specific problems and the needs your family. Parent training and support can help with:

 

  • Understanding the function and needs that drive your child’s challenging behaviour, and exploring helpful solutions

  • Reading, responding and attuning to your child’s emotions

  • Increasing your knowledge of neurodiversity and building your capacity to adjust your parenting approach to your child’s developmental challenges and needs

  • Creating a sense of stability for your child through setting boundaries, limits, routines and predictable consequences

  • Addressing separation anxiety or difficulties with transitions to kindergarten or school

Adult Therapy

Individual adult therapy offers a safe and friendly space to process feelings, experiences, thoughts and internal conflicts. Whether you’re struggling with long term mental health challenges or at a crossroads in your life, Bold Steps Therapy can help.

 

We believe therapy starts with the relationship between you and your therapist. Jo seeks to meet clients where they are at and build a compassionate and trusting relationship in order to safely journey into the past, present and future. By creating a reflective space for clients to explore their internal and external worlds, Jo supports clients to deepen their self-awareness, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and navigate changes in their lives and relationships. By engaging in short or longer term therapy, adult clients can hope to:

 

  • Reduce and better manage stress, depression, anxiety and other emotional distress

  • Develop helpful coping strategies and lifestyle practices that support mental well-being

  • Better understand their stress responses and find helpful ways to manage relationship, work or health problems

  • Navigate changes (such as career changes, relationship break-ups, death of a loved one, becoming a parent)

Family Therapy

The leg bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, the hip bone’s connected to the…..

 

Family therapy works off the belief that the parts (individual members) make up the sum (family unit). This approach recognises the family as a unit, in which each person’s emotions and behaviours affect the other people in the family and the family as a whole.

 

Family therapy explores relationship dynamics as a way to understand problems and create solutions. Whether it is one person in the family who is identified as having the main challenge (such as a mental health disorder) or a whole of family challenge (such as conflict), family therapy offers a unique therapeutic approach to improve relationships and feel more connected.

 

Bold Steps Therapy can help families wanting to:

 

  • Improve the functioning of a family member and the family unit as whole

  • Find new ways to support each other

  • Reduce and resolve conflict using helpful strategies

  • Replace destructive communication patterns such as threats, yelling, verbal abuse and stonewalling, with healthy communication

  • Adjust to changes, such as parental separation, a new baby, illness, death or relocation

Animal-assisted Therapy

There is growing research confirming what many of us already knew: animals can boost your mental well-being!

 

A little-known fact: even Sigmund Freud had his dog join his therapy sessions and noted that both he and his clients were more relaxed.

 

Animal-assisted Therapy offers an addition or alternative to traditional talk and play therapies. Including animals in our therapeutic work has both physiological and psychological benefits. It can help by building rapport, teaching new skills, reducing anxiety and providing comfort. There are a range of ways that animals can be included in therapy as specific treatment tools or simply as a calming presence in the room.

 

Blanche, our therapy dog, offers a playful and fun way to make therapy more accessible and supportive for people of all ages. We understand that not everyone is a dog person, and we respect anyone’s choice to not involve Blanche in their therapy sessions.

 

Please note Blanche is involved in therapy subject to availability and suitability. Just like a person, Blanche, needs down time from her job and a safe work environment.

We are happy to discuss animal-assisted therapy more with you if you have any further questions.

​

Offering flexible hours - Telehealth, evening and weekend appointments (subject to availability)

bottom of page