Emma’s Work as a Therapist

Emma is a registered Psychologist in Melbourne with a strong interest in helping individuals and couples flourish and have more rewarding relationships.

With her passion for working with couples, Emma helps you understand each other better, recognise and enhance your strengths, resolve conflict, break free of old patterns, and communicate more effectively.

Emma uses a client-centered approach, which means her clients’ needs, desires, and goals are of utmost importance. Her counselling work focuses on providing her clients with nurturance, education, collaboration, and research-based counselling methods.

Growing up between Middle Eastern and European cultures has shown Emma the influence culture has on relationship dynamics. The family unit has such a strong influence on the connection, happiness, and development of its members.

Being the parent of a toddler has taught Emma the importance of continuing to foster a close and loving connection with her partner despite the distractions a young child can bring into a relationship.

Experience and Training as a Psychologist

Emma has experience in private, not for profit, and public sectors, providing both short and long-term treatment for a range of relationship and mental health problems.

Emma has worked with various types of couples helping to foster more desirable and satisfying relationships. Couples have included same and opposite-sex couples, young couples, couples who are pregnant, couples in business, etc.

In couples therapy, Emma has helped her clients with secrets that have caused damage, including secrets such as infidelity (including cybersex). She also has experience with couples stuck in conflict; those with addiction issues; couples stressed by life transitions, financial issues, parenting conflicts, lifestyle differences; and those with conflicts in the extended family.

Emma is trained in several therapies that have been shown to help couples improve their relationships. These include the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, Schema Therapy for Couples, and Relationship Therapy Methodologies developed by the Hart Centre.

All of these couples therapy methods help you become more aware of your problems, reduce your reactions to one another, and help you resolve differences. The goal is to help you connect more deeply with one another so you can have a more rewarding and lasting relationship.

Emma is bilingual (English and Armenian).

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

Bachelor of Science (Psychology Major), Monash University; Melbourne

Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, Bond University; Gold Coast

Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, Monash University; Melbourne

Graduate Diploma in Psychotherapy, Cairnmillar Institute; Melbourne

Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, MWT; Melbourne

Member of Australian Psychological Society

Emma is a dedicated therapist who loves helping individuals and couples create relationships that meet their needs and bring them joy.

Contact Emma to book your counselling appointment by phone at 1300 784 184 or emailing her at emma@couplesmelbourne.com

Catherine’s Work as a Therapist

Catherine feels honoured to be a psychologist who supports individuals and couples experiencing difficulties in their lives and relationships.

In addition to her psychology training and expertise, Catherine learned through personal experience that negative patterns in relationships often get worse over time, unless you work to develop less reactive and more positive ways of relating.

Catherine enjoys the richness of the relationships she develops with her clients and finds it rewarding to see them overcome their problems and create better lives and relationships for themselves.

As a relationship counsellor, Catherine provides a balance between deep empathy and intellectual and analytical understanding. She goes beyond helping individuals and couples solve the “surface” relationship problems they bring to therapy.

She helps couples deepen their connection and commitment to each other, while providing skills for conflict resolution that will stress-proof their relationship for the future. Catherine’s ultimate goal is to help individuals create more rewarding relationships.

Catherine also has a particular interest in the treatment of trauma and the impact of early experiences on adult functioning and relationships. She participates in ongoing professional development in the treatment of trauma.

Catherine is bilingual (English and German).

Experience and Training as a Psychologist

Catherine has been in private practice since 2002 helping people overcome anxiety, depression, the impact of trauma, and relationship problems.

Over the last 10 years she has participated extensively in couples therapy training provided by a multitude of leaders in the field.

She is trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) one of the most effective methods of couples therapy. EFT has been shown to help 70-75% of unhappy couples recover and 90% improve their relationship significantly.

Catherine also has training in Relationship Life Therapy (RLT), another leading method of therapy helping people have better relationships.

Another method of therapy Catherine uses in her practice is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a type of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that has been used to treat a range of problems including depression, anxiety, and relationship struggles.

ACT helps you be more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours so you can make better choices about your life.

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

BA (Hons), Australian National University; Literature

MA, University of Cologne; Literature

Postgrad. Dip. Appl. Psych, Monash University

M-Psych (Counselling), Monash University

M-Crim (Forensic Psychology), University of Melbourne

Member of the Australian Psychological Society, Fellow of College of Counselling Psychologists

Catherine enjoys the company of her adult children and loves being a grandmother.

Catherine has a solid academic background and extensive personal and professional experience to help you achieve the relationship that you want.

You can book an appointment with Catherine by contacting her at 1300 784 184 or emailing her at catherine@couplesmelbourne.com

Marlena’s Work as a Therapist

Marlena has a warm, empathic, and non-judgmental therapy approach, which she uses to create a safe and supportive space for you heal your relationship.

She feels honoured when her clients share their sensitive and vulnerable parts of themselves as they work towards healing their relationships.

With her authentic, curious, and gentle challenging style, Marlena encourages healing, relationship repair, and growth.

Marlena finds great pleasure in working with couples. Her personal and professional journey of healing and growth has shown her how essential healthy relationships are to happiness and wellbeing.

She believes that we all get a bit stacked at times and require support. Marlena recognises that relationships are complex and can bring both joy and hurt; and that it is through relationships that we heal, grow, and live satisfying lives.

Experience and Training as a Therapist

With over 20 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families, Marlena has the expertise to help you heal.

She is trained in and works with a range of evidence-based therapeutic modalities including Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-based techniques, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Choosing approaches uniquely suited to you and your concerns, Marlena will help you solve your problems whether you are an individual or a couple. She uses whichever techniques are most likely to bring you a more rewarding relationship and a happier life.

In addition to helping individuals and couples resolve relationship issues, Marlena has worked intensively with issues of trauma; depression; anxiety; various addictive behaviours, including problematic gambling and eating disorders, grief and loss, mental health, abuse, self-esteem, stigma, and parenting difficulties.

Marlena is bilingual and provides counselling in both English and Polish. She is also a registered Medicare Provider.

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

Bachelor of Social Work, University of Melbourne

Diploma in Education, University of Gdansk, Poland

Masters in Economics, University of Gdansk, Poland

Fully registered with The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)

Fully registered as an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, (AASW 443222)

Marlena is a dedicated therapist who has the expertise to help you overcome your relationship problems.

If you want to book a counselling appointment with Marlena to help you with a relationship or other problem, you can contact her by phone at 1300 784 184 or email at marlena@couplesmelbourne.com

Elizabeth’s Work as a Therapist

As your psychologist, Elizabeth takes a personalised, holistic, and empathic approach to therapy. She focuses on the psychological, biological, social, and cultural factors known to affect your mental health and relationships.

Elizabeth is passionate about supporting individuals and couples communicate their needs, identify their strengths, and build long-term strategies for well-being and relationship fulfilment.

She stays up-to-date on mental health issues and psychological treatment interventions that are at the forefront of research. She uses both her scientific and clinical backgrounds to support clients to achieve their goals.

Elizabeth also offers counselling in Spanish (ofrece terapia en español).

Experience and Training as a Psychologist

Elizabeth is originally from Southern California, where she trained as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist after completing a Master’s degree in Counselling with an emphasis on strategies for Marriage and Family Therapy.

She then worked as a therapist providing English and Spanish counselling for adults and couples in the greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas.  Throughout her career, she has supported both same- and opposite-sex couples in working through communication-style mismatches, periods of emotional disconnection, infidelity and mistrust, medical stressors such as HIV+ diagnoses, financial stress, and child rearing conflicts.

Elizabeth has also worked extensively with adolescents and is passionate about promoting adolescent mental health.  She has conducted substance abuse groups for teens and dedicated her PhD research to investigating mindfulness-based treatments for adolescents and the benefit they have on sleep, mood, and physical health.  She is skilled in supporting both teens and parents of teens during this important developmental stage.

In addition, Elizabeth has extensive experience treating anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, gender identity stress, and addiction, including conducting regular substance dependent support groups and completing a specialized suicide intervention training (ASIST).

Elizabeth has published several scientific articles in leading psychology journals and frequently gives public talks and lectures about the health benefits of psychological treatment interventions. She is still actively involved in research identifying successful treatments that create lasting improvements for psychological well-being.

Since moving to Australia in 2015, Elizabeth has enjoyed getting to know the Australian way of life and has continued to support the mental well-being of adolescents, couples, and adults here in Melbourne.

Using evidence-based therapy techniques to help her clients, Elizabeth draws from Mindfulness, which focuses on staying present to your experiences; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which enables you to identify and explore the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions; and Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), which helps couples have more empathy for each other so they can build deeper connections.

Elizabeth also works from an Attachment Theory perspective, which means understanding the type of bond you had with your parents while growing up and how this plays out in your relationships.

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

• Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Master’s degree in Counselling, with a Marriage and Family Therapy emphasis from California State University Long Beach (CSULB)
• PhD in Psychology from the University of Melbourne
• Australian-registered provisional psychologist (PSY0002189205)
• California-registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT No. 77762)
• Member of the Australian Psychological Society and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Elizabeth is highly qualified to help you solve your relationship problems and to have a better life.

Book your counselling appointment with Elizabeth by calling her at 1300 784 184 or emailing her at elizabeth@couplesmelbourne.com

Trained as an Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist, Natalie works to create a safe space where couples can explore their relationship and repair and deepen their connection. Bearing witness to intimate moments, both big and small, Natalie listens without judgement and supports couples as they move towards close, more connected and loving relationships.

Natalie is an empathic, patient and considered relationship counsellor, helping couples find new ways to communicate, resolve conflict and securely connect. The world can feel like an isolating place at times. Bringing a little less loneliness and helping couples feel safe in being vulnerable with each other so they can truly connect is fundamental to Natalie’s approach.

Natalie participates in ongoing professional development in emotionally focused couples therapy.

Experience and Training as a Therapist

Natalie has completed a Master is Social Science, specialising in Couples Therapy. As a part of her post graduate training, Natalie completed Relationship Australia’s Specialist Course in Couple Therapy where she developed rigorous knowledge and specialist skills in working with couples. 

Natalie has worked with couples to help them overcome difficulties such as infidelity, negative patterns of communication, parenting, anxiety, depression, separation and loss, blended families, intimacy and sexuality, as well as other challenges that can cause stress to a relationship.

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based model that Natalie is trained in to helps partners understand not only their own emotions but also how back-and-forth patterns of emotional reactions operate in, and affect, relationships. This method facilitates the creation of secure, lasting bonds between intimate partners, working with each couples’ particular needs, world views and unique situations.

Therapy Credentials and Professional Memberships

Masters in Social Science (Couple Counselling), Swinburne University; Melbourne
Bachelor of Journalism, Monash University; Melbourne

Externship and Core Skills of Emotionally Focused Therapy A & B through the Australian Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy 

Prepare/Enrich Facilitator Training

Member of the Australian Counselling Association Inc

Committee Member for the Melbourne Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy

Member of the Australian Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy

Member of the International Centre of Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy