Counselling

Support for learning and development, managing behaviours, emotions and thought and maintaining and improving mental health.

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Develop the understanding and tools to help maintain your mental health and live a good life.

Counselling provides support for learning and development, managing behaviours, emotions and thoughts, and maintaining and improving mental health, as well as providing helpful thinking strategies and problem-solving.

Our counsellors are experienced in working with children, young adults and families and can assist with a range of diagnosed mental health disorders as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression and learning difficulties. They will also work with you and your family on any challenges that you may experience and any challenging behaviours you need to learn how to manage. These can include friendship and relationship difficulties and navigating changes and transitions in their lives and transitions, such as moving into a new school, a family’s separation, and even dealing with the pressures of social media.

Our approach is based on an initial assessment and is then tailored to the needs and circumstances of you and your family.

Our counsellors can help with the following:

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  • Anxiety, fears, and phobias

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

  • Behavioral difficulties and disorders, including managing challenging behaviors associated with the oppositional defiant disorder

  • Dealing with divorce and parental separation

  • Depression

  • Eating disorders

  • Employment Assistant Program (EAP)

  • Grief and loss

  • Learning difficulties

  • Managing anger

  • Sleep disturbances

  • Social and emotional learning, including promoting resilience and coping skills

  • Social skills and friendships

Service Inclusions (?)

At NexGenCounselling, our psychology team involves varied mental health clinicians, including psychologists, provisional psychologists, accredited mental health social workers, as well as art therapists.

This allows a diverse group of clinicians with various skills to support your family in learning new skills, learning to manage their thoughts and feelings, and overcome the difficulties by focusing on the child’s strengths and nurturing and growing them.

It doesn’t need to be a diagnosed mental health disorder for you to need our psychology services. We help anyone who needs support, and their therapy or treatment will be tailored to each individual.

We will often meet with you initially to gather background information and comprehensive history to help a clinician understand your child’s development. The sessions then would be a combination of working with your child, working with the parent or caregiver, and then working altogether.

Counselling Programs

As part of your therapy journey, your counselor may recommend Safe and Sound Protocol to assist you in achieving your goals.

Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP): A Portal to Social Engagement

Emotional and physiological states are critical to how we approach the task at hand. So when a client has better state control, not only can they be more socially engaged, they are more open to therapy. Better state regulation improves therapeutic outcomes.

This non-invasive intervention involves listening to music that has been processed specifically to retune the nervous system (regulating state) to introduce a sense of safety and the ability to socially engage. This allows the client to better interpret not only human speech but, importantly, the emotional meaning of language. Once interpersonal interactions improve, spontaneous social behaviors and an enhanced ability to learn, self-regulate and engage are often seen.

What is the SSP?

Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, the SSP is a five-hour intervention designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience. By calming the physiological and emotional state, the door is opened for improved communication and more successful therapy.

Research-based therapy shows significant results in the following areas:

  • Stressors that impact social engagement

  • Social and emotional difficulties

  • Auditory sensitivities

  • Anxiety and trauma-related challenges

  • Inattention

HIGHLIGHTS

Emotional and physiological states are critical to how we approach the task at hand. So when a client has better state control, not only can they be more socially engaged, they are more open to therapy. Better state regulation improves therapeutic outcomes.

This non-invasive intervention involves listening to music that has been processed specifically to retune the nervous system (regulating state) to introduce a sense of safety and the ability to socially engage. This allows the client to better interpret not only human speech but, importantly, the emotional meaning of language. Once interpersonal interactions improve, spontaneous social behaviors and an enhanced ability to learn, self-regulate and engage are often seen.

    • Calms the emotional and physiological state by improving vagal regulation of the heart and improving auditory functions

    • Addresses difficulties in social communication

    • Listening sessions are modified based on individual presentation

    • May be implemented by clinician, assistant, caregiver or administered in clinic or home under supervision

  • Accelerates subsequent therapies

How Does It Work

Based on Dr. Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, the program is derived from nearly four decades of research on the relationship between the autonomic nervous system and social-emotional processes. It is designed to stimulate nervous system regulation by exercising and systematically challenging the auditory system with specifically processed music.

The music trains the auditory pathways by focusing on the frequency envelope of human speech. As the client learns to process these speech-related frequencies, they improve the functioning of two cranial nerves that are important for promoting overall social behavior. Cranial Nerve VII (Facial Nerve) helps clients focus on human voice and tune out irrelevant frequencies. Cranial Nerve X (Vagus Nerve) enables self-soothing and autonomic regulation.

Following successful completion of the intervention, individuals will be better able to focus in school, therapy, and everyday life and experience a calmed emotional and physiological state. This is based on studies that suggest that skills such as attention, state regulation and the ability to engage socially will be enhanced.