Margaret River Counselling and Psychotherapy

About Blake

Before working as a therapist, I worked in Sumatra as a surf guide and on post-tsunami community development projects. From complex oceans to rebuilding communities, both taught me different aspects of adaptability, generosity, gratitude, and mindfulness. This eventually inspired me to become a therapist.

I work from a trauma-informed perspective that’s informed by EMDR trauma processing, systemic and psychodynamic parts work, mindfulness practices, and a strong social justice framework. What this means in therapy is that I’m interested in building a relationship with you that feels safe, collaborative, exploratory, and empowering. As a therapy team, together we work out what to focus on and how we go about it together.

Things that inspire me include surfing around the world, travelling on a shoe string budget, exploring other countries on motorbike, and meaningful conversations.

As you might have guessed from my website, I consider myself a human and ocean-lover first, therapist a close second. If you feel like we might be a good fit for therapy, feel free to get in touch. 

My Background

I have over ten years experience providing therapy to people with shame-based presentations and underlying trauma. These settings include acute mental health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres, veterans counselling services, high security correctional facilities, domestic violence organisations, and child protection. I also worked in disability prior to the above roles, and with neurodivergence in a variety of settings including under NDIS.

My accreditation is ‘Accredited Mental Health Social Worker’ (AMHSW), which many people haven’t heard of before. Like psychologists, AMHSW are approved to provide ‘focused psychological strategies’ under Medicare once they complete their degrees, then receive two-years supervision in mental health. Both AMHSW and psychologists provide all kinds of therapy from general counselling to psychotherapy and trauma processing.

Read on below for a full list of qualifications and training.