About Us
Who We Are
AT My Place Counselling and Psychotherapy in Neutral Bay offers trauma-informed, client-centred counselling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples and professionals. With more than 20 years of experience, we’re committed to providing a safe, supportive environment where healing, growth and understanding can occur.
Philosophy
AT My Place Counselling and Psychotherapy is about meeting you at your place of need and thus we are known as “at my place” as it is about you at your place. Meeting you at your place of need fosters change and growth through understanding of self and experiences feeling of being at your best in your place.
Purpose
AT My Place Counselling and Psychotherapy purpose is to support and work alongside individuals and groups to guide change and growth across all life domains.
We do this through:
- Therapeutic navigation for healing and growth with psychotherapy and counselling services for personal needs.
- Sharing knowledge and experience to promote learning and growth through therapeutic coaching if professional development is your focus.
Values
Trust: It is through trust that safety is nurtured. Being physically safe and feeling emotionally safe are essential to human survival. In offering therapeutic services, it is a core value of AT My Place Counselling and Psychotherapy to maintain an environment that upholds trust, so you can safely explore your experiences and discover growth.
Relationship: Relationships are everything. We have relationships with others, with ourselves, in our families, through our communities and with our environments. Relationships are all around us and our survival is interdependent with our relational health. Understanding how we develop and choose to maintain relationships secures the foundation of our identity.
Acceptance: Unconditional acceptance is demonstrated through non-judgement, respect and humility. Acceptance for the richness of how we are all unique supports our connection and sense of belonging to others, irrespective of our sameness or differences.
Communication: Silence is a form of communication that speaks in volumes. Recognising our communication styles – how we send and receive messages – supports and strengthens our opportunity for being heard, hearing others and having needs met.
Meet Andrea Turner
Andrea Turner is a highly experienced Psychotherapist, Counsellor and Therapeutic Coach based in Neutral Bay. She specialises in supporting young people aged 15 and older, and adults of all ages, who are living with the effects of complex trauma, grief and loss in their everyday lives.
Andrea nurtures a safe and supportive space, integrating the connection between humans, animals and nature for those seeking a holistic therapeutic experience with her fur colleague, Dr Herbie.
Professionally trained across a broad range of therapeutic modalities, Andrea uses an eclectic approach to create a client-centred process tailored to each individual’s needs. With more than 20 years of professional experience, she has also held leadership roles developing teams, facilitating education and providing clinical supervision and coaching to support growth and professional development.
Qualifications
Master of Social Work
Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Counselling & Psychotherapy)
Diploma in Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy
Certificate of Clinical Supervision
EMDR Accredited
Registrations
Clinical Member, Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA 30522)
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AASW 457362)
Clinical Social Worker (AASW 457362)
Medicare Provider
Private Health Fund, NDIS, Work Cover and DVA approved
Professional Memberships
Animal-Assisted Therapy with Dr Herbie
Therapeutic Benefits
Animal-assisted therapy has been found to deliver positive outcomes for people experiencing the impacts of crisis, trauma and grief, helping to create nurturing, safer environments for clients.
Including animals in psychotherapy and counselling sessions can support emotional regulation and improve mental, emotional and social wellbeing.
Dr Herbie is available to provide additional therapeutic support during psychotherapy, counselling and professional sessions for clients seeking his services.
Meet Dr Herbie
Dr Herbie was bred by Guide Dogs NSW and puppy-raised at Frank Baxter Detention Centre (NSW). He completed the Guide Dogs NSW program with a qualification in animal-assisted therapy – one level below a fully accredited service(guide) dog.
Herbie chose a different career path, focusing on being a therapist rather than a service dog. This allows him to express his creativity while working with young people, adults and groups, as well as professional colleagues.
Herbie has worked with Andrea since July 2019 across government, non-government and community sectors, supporting clients through complex trauma, grief, family separation and mental-health challenges.
A Note from Dr Herbie
Woofs! I’m Dr Herbie, a seven-year-old Labrador-Golden Retriever. I love meeting people, making fur friends, running, walking, sniffing, lounging in the sun, swimming, being patted, and curling up in my “bed office.”
My favourite foods are too many to count – watermelon, broccoli, cooked meats, salmon, dew on grass, Greek yoghurt (straight from the pot), carrots, bananas and sticks.
Most of all, I enjoy working alongside young people, adults and families who are healing from complex trauma, grief and mental-health challenges.
Therapeutic Approaches & Modalities
Psychodynamic Therapy
Rooted in depth-oriented psychology, psychodynamic therapy helps clients uncover unconscious patterns shaped by early experiences, fostering insight and long-term emotional growth. For couples, it illuminates attachment dynamics and emotional defences, while trauma survivors gain insight into longstanding emotional themes.
Psychology Today Australia – Psychodynamic Therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS enables individuals and couples to explore the inner landscape of “parts” within us – protectors, exiles and the core Self – offering a non-pathologising, integrative approach to healing trauma and emotional distress. This trauma-informed model fosters self-leadership and emotional integration, making it especially powerful for healing relational wounds and childhood trauma.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a structured trauma therapy that helps clients reprocess distressing memories and restore emotional balance using bilateral stimulation.
It’s highly effective for PTSD, relational trauma and emotional regulation.
Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy empowers clients to re-author their life stories, externalising problems and highlighting strengths, values and preferred identities. It was founded through learnings of the worldviews of Australian Indigenous cultural beliefs, wisdom and traditions. For couples, it fosters shared meaning and helps reframe conflict through a collaborative lens.
Psychology Today – Narrative Therapy
Sand Tray Therapy
Using symbolic miniatures in a sand tray, this expressive modality allows clients to externalise inner experiences in a safe space without the expectation for verbal expression. It incorporates practices of art and play therapies and enables deeper unconscious thoughts, feelings and beliefs to be explored, processed and expressed beyond words.
Therapeutic Coaching
Integrating coaching with psychotherapeutic insight, this approach supports couples and individuals with long-term transformational change. Clients are empowered to achieve clarity, resilience and emotional growth. It is ideal for navigating transitions and setting relational goals.
Focused Psychological Strategies (FPS)
FPS includes evidence-based techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), psychoeducation and interpersonal therapy. These strategies are particularly effective for anxiety, depression, suicidality and trauma recovery, and are recognised under Australia’s Better Access initiative.
Evidence-Based Psychological Interventions
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Dr Herbie is available to provide additional therapeutic support in psychotherapy, counselling and professional sessions. Animal-assisted therapy has been found to have significant positive outcomes within the context of therapeutic goals specific to impacts of crisis, trauma and grief, enabling nurturing and safer environments for clients. The inclusion of animal-assisted therapy in psychotherapy and counselling sessions can assist with emotional regulation and improve mental and social wellbeing.
The Role of Animal-Assisted Therapy
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy uses guided relaxation to access the subconscious, supporting behavioural change, emotional healing and self-empowerment.
It offers a deeper exploration of thoughts, feelings and memories at a sub-conscious level that is helpful for processing painful experiences, unhelpful beliefs and problematic patterns of behaviour.
Existential Therapy
Existential therapy is a philosophical approach that invites clients to explore meaning, freedom, isolation and mortality – empowering them to live authentically and with purpose. It is especially supportive for those facing life transitions, grief or relational uncertainty, helping couples and individuals reconnect with purpose and values.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy emphasises present-moment awareness, personal responsibility and emotional expression through the integration of thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations for holistic healing. It supports individuals and couples in navigating conflict and fosters relational trauma healing.
Simply Psychology – Gestalt Therapy
