A counselling space for Helpers

Throughline Counselling provides in-person counselling in Bendigo and online therapy in Australia for helping professionals and others navigating burnout, trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, and life transitions and changes that cause inner upheaval.

Frederikke Jensen, Narrative Therapist and Master’s qualified counsellor, University of Melbourne & Grad. Dip. in Psychology, Charles Sturt University.

Welcome

"Rather than focusing on symptom reduction alone, exploratory talk therapy invites curiosity about the patterns and experiences that give rise to distress."

Hi, I'm Frederikke Jensen, She/Her, a narrative therapist and Master's qualified counsellor. I have particular experience and understanding of people who support others, while also working with people whose reasons for seeking therapy go beyond their professional lives.

Tending to others requires tending to ourselves

Burnout, vicarious trauma and psychosocial hazards are inherent occupational risks in helping professions. Like anyone else, people who support others also experience grief, loss, trauma, anxiety and depression.

Our personal and professional worlds intersect, but often how we are as people is reflected in how we cope with problems elsewhere. Therapy tending to our inner lives and personal dynamics can therefore change how we live, work and love.

The frame I use for therapy offers time to think, reflect and make sense of experiences that are often difficult to hold alone. Even if you understand intellectually what the problem is, you might need another mind and a therapeutic space to help you experience your way through difficult emotions—helpers are no exception to needing therapy.

A therapeutic approach to mental well-being beyond techniques and symptoms

Symptoms such as not sleeping, feeling anxious, or feeling irritable or distant from others tell us something is wrong—but symptoms do not tell the full story.

If taking time off work, self-help, or technique-based therapy hasn't brought lasting change, exploratory talk therapy—including narrative therapy—offers an opportunity to better understand yourself and your relationships.

Rather than focusing on symptom reduction alone, talk therapy invites curiosity about the patterns and experiences that give rise to distress. This also involves putting words to feelings that are sometimes hard to speak about—but perhaps we can begin with ‘it’s difficult to put words to how you experience it’ and that feels…

Words can be cheap and used to bypass feelings. Thinking harder and trying to work things out intellectually rarely works on its own, which is why tending to emotions in the here and now of the therapeutic relationship matters.

Therapeutic modality and background

Coming from a psychology undergraduate degree, I trained in narrative therapy as it aligns with my understanding of people’s psychological suffering as springing from relationships, history, culture, experiences of oppression, trauma, grief and more.

Narrative therapy is about making meaning, approaching problems with curiosity rather than judgement. In my experience, judgement often accompanies burnout and trauma. For example, rather than treating self-judgment as the enemy, narrative therapy invites us to understand what judgment is trying to tell us.

Whilst narrative therapy is my primary modality, my approach is also influenced by contemporary psychodynamic thinking. This shapes how I understand the therapeutic relationship and the influence of earlier life experiences in the present. If you'd like to know more about my background, you can read more here.

What guides my therapeutic work

Through both my clinical work and my own experience, I have come to believe that tending to our own wounds, by being held in mind by another person, is vital.
Trauma therapy is guided by sensitivity to pace and safety. Shame and other painful experiences are approached with curiosity rather than disavowed.
Therapy is committed work undertaken in collaboration between therapist and client. Finding a therapist who not only understands you, but can help you bring about deep psychological change is not effortless—I hope my article on ‘how to find a therapist who understands me’ sparks some reflection for you.
Reflecting critically on what evidence-based practice means, how research can inform clinical work, and what we know about good outcomes in therapy.

Throughline Journal

Finding throughlines of resilience, hope, and understanding in the midst of change

Journal

Dismantling the stigma of being a revolving-door therapy client

If you have been in and out of your therapist's room for a couple of years, struggling emotionally, and feel you cannot do without your monthly session with your psychologist or counsellor, then this reflection might be for you. It is particularly for you if you feel you should be able to do without these sessions and feel shame about asking for a mental health care plan again from your doctor over subsequent years.

If you are a helping professional—how do you choose a therapist for your own therapy?

‍The question you might have is: Should I choose a psychologist, a counsellor or a social worker? I have a different and long-winded answer compared to the usual opinion pieces you might find on therapy service sites, AI overviews in Google, ChatGPT or social media.

How do I find a therapist who understands me?

The question of feeling understood by your therapist is often central when evaluating whether therapy with a particular therapist is right for you.

If you are looking for a counsellor or other mental health professional in Bendigo, this question may feel particularly important if you are someone who spends much of your life caring for, leading, teaching or offering therapy to others.

Next steps