Our Team
Welcome to our Integrative, Embodied, Brain Based, Relational Psychotherapy team
at Abeles Consulting
in Crows Nest, Sydney, Australia
‘We acknowledge, that the Guringai are the traditional owners of this land (now called Crows Nest), and are part of the oldest surviving continuous culture in the world.
We pay our respects to the all the people, elders and spirits of the Guringai people.’
~ ~
All Abeles Consulting team members
have training in:
Brainspotting Therapy
Somatic Experiencing Therapy
The MATES Regulation & Resource Program
as well as advanced training in other modalities and specialties.
All are experts in their fields, and all partake in ongoing professional development to ensure they are practicing with the best and most up to date therapies to maximise your positive results.
Salene Souza 
Salene is a parent coach and child therapist, and is passionate about helping whole families manage their stress so they can have more fun together.
She also works with individual adults who are looking for trauma therapy and nervous system regulation.
She is an expert in the areas of
- Traumatic Stress and how that affects people on a day to day basis not just mentally but also how it affects you on a physical symptom level
- Taking the shame out of “labels” children have been assigned
- Parenting Coaching
- ADD/ADHD in children and adults
- MATES Resourcing & Regulation Program Training for whole families, either in groups or for individual families.
- Making therapy creative and fun for children, because that is when they learn – when they are playing and having fun.
- Dr Daniel Siegel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology and Parenting skills work.
- Ale Duarte’s “Somatic Self-Regulation Methods for Children” & “Tune In To Children – Somatic Tools” – both have an emphasis on play and joyful movement to help children rebalance their nervous system.
Salene’s academic qualifications
- Bachelors degree in Psychology (Hons), and she practices as a psychotherapist
- Masters degree in Mind & Brain Science (in process) Sydney University
Membership Organisations
- PACFA – Clinical Member
- PACFA Approved Supervisor
- EMDRAA Approved Consultant
Salene has advanced training in
- Brainspotting for adults and children
- EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing
- Somatic Experiencing – The Work of Peter Levine
- TRE – Trauma/Tension Releasing Exercises for stress management
- PsychoDrama
In 2011 she and Dr Roby Abeles developed the MATES Resourcing & Regulation Program for parents and children.
Salene is one of only two Brainspotting trainers in Australia, and is an EMDR Approved Consultant and TRE Facilitator. She is also a Brainspotting International Trainer in her native Brazil.
Salene is co-authoring a parenting book based on the MATES Program. The title is: Revolutionary Parenting: The Proven MATES Formula for Reducing Stress and Improving Communication & Connection.
International Conference Presentations
2014 “Using the MATES Resourcing & Regulation program with children and families to reduce stress and increase connections” at The Australian Childhood Foundation’s – International Trauma Conference in Melbourne in 2014
2016 Brainspotting and “Talking to the Stars” at The 1st International Brainspotting Conference in Brazil, in March, 2016
Salene is also the developer of Samba Therapy
These fun sessions are planned to focus on different parts of the body in order to practice the 5 important “Bs” in life. Breath, Bounce, Balance, Boundaries and Bliss. Each session is divided into three sections: warm-up, samba practice and relaxation.
Samba-therapy combines Latin dance movements with a range of psychotherapeutic techniques aiming to encourage people to reflect on their lives and become aware of their thoughts, sensations, emotions and behaviours. Beyond Latin dance movements, each session includes activities such as; mindfulness, relaxation exercises, visualising and grounding exercises.
Salene provides:
- In-person therapy sessions; daily, weekly and multiple sessions per week for stabilising clients.
- Skype sessions
- Multiple-day, intensive (2-3 hours per day) therapy sessions for families in Sydney or for families travelling to Sydney from remote, regional or interstate areas.
- [Preliminary assessment is required to check for suitability for this work]
She is bi-lingual in English and Brazilian Portuguese
Contact info: Mobile 0421 204 923 Email: salenesouza(at)hotmail.com
Office Address; Crows Nest, NSW 2065, Australia
Andrea Szasz
Here is Andrea Szasz with Dr Brene´ Brown at Dr Brown’s Daring Way™ tr
aining in Austin, Texas.
Andrea was the first Australian therapist to be trained as a Brene´ Brown approved Daring Way facilitator, and she is also a “Rising Strong” facilitator.
And she has a wealth of experience and training in trauma and relational therapies. She works both short and long term with her clients, many of whom are healing from early trauma experiences including ruptures in attachment, and developmental traumas.
Andrea has gained invaluable training while working as a therapist/counsellor at:
- ACON [is NSW’s leading health promotion organisation specialising in HIV and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) health]
- The Dept of Children’s Services – DOCS [organisation providing care for abused and neglected children]
- The Wesley Eating Disorder Centre as a counsellor in the eating disorders unit
- Sydney’s South Pacific Private mental health facility, as an eating disorder group therapist and later as their family therapist
Andrea is passionate about consistently improving her therapy skills and has added Art Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting and EMDR training to her skill set, and she is also a passionate MATES Resourcing & Regulation therapist. She has a Masters degree in The Conversational Model of therapy which helps those who need long term therapy work on resolving early relational traumas .
In 2013, Andrea undertook training in Brene´Brown’s “Daring Way™” therapy in Texas, USA, and she became Australia’s first Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, and she is now also Certified in Brene´ Brown’s “Rising Strong™” workshops. She facilitates these in Sydney, Australia.If you are interested in this work, please contact Andrea via email on andi(at)bravetherapy.com
Andrea has the following academic qualifications;
- Currently, working on her Masters in Philosophy/PhD.
- A Masters Degree in Medical Psychotherapy from Sydney University.
- This course is based on “the Conversational Model “(Hobson, 1985; Meares, 2000, 2005), but also incorporates concepts from other schools, including Self Psychology, Intersubjectivity Theory, Trauma Theory and Memory Systems Theory.
- A Graduate Diploma in Psychology from Charles Sturt University Bathurst
- A Bachelors Degree in Applied Social Science from the Australian College of Applied Psychology
She is a Work Cover approved therapist.
Andrea has 2 offices:
Crows Nest, Sydney, Australia
Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia
Andrea is bi-lingual in English and Hungarian
Contact info: Mobile 0414 309 003 Email: andi(at)bravetherapy.com
http://www.goodtherapy.com.au/andrea_szasz
http://www.bravetherapy.com/Brave_Therapy/Welcome.html
Mihoko Yamaguchi
Mihoko works in collaboration with the Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy team at Abeles Consulting in Sydney and also has a private practice on the NSW Central Coast. She is a Body Focused Therapist.
Mihoko works in collaboration with the therapy team at Abeles Consulting, supporting her clients to regain access to their body while building resilience and expanding the feeling of vitality they experience.
Many of her clients work in collaboration with one of the other psychotherapist team members, thereby combining Mihoko’s body therapies with psychotherapy.
Mihoko developed a strong interest in working with Developmental Trauma from a body focus, and completed Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills For Trauma® and Dr.Laurence Heller’s NARM (Neuro-Affective Relational Model) training. These are both created by Somatic Experiencing faculty members and provide strong focus towards working with and healing Developmental Trauma.
Mihoko has further training in Kathy Kain’s work to build somatic resilience for those clients who have experienced early developmental trauma, and has completed Integral Somatic Psychotherapy training with Somatic Experiencing senior faculty member, Dr Raja Selvam.
Mihoko loves introducing Safe “Touch” in her Somatic therapy work and this is complemented by her Cranio Sacral background.
She considers it to be an honour to be a part of her client’s healing journey and is constantly amazed and pleased by the healing that can take place using SE principles and techniques.
Mihoko has also worked as an interpreter, assisting at Esalen Institute courses, and setting up well-being study courses in Bali and Tokyo.
Mihoko is translating the MATES Resourcing & Regulation Program™ into Japanese.
For bookings or inquiries
mobile: 0417043938, see website link for email form.
Tuesday & Wednesdays: Crows Nest, Sydney
Monday & Thursday: Terrigal, NSW Central Coast
Skype sessions are also available.
Mihoko is Bilingual in English and Japanese
Hi, I am Veerle van Weelden
I offer counselling and psychotherapy for individuals and couples
My website: http://attunedcounselling.com/about/
Because of my own challenges in life I became interested in psychotherapy, and the more I studied and resolved my own difficulties, the more passionate I became about the ability of psychotherapy to support people at the most vulnerable times in their lives, and facilitate healing.
A little about me:
I was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to Australia in 2005, where I fell in love with this country’s wild nature, as well as my husband. We live in Sydney with our son.
My training:
I am a graduate of a Bachelor degree in Counselling, and have specialised in trauma-informed therapy models.
I have completed the Brainspotting® Phase One training with Dr Roby Abeles, as well as Brainspotting® Parts of the Self with Dr. Andre Monteiro.
In addition, I am continuing my training in Somatic Experiencing®.
I offer a special recovery program for those new in recovery from substance addictions.
About the therapies I utilise:
Brainspotting® is a brain-based, relational approach that is specifically suited to clients suffering from trauma and stubborn issues, and clients that have found that conventional talk-therapy has been unable to help them further. Find out more
Somatic Experiencing® is a therapy model that helps to regulate the nervous system to alleviate conditions such as depression and anxiety, and then gently support the processing of difficult and traumatic experiences. Find out more
I also work with couples struggling with relationships issues.
I use my study of Systems Theory, Attachment Theory, Developmental Approach, Imago Therapy, Nonviolent Communication, and my training as Tantra Practitioner to support couples to resolve their issues and deepen their intimacy and connection. Find out more Couples counselling & Intimacy Coaching
What we do together:
I attune with my clients and create a safe and nurturing environment to support you in the therapy process. I use a person-centred approach to facilitate this, and I use:
- Emotional- and body focused therapy skills to uncover what underlies problematic behaviours and relationship issues
- Brainspotting® to process unresolved trauma, negative beliefs, and emotional distress
- Somatic Experiencing® techniques to support the healing of a dysregulated nervous system stuck in anxiety and depressed states
- Solution-focused approaches to relieve immediate life-stresses
- Narrative Therapy as an integrative modality for working with repetitive, bothersome experiences and behaviours
- Couples work based on Systems Theory, the Developmental Approach to diagnosis and treatment, and using John Gottman’s methods, Imago Therapy, and Nonviolent Communication methods to improve communication, work through relationship issues, and increase intimacy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing to support the recovery from alcohol and other addictions
- Tools from Tantric practices to deepen intimacy for couples
Monday & Friday: Crows Nest, NSW
Skype sessions are also available.
I am Bilingual in English and Dutch
