Counselling and psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is my second career. I underwent psychoanalysis while studying, an experience that transformed my mental health and led to my ongoing interest in psychotherapy. Having had chronic health conditions from childhood, I’m also deeply aware of the challenges that navigating physical and mental health issues can pose to our wellbeing.

I trained in medical history and anthropology. My areas of study reflect my lifelong interest in questions of belonging, identity, and mind-body connections.

My honours thesis looked at the relationship of chronic pain and language, and how the medical model of chronic pain affects those living with it.

My doctorate looked at how homesickness was medicalised as a clinical condition in French medicine and early psychiatry in the 19th century. I explored how constellations of behaviours, emotions and experiences can be medicalised and/or take on cultural, even political, meanings in different times and places. These same processes continue to affect how certain mental or physical health challenges are understood and treated.

After completing my degrees, I worked in the cultural and university sectors in a number of countries, in curatorial and management roles. I saw, and experienced, the toll that stress and challenging workplaces can take on our mental and physical well-being, especially in roles that feel like vocations. Taking more active steps for my own wellbeing led me to psychotherapy as both a client and a practitioner.