Michelle Southgate

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Michelle has 25 years experience as a Clinical Social Worker and Therapist. She completed undergraduate qualifications in Psychology and Social Work and has a Master’s degree in Couple & Family Therapy. Michelle is also a trained Level 1 and Level 2 EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) Practitioner. Michelle has extensive clinical experience supporting individuals and families facing a wide variety of life, parenting and health challenges.

Michelle has a strong interest in supporting women through life transitions, including all aspects of maternal health. She is experienced working with infertility, pregnancy loss, perinatal anxiety and depression, parent-infant attachment and birth trauma. She is also a certified Circle of Security and Tuning in to Kids group facilitator and draws upon attachment-based interventions and emotion coaching parenting in her work with families.

Her aim is to collaborate with the client, drawing on their strengths and inner resources and providing a containing space for safe exploration of their experiences.

Therapeutic approaches include

• Systemic Family Therapy
• Bowen Family Systems Theory
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
• Parent-Infant Psychotherapy
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Somatic therapy and other trauma informed approaches

She provides services under Medicare (Better Access and PSS) as an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker.