About Me
Hello, I'm Ant
I trained as a counsellor because I believe most people already carry more insight into their own lives than they are given credit for. What can be harder is having somewhere to actually say things out loud, without being rushed towards an answer or expected to make sense of them straight away.
My work is shaped by professional training, but also by lived experience and the communities I am connected to. This particularly informs my work with LGBTQIA+ people, people living with HIV, and people navigating identity, shame, relationships and change.
I know that understanding something intellectually does not always change how it feels. We can know that there is nothing wrong with who we are, understand the facts about our health, or recognise that an old belief no longer makes sense, and still find that shame, fear or expectations we absorbed years ago have stayed with us.
That gap between what we know and what we feel is something I am particularly interested in making room for.
My Approach
Person-Centred Counselling
I work from a person-centred foundation. That means I do not begin from the assumption that I know what your life should look like, how you should feel, or what the answer should be.
You bring your experience. I bring attention, curiosity, professional training and another perspective. I may ask questions, notice patterns, reflect something back, or suggest that we stay with something a little longer, but the direction of the work remains something we find together.
I also draw from integrative and trauma-informed approaches where they are useful. I am less interested in fitting you into a particular model than in understanding what is happening for you.
In session
What does that look like in the room?
01
Compassionate presence
I will not tell you how you should feel about something, or rush you towards feeling better about it. Sometimes understanding why something hurts matters more than trying to make the feeling disappear.
02
Safety
What you tell me is confidential, with a small number of legal and safety exceptions. I will explain those plainly, so you know where the boundaries are and can ask about them at any time.
03
Collaboration
You decide what we talk about and how quickly we move. I will also be involved in the conversation. I may reflect something back, ask a question, or say when I think something is worth staying with a little longer.
Why The Listening Finch?
The Listening Finch comes from a simple idea: that listening is not a passive thing.
It means paying attention to what is being said, but also to what is harder to say. The things we edit, dismiss, explain away or have not quite found words for yet.
That is close to how I think about counselling. My role is not to tell you who you should become or what the answer should be. It is to listen closely, ask questions, notice things with you and make room for what might otherwise go unheard.
Sometimes that leads somewhere unexpected. Sometimes it means hearing yourself say something you already knew, but had never quite had enough room to hear before.
Professional Background
Training & Qualifications
- PACFA Certified Practising Counsellor — Registration no. 33012
- Bachelor of Counselling — Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP)
My practice includes regular professional supervision and ongoing continuing professional development.
Ready to get in touch?
If you are curious about whether counselling with me might be a good fit, or you have questions about how I work, you are welcome to get in touch. You do not need to know exactly what you want to work on before making contact.