Counselling and Psychotherapy in Northern Beaches
If you’re feeling emotionally overwhelmed, facing life transitions, or struggling with your mental health, talking to a qualified professional may be one of the most powerful steps you can take. Based in a convenient Dee Why location, I offer personalised counselling and psychotherapy services to support individuals, couples, and families across Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, or relationship difficulties, I provide a safe space to explore your experiences, reconnect with your inner strengths, and begin the healing process. If you’ve been searching for a compassionate psychologist in the Northern Beaches, I’m here to walk alongside you.
What is counselling and psychotherapy?
Counselling and psychotherapy fall under the broad, simple definition of ‘talk therapy’, that is, speaking about your troubles to a trained, professional person in a supportive and positive environment.
If you feel you are suffering from an ailment such as depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, insomnia etc, or even if you just feel the need to talk to someone about your life, relationships, troubles or anything else, seeing a counsellor can really help. Having an impartial, empathic and non-judgmental ear to listen to your issues can be one of the best things you can do.
Many people find talking through their concerns very therapeutic. The role of a counsellor or psychotherapist is to support you to explore and make sense of your troubling experiences. Thereby helping you to resolve your problems and ease your distress.
Simply defined, psychotherapy is the treatment of psychiatric conditions through psychological means as opposed to through medication.
Marriage counselling, also known as ‘couples therapy’ or ‘relationship counselling’, is a form of psychotherapy, whereby couples of all types resolve issues and conflicts within their relationship through open and honest communication before a professional, non-biased third party, so as to help them move forward with their relationship.
Are you ready to start living consciously?
Benefits of Psychotherapy and Counselling
From self-awareness to stress reduction, counselling and psychotherapy may offer a wide range of benefits for people from all walks of life. There are many benefits to engaging in talk therapy with a psychologist in the Northern Beaches. Some of the most common outcomes include:
- Gaining perspective on your thoughts and behaviours
- Developing healthier ways to cope with stress, anxiety or trauma
- Feeling supported and less alone in your struggles
- Improving relationships with others and yourself
- Identifying and breaking free from unhelpful patterns
- Reclaiming confidence and clarity in your life decisions
Sessions are tailored to your unique needs and goals — whether you’re seeking short-term support or long-term therapeutic guidance.
Psychotherapy or counselling?
Whilst both certainly exist under the ‘talk therapy’ banner, allowing patients to openly discuss their issues with a non-biased professional person, psychotherapy tends to cut slightly deeper than counselling, delving more into the person’s past and the behavioural patterns that affect them on a day to day basis.
Psychotherapy can tend to be more of a long-term situation as well, sometimes lasting several years.
While counselling may provide support and solutions to more short-term challenges.
My Approach: A 6-Step Path to Healing
Every journey begins with listening. In our first session, I take the time to deeply understand your story — your personal history, values, life experiences, and what feels challenging right now. I create a compassionate, confidential space where you may speak freely and be fully seen and heard — often for the first time in a long while.
From there, we move through a proven six-step therapeutic framework designed to restore your emotional wellbeing, increase resilience, and support you in creating lasting change.
Step 1 – Build Trust and Safety
Before anything else, therapy must feel safe. Together, we focus on creating an environment of genuine trust, where you feel respected, validated, and accepted without judgment. Whether you’re sharing painful memories or exploring areas of shame, my role is to meet you with empathy and compassion.
Establishing this foundation is critical — especially if you’ve been hurt in the past or find it difficult to trust others. Feeling safe allows your nervous system to relax, making deeper work possible.
Step 2 – Learn to Calm and Soothe
When we’ve been living with anxiety, trauma, or overwhelming emotions, our minds and bodies often remain in a constant state of alert. In this phase, we introduce gentle, practical tools to help you regulate your emotional responses, reduce overwhelm, and restore a sense of calm.
This may include breathwork, grounding strategies, mindfulness techniques, or other personalised approaches to help you feel more in control and at ease in your daily life.
Step 3 – Strengthen Relationships
Therapy can shine a light on how past events — especially early life experiences — may influence how we relate to others. As you begin to recognise these patterns, you’ll develop healthier ways of expressing your needs, setting boundaries, and building more fulfilling connections.
Whether you’re struggling with romantic relationships, family dynamics, or workplace conflict, this stage is about helping you build stronger, more secure bonds with others — starting with yourself.
Step 4 – Deepen Self-Awareness
As insight grows, so does your power to change. In this step, we gently explore the beliefs, behaviours, and emotional patterns that have been shaping your experiences — often without your conscious awareness. You’ll learn to recognise triggers, release outdated coping mechanisms, and begin responding to life from a place of strength and clarity.
This is often where clients begin to shift from feeling stuck or helpless to feeling empowered and self-directed.
Step 5 – Improve Your Mood and Motivation
With safety established and old wounds being healed, many clients begin to reconnect with joy, hope, and purpose. This stage focuses on building the emotional strength and positive habits that support your ongoing mental health. We explore what brings you meaning — whether it’s creativity, relationships, career, or spirituality — and help you move toward it with renewed energy and confidence.
Step 6 – Integrate and Move Forward
The final step is about embodying all the progress you’ve made. You’ll begin to feel more resilient, grounded, and whole — no longer defined by past traumas or reactive patterns. Therapy doesn’t erase life’s difficulties, but it may equip you to face them with clarity, strength, and self-trust.
You may leave therapy with a deeper connection to yourself and a greater ability to live intentionally and consciously — even when life feels uncertain.
Why Choose Me?
- I work with you from a framework of compassion and collaboration to help you solve your problems.
- I help you manage strong emotions, as well as change your thinking and behaviours so that your life improves.
- I support you towards being more loving and caring towards yourself, increasing your self-confidence, having better relationships and feeling good about your life.
- I commit to working with you until you heal. My core philosophy is that there is always hope for you to feel better about your life.
- I will listen to you and accept you, regardless of the problems you bring to therapy.
- I provide comprehensive mental health assessment and accurate testing diagnosis.
- I’m based in Dee Why. A convenient location for patients located in the Northern Beaches.
Explore my other services
Depression
Depression is a pervasive feeling of despair & hopelessness. Symptoms of depression may be difficult to identify. Find out if you or someone you love is dealing with depression
Trauma & PTSD
PTSD is a set of symptoms that may occur after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic or life threatening event. Find out if you or your loved one is suffering from PTSD
Stress
Stress is a normal response to everyday life events. However, stress levels can become too high + you can feel a little out of control. Find out if stress is impacting your life.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are serious mental health issues affecting many people of all ages today. Find out about the signs & symptoms of Eating disorders here.
Drug & Alcohol Problems
Up to 30-40% of people with a substance use disorder also suffer from a mental health problem. Find out if substance misuse is masking a mental health disorder
Anxiety
Anxiety is a serious condition characterized by persistent, excessive worry. Anxiety can impair the ability to live a normal life. Find out about the signs & symptoms of anxiety here.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Absolutely. There is a wealth of scientific evidence and studies that prove the effectiveness of psychotherapy in helping people cope with stress, anxiety, marital problems and other such issues. Plus there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence from myriad patients who have reported highly positive results from using this type of therapy. While there are certainly no guarantees, it is absolutely worth giving it a try to see if it works for you.
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Many people from across the globe over many years have been assisted with, and even cured of, all manner of psychiatric afflictions by speaking regularly with a professional counsellor about their concerns. It is a widely accepted way for people to deal with depression, anxiety, stress, drug and alcohol problems, marital and relationship problems, trauma and others, and should be viewed as a first line against such issues before medications are prescribed.
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Counselling and psychotherapy are an ideal way to check in on your mental health whether you feel as though your life is spiralling out of control or not.
Our sessions can help you find clarity on issues that you are struggling to deal with, change negative patterns of thinking, or embark on a process of self-development. Counselling and psychotherapy can help you find the balance you’re seeking in life.
Location
Wendy Corliss of the Living Consciously Clinic can be contacted at:
Address: Suite 1, 1 Redman Rd Dee Why, 2099
Phone: 02 9972 0071
We offer counselling and psychotherapy services across the Northern Beaches, including those located in Dee Why, Manly, Chatswood, Mosman, Frenchs Forest, Ryde, Brookvale, Mona Vale, Baulkham Hills, Newport, Belrose, Narrabeen, Cromer, Forestville, Avalon Beach, Balgowlah, Davidson, Allambie Heights, Palm Beach, Manly Vale, Clontarf, Warriewood, Freshwater, Beacon Hill, Seaforth, Fairlight and other surrounding suburbs of Sydney with online counselling.
When you change the way you see the world.
If you’re seeking a psychologist in Dee Why or anywhere across the Northern Beaches, I offer a free 15-minute consultation to help you take the first step. Let’s talk about what’s going on for you, and how therapy may support your next chapter.