About Us & Our Approach
Everyone is different and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy. Rather than being focused upon diagnosis or structured programs, we tailor our sessions to meet you where you are at. This style of therapy is called person-centred therapy.
Working with you towards deep relationships, connection & transformation
Generally, we work on several levels:
Fostering the strength and adaptability of your personal and interpersonal systems
- Building attachment security and nervous system regulation through neuroplasticity (the brain’s rewiring ability)
- Providing tools and resources for communication, resilience, wellbeing and managing interpersonal dynamics (and whatever else is required)
- Strengthening personal and interpersonal connections
- Deepening meaning and purpose
Initially, we address your main areas of concern by asking questions and listening to you talk. We may do exercises around communication, feeling, breath or other forms of awareness and we may work with the underlying patterns and attachment styles that shape your life.
If necessary, we may focus on tools to cultivate safety and security in yourself and your system, as without safety there can be no growth or transformation.
For relationship and family therapy, we may engage in activities such as roleplays or dialogues to explore your relationship patterns in-depth and imprint new ways of relating. We draw upon our extensive training in PACT, EFT (Emotion Focused Therapy), Gottman Couples Therapy, and Family and Systemic Therapy.
As we always work collaboratively, we only use techniques after prior discussion and with your consent.
A systemic approach
People come with problems they want resolving; however, upon deeper reflection, these problems reveal themselves as symptoms of deeper issues which manifest in our systems.
A systemic therapeutic approach understands that relationship difficulties rarely exist in isolation within one person but occur in a context. Instead of locating the “problem” solely inside you (or your partner or someone else), systemic therapy explores the wider patterns, interactions, histories, and relational systems shaping your experience.
This approach means understanding that many struggles in relationships are not just about personality or communication skills, but about the cycles you get caught in. For example, if one person shuts down and the other pushes harder, the real issue may not be withdrawal or criticism on its own, but the how both partners perpetuate the pattern. Systemic therapy helps you see these patterns more clearly so you can respond differently.
We also consider the bigger picture: how past experiences, attachment styles, cultural expectations, stress, and even social and spiritual systems can affect the way you connect. This approach can be especially helpful for couples, families, and people in diverse relationship structures because it recognises that relationships are shaped by many moving parts.
When you understand the system, you are operating in, it becomes easier to create meaningful change.
Rather than focusing solely on symptoms (like conflict, anxiety, or distance) systemic therapy aims to improve the overall health of the relationship itself. The goal is to help you move away from blame and stuck cycles, and toward greater awareness, flexibility, and connection. In simple terms, it’s about understanding not just what is going wrong, but how the whole relationship system works, so that you can build healthier ways of relating.
Embodied attachment security and nervous system regulation
Deep Connection
Profound Meaning
Meet The Team
Right Relationship is a team of relationship therapists committed to helping individuals, couples and families build stronger, healthier and more connected relationships.
“You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.”
Brené Brown
Embodied attachment security
We are biologically wired for connection. Research shows that our social environment has a profound effect on us, and when these are affected, it can have long-term effects upon our mental and physical health. Studies show that being in a stable, secure relationship is the greatest protection against life’s stressors; conversely, what causes us the most amount of stress is an unstable and insecure relationship.
People come to therapy because they feel disconnected and estranged from their partners or family members or adrift and unrooted in the world around them. Quite often, people feel disconnected from their own feelings, thoughts, and bodies. Disconnection is a natural response to difficulty, hurt, and trauma. Rupture of some kind is inevitable in life but most of us are not taught how to capably repair. Some of us need support and tools to repair and reconnect.
More than anything else we need to feel safe and secure in our relationships, especially in the relationship we have with ourselves. We experience that sense of safety first in our bodies and nervous systems, so developing embodied awareness is an important element of therapy. This awareness is also known as interroception and is a skill that we are not really taught but which can be learned.
In relationship and family therapy, we may work with co-regulation and de-escalation techniques, helping each other’s nervous system work together to prevent tension and avoid situations where situations may spiral into arguments.
Experience deep meaning and purpose
Humans are meaning-making animals. We make meaning through the stories we tell ourselves about our world and who we are. These stories shape our personality, define our lives, and infuse our every belief. Yet, very often, we are unconscious of these stories and how they affect us. We also inherit scripts from our families of origin that tell us how the world is and how we should be in relation to it. Excavating these scripts gives us a conscious choice in what we want to keep and what we want to rewrite.
Identifying our stories and scripts gives us the power to change them. For those who have felt their stories to be a prison sentence or a life’s burden, this can provide an incredible sense of liberation and empowerment.
Furthermore, without a sense of purpose both individuals and relationships can drift. A purpose, a sense of “why” can sustain us and our relationships through those hard times when love and affection are hard to find. As the saying goes: whoever has a why can endure almost any how. One thing we find, particularly with long-term relationships, is that the why gets lost, especially once children or other life circumstances come into the picture. Fostering depth and purpose is a core part of what we do.
Why is connection important?
We are biologically wired for connection. Research shows that our social environment has a profound effect on us, and when these are affected, it can have long-term effects upon our mental and physical health.
A significant cause of distress in our lives is loneliness and disconnection. In some Eastern cultures, loneliness is considered a disease. The West is only starting to catch on to this. Loneliness doesn’t mean physical loneliness; it means disconnection.
People come to therapy because they feel disconnected and estranged from their partners or family members or adrift and unrooted in the world around them. Quite often, people feel disconnected from their own feelings, thoughts, and bodies.
Disconnection is a natural response to difficulty, hurt, and trauma. Rupture of some kind is inevitable in life; so long as we can repair. Some people, however, need support and tools to repair that disconnection.
Why do we need meaning?
Humans are meaning-making animals. We make meaning through the stories we tell ourselves about our world and who we are. These stories shape our personality, define our lives, and infuse our every belief. Yet, very often, we are unconscious of these stories and how they affect us.
When we identify our stories, we have the power to change them. For those who have felt their stories to be a prison sentence or a life’s burden, this can provide an incredible sense of liberation and empowerment.
“You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.”– Brené Brown
Fees
Individual therapy
90-minute initial assessment therapy session: $247.50
Ongoing 50-minute session: $165.00
Couples
90-minute initial assessment/ongoing therapy session: $300.00
Initial sessions require electronic payment at the time of booking.
Hours
Our clinic days are:
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10 am to 6pm
Wednesday: 10am to 7:30pm
Sessions are by appointment only.
Sessions are available in person and via zoom.
Session length
Ongoing individual sessions are 55 minutes in duration, plus 5 minutes of note-taking time.
Because we share rooms with several therapists, all sessions must start and finish at the scheduled time.
Couples sessions are 80 minutes in duration, plus 10 minutes of note-taking time
Please aim to arrive at least 5 minutes before your appointment begins, as late arrival means a shorter session time.
Cancellation policy
We require 24 hours’ notice for any cancellation and 48 hours’ notice for the initial consultation. For late cancellations, we charge the full fee (unless there are extenuating circumstances).
A credit or debit card is required to book your initial consultation.
Confidentiality and record-keeping
Your privacy is of the utmost importance. We maintain electronic notes of all sessions.
These are maintained through Splose using industry-standard AES-256 encryption.
You can read more about our privacy policy and how we maintain confidentiality here.
Ethics and professional memberships
We are a member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the Australian Association of Family Therapists (AAFT) and adhere to both organisations’ code of ethics.
Location & directions
Right Relationship is conveniently located at Melbourne Integrated Therapies (MIT), 503 Sydney Road, Brunswick, at the junction of Blyth Street and Sydney Road.
Directions
By car: From the city, drive north along Elizabeth Street. Turn onto Royal Parade at the roundabout junction near the Peter Mac Hospital and then continue onto Sydney Road until you reach Blyth Street.
By train: Take the Upfield Line north from any station in the CBD and get off at Brunswick Station (19 minutes travel from Flinders Street). It is a 7-minute walk from Brunswick Station to MIT.
By tram: Take the number 19 tram north along Elizabeth Street from the city and get off at stop 24. This will drop you at MIT’s front door.
Driving & Car Parking
There is free 2-hour parking on Sydney Road and adjacent side streets. Be mindful that Sydney Road is a clearway during morning and afternoon peak hours, and tow trucks will pick up cars during these times.
There is paid 2-hour parking (free after 6pm) on Staley Street, less than 5-minutes walk from MIT.
There is a smaller free car park at 281 Victoria Street, also less than 5-minutes walk from MIT.
Accessibility & Getting Here
The building has ramp access, however to access the room, you must walk up a flight of 20 stairs to the first floor. As it is an old building, there is no lift access.
If mobility issues prevent you from walking up the stairs please inform me in advance so that I can ensure your session is moved to a room on the ground floor.
The waiting room and toilets are located on the ground floor. The waiting room is quiet, air-conditioned and has water available.
As the therapy room looks over Sydney Road, some traffic noise is usually present but it is minimal. The front-facing windows are double-glazed and the room has been set-up to create a low-sensory environment. Fidgets, toys and blankets are available to use.
Take the First Step Towards Change
Healthy relationships are not about perfection. They are built through safety, understanding, communication and repair. Therapy can help you better understand yourself, your nervous system and the patterns that shape the way you connect with others.
Whether you’re seeking support individually or within your relationships, we offer a warm, non-judgemental space for growth, healing and deeper connection.