Professional Supervision, Consultation & Reflective Practice
Independent psychologist-led support for people doing complex, emotionally demanding and ethically difficult work.
There are times when people who spend their working lives supporting others need somewhere independent to think about the work, too. A difficult case. A boundary you are not sure about. The slow accumulation of other people’s distress. A decision with no clean answer. This is a confidential professional space to think that through with an experienced psychologist — one-off or ongoing, without a referral, and without it being therapy.
Three ways in
The same independent space, shaped to who you are and what you need it for.
For psychologists
Board-approved psychology supervision within my approved supervision categories, and independent professional consultation or reflective supervision for registered psychologists at any stage of practice.
For helping professionals
Professional consultation and reflective practice for people in psychologically or emotionally demanding roles across health, human services, education and related fields.
For teams and organisations
Psychologist-facilitated external reflective practice for teams undertaking complex and emotionally demanding work. Arranged by enquiry.
You do not have to arrive knowing what to call it
Most people do not go looking for “reflective practice”. They get in touch because something about the work has become hard to hold on their own. Some of the more common reasons:
- You need an independent psychologist to think a difficult case through with.
- You are carrying the emotional impact of your clients’ or patients’ experiences, and it is starting to follow you home.
- You are uncertain about a boundary, an ethical question or a professional decision, and there is no one independent to ask.
- Something at work feels difficult and you have nowhere outside your workplace to talk it through.
- Your confidence has taken a knock after a difficult case, a complaint or a hard professional experience.
- You can see that demanding work is beginning to take too much.
- You want to stay effective in work that matters to you without becoming psychologically depleted.
None of these means something is wrong with you. They are ordinary consequences of doing serious work with people, over time, inside systems that are not always kind. What they need is a place to be thought about properly.
Professional consultation and reflective practice for helping professionals
This pathway is for people whose work is psychologically or emotionally demanding and who want an independent, psychologically informed space to think about it. That includes allied health and mental health practitioners, social workers and counsellors, occupational rehabilitation and return-to-work professionals, disability and community services staff, nurses and doctors, teachers and education professionals, and others working in high-responsibility or high-exposure roles.
You do not need a diagnosis, a mental health condition or a crisis to use it. You need work that asks a lot of you, and a sense that it would help to think it through with someone who understands what that kind of work does to people.
What people bring
- Difficult or complex work, and particular cases that stay with you
- Emotional load, and the cumulative impact of demanding work
- Vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue
- Moral distress and moral injury
- Professional isolation
- Boundaries — the ones you have, and the ones you need
- Ethical complexity and decisions with no clean answer
- Loss of professional confidence after a difficult experience
- Workplace and system pressures
- Your own reactions to difficult work, and what they are telling you
- Professional identity, and whether this is still the work for you
- Sustainable professional practice — working in a way you can keep doing
How it works
- Sessions are 60 minutes, by secure video or phone, wherever you are in Australia.
- $220 per session, paid privately. Medicare rebates do not apply, because this is not psychological treatment. Some employers and professional-development budgets will cover it; that is between you and them, and I can provide a receipt that describes the service accurately.
- One-off or ongoing. You might come once to think a particular matter through, for a few sessions during a difficult period, or on a regular basis — monthly or every four to six weeks is common for people who want continuity. There is no program, no minimum and no package.
- No referral needed. Book directly, or email first if you would like to check fit.
- Confidential. Sessions are confidential, subject to the usual legal and ethical limits that apply to psychological services. I keep brief professional notes. Nothing is routinely shared with an employer, professional body or anyone else without your consent; I will always tell you where those limits sit.
- Cancellation. Please give at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule.
A note on formal supervision requirements. Formal supervision requirements vary between professions, associations, credentialing pathways and employers, and this service does not automatically satisfy them. If you need supervision for a formal purpose — registration, membership, credentialing or a condition of your employment — please say so when you enquire, and we will confirm together whether I am able to provide what is required before we begin. Where I am not, I will say so plainly.
Therapy, or professional consultation?
The two can overlap, and the same person may need each at different times. The difference is in what the work is for.
Psychological therapy focuses primarily on you: your own mental health, symptoms, functioning and recovery. It is assessment and treatment, and it may attract a Medicare rebate with a referral. Psychological therapy →
Professional supervision and consultation focus primarily on the work: your professional practice, complex cases, your reactions to the work, decision-making, boundaries, ethics and development. It is not treatment, and it is not marketed as therapy under another name.
If it becomes clear during consultation that therapy would serve you better, I will say so, and we can talk about the most appropriate next step. The choice remains yours.
Why a psychologist for this
Some of the hardest parts of professional life are psychological as well as practical — burnout, moral distress, vicarious trauma, difficult relationships, responsibility for others, and the cumulative impact of demanding work. I am a registered psychologist and Board-approved supervisor with more than 25 years’ experience across workplace rehabilitation, psychological injury, employee assistance and private practice, with a particular focus on workplace psychological harm, burnout and moral injury.
That background means we can look at both what the work is asking of you and what it is doing to you. Professional consultation remains separate from therapy, but psychological knowledge makes the reflection more useful — and an independent psychologist, outside your workplace and your professional community, can be easier to be honest with.
A confidential professional space to think clearly about your work, your role and what you need next.
Psychologists: see Psychology Supervision & Professional Consultation. Organisations: see External Reflective Practice for Teams. Or email admin@biopsyche.com.au if you would like to check fit first.
Not sure which of these is yours? The FAQs explain the difference between therapy, assessment, professional consultation and supervision — or email me and I will point you to the right door.