My Services,
What I Help With
I offer Gestalt psychotherapy and counselling in Surry Hills and online, available to adults across Sydney and Australia-wide. My approach is trauma-informed, person-centred and body-focused. I work with people navigating anxiety, grief, birth trauma, identity, relationships and more, with particular expertise in LGBTQ+ affirming therapy and perinatal mental health.
PACFA Certified Practicing Member #29367
Areas of experience
I work with adults across a wide range of concerns. Below are the areas I most commonly support. Most people find that their experience does not fit neatly into one category, and that is completely fine. The categories are here to help you recognise yourself, not to define the work we do together.
Each card links to a dedicated page with more detail about that specific area, how I work with it, what sessions look like and what kinds of change people typically experience. If you are not sure where to begin, scroll to the section below or simply reach out directly via the contact form. I am happy to have a conversation about your situation and help you figure out whether my practice is the right fit for what you are carrying before you commit to a session.
Anxiety, Stress & Burnout
When worry, tension or exhaustion become persistent, therapy can help you understand what is driving them and develop a different relationship with pressure. Anxiety often shows up in the body as well as the mind. Burnout can feel like a profound loss of meaning. Gestalt and somatic approaches offer grounded, embodied ways to work with both. Whether you are living with chronic anxiety, pushing through burnout, or simply exhausted from holding too much, there is a way through.
Learn moreGrief, Loss & Life Changes
Grief is not just about death. It can arise from any significant loss or transition: a relationship, a role, a sense of self, a future you had imagined. Our culture often rushes grief or dismisses it when it does not look a particular way. Therapy offers a space to be with what you are carrying without hurrying it toward resolution, and to let grief do what it needs to do.
Learn moreBirth Trauma & Parenting Transitions
With 13 years as a midwife, I bring both clinical and emotional understanding to the psychosocial challenges of fertility, pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. Birth trauma, postnatal adjustment, identity shifts and relationship strain are all areas I can support. This is available to birthing people, partners, co-parents and all those navigating perinatal challenges.
Learn moreGender Identity & Diversity Support
Whether you are exploring your gender, navigating transition, living with a non-binary or genderqueer identity, or working through experiences related to how your gender intersects with family, work or community, this is an affirming, non-judgmental space. I have personal and professional experience in this area and volunteer as a counsellor at ACON in Surry Hills.
Learn moreLGBTQ+ Affirming Therapy
As a proud queer woman, I offer a genuinely safe and celebratory space for LGBTQ+ people. No explaining your identity. No managing my discomfort. Just good, honest, affirming therapy from someone in the community.
Learn moreRelationship & Interpersonal Challenges
How we relate to others is deeply shaped by our history, our attachment patterns and our recurring ways of seeking or avoiding connection. Individual therapy offers a space to understand these patterns, to notice what happens in your relationships and to find more satisfying, less painful ways of connecting. This work is relevant whether you are navigating a specific relationship difficulty or noticing broader patterns across your life.
Learn moreSelf-Esteem, Body Image & Identity
A difficult relationship with your body or your sense of self can be quietly exhausting to carry, often invisible to others. Therapy offers a space to explore what lies beneath, gently and without judgment, and to begin building a more compassionate relationship with yourself. This work draws on Gestalt and somatic approaches to help you reconnect with your body and your sense of value as something intrinsic rather than conditional.
Learn moreManaging Overwhelming Emotions
When emotions feel too big, arrive too fast or shut down entirely, day-to-day functioning and connection can become very difficult. Gestalt and somatic approaches offer practical, embodied ways to develop a more spacious relationship with your emotional experience. Rather than trying to control or eliminate difficult feelings, we work with them, building capacity and resilience over time.
Learn morePersonal Growth & Self-Understanding
You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. Many people come simply wanting to understand themselves better, to break recurring patterns that keep showing up across different areas of life, or to live more fully and with greater intention. Therapy can be a meaningful investment in yourself even when nothing is dramatically wrong.
Learn moreComplex Family Dynamics
Family histories can be complicated, and the patterns laid down in our families of origin often follow us into adult life in ways that are not always obvious. Whether you are navigating difficult family relationships, estrangement, intergenerational trauma, or the particular weight of being the one in your family who sees what others do not, therapy can help you understand and gently shift these dynamics.
Learn moreTrauma-Informed Therapy
All of my work is trauma-informed as a matter of principle, not only when trauma is the presenting issue. This means I approach every client with an understanding of how past experiences can shape present-day functioning, and I pace the work carefully so that it always feels safe and within your window of tolerance. I never push faster than you are ready to go.
Learn moreSomatic & Body-Focused Therapy
The body holds a great deal of emotional information that the thinking mind cannot always access directly. Somatic approaches bring the body into the therapy room, tracking sensation, posture and movement as it arises, to support deeper and more lasting change. Drawing on Somatic Experiencing and Polyvagal Theory, this work is especially valuable for people who feel stuck despite having insight, or whose history lives more in the body than in words.
Learn moreGestalt, Somatic
and Body-Focused
Across all areas of my work, I use Gestalt therapy as my primary foundation. Gestalt is a present-focused, relational style of psychotherapy. Rather than analysing your history from a distance, we work together in the moment, noticing what is actually happening in your body and your relationships right now.
I draw further on Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Mindfulness and Polyvagal Theory. This means the work is enriched by an understanding of how the nervous system responds to stress and trauma, and how different parts of our inner experience can be in conflict with one another.
My style is trauma-informed, person-centred and genuinely collaborative. I move at the pace that feels right for you. The aim is not to fix what is broken, but to come into fuller contact with who you already are, and to find the freedom to make genuinely different choices.
I am a PACFA Certified Practicing Member (#29367), which means I am bound by the PACFA Code of Ethics, undergo regular clinical supervision and am committed to ongoing professional development. You can read more about my background and training on the about page.
Learn about Gestalt therapy
What sessions
actually look like
Sessions are 50 minutes and individual. We meet in person in Surry Hills on Saturdays and Glebe on Wednesdays, or online via secure video on Wednesday afternoons (Glebe) and Saturday mornings (Surry Hills). There is no fixed agenda. We follow what is alive for you in the room, whether that is something specific you want to explore or a feeling you cannot quite name.
Many people begin weekly and move to fortnightly as things settle. The number of sessions varies depending on what you bring and what you are working toward. You are never locked in. We review regularly and adjust as we go.
You do not need a GP referral and there are no Medicare rebates or Mental Health Care Plans involved. This means there is no cap on sessions and no requirement for a diagnosis. The full details including fees, availability and cancellation policy are on the appointments page. Common questions are answered in detail on the FAQ page.
Not sure where to start?
That is OK.
Most people do not arrive with a neat list of what they need. Many people are not entirely sure what is wrong, only that something is. That is a completely valid place to begin. The service areas above are here to help you recognise yourself, not to define the limits of what we can explore together.
In your first session, we simply talk. You share what has brought you here, what you are hoping for, and we go from there. There is no pressure to have it figured out before you arrive.
If you would like to speak with me before booking, I offer a free introductory call. Just mention it when you get in touch and I will arrange a time that suits you.
I work with adults (18 and over) on an individual basis. Sessions are 50 minutes and available in person in Surry Hills on Saturdays and Glebe on Wednesdays, or online via secure video on Wednesday afternoons (Glebe) and Saturday mornings (Surry Hills). You can read the full details on the appointments page.
Common questions
Answers to the questions I am most often asked about the services I offer. If your question is not here, you are always welcome to reach out directly or visit the full FAQ page, which covers everything from Gestalt therapy and fees to Medicare, cancellations and how to get started. You can also browse the individual service pages for more detail on any specific area.
Book a session
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Chauncey offers Gestalt psychotherapy and counselling, drawing on Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Mindfulness and Polyvagal Theory. All of her work is trauma-informed, person-centred and body-focused. Sessions are 50 minutes and available in person in Surry Hills on Saturday mornings or Glebe on Wednesday afternoons, and online via secure video on Wednesday afternoons (Glebe) and Saturday mornings (Surry Hills). She works with adults individually on a wide range of concerns.
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No. Most people do not fit neatly into one category, and that is fine. Many people arrive uncertain about what they need, knowing only that something is not working. The service descriptions are here to help you recognise yourself, not to define what we explore together. In your first session we simply talk about what has brought you here and find our way from there, at a pace that feels right for you.
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Yes. Chauncey is a proud queer woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Her practice is deeply affirming of all gender identities and sexual orientations. You will not need to explain your identity, justify your relationships or manage her discomfort. She also volunteers as a counsellor at ACON in Surry Hills, which continues to deepen her understanding of LGBTQ+ community contexts. It is a genuinely safe, celebratory and informed space. Learn more on the LGBTQ+ affirming therapy page.
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Yes. With 13 years of experience as a registered midwife, Chauncey offers specialist support for the psychosocial challenges of fertility, pregnancy, birth and early parenthood that is rare in a therapy context. She understands both the clinical realities and the emotional complexity of perinatal challenges. This support is available to birthing people, partners, co-parents and others involved in the family dynamic. Learn more on the birth trauma and perinatal page.
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Counselling tends to be shorter-term and focused on a specific current concern, with an emphasis on practical strategies to help you through. Psychotherapy is typically longer-term and goes deeper, examining the patterns, emotions and history that shape your present experience. Both have real value. Chauncey is qualified in both counselling and psychotherapy, and uses Gestalt as an in-depth, experiential form of psychotherapy that can be used in either context depending on your needs and goals.
Take the first step
towards feeling better
Reaching out takes courage. Book a session, request a free introductory call, or simply send a message. I will respond within 48 hours.