Therapy for helping professionals & helpers
‘Hello’, I am Frederikke Jensen, a master’s qualified counsellor based in Bendigo, Victoria. I enjoy working with people in the helping professions and helpers, including other counsellors, social workers, allied health professionals and educators. By “helpers”, I mean not only people in the helping professions, but also people who provide significant support for others, including parents, grandparents and volunteers.
My approach to therapy
Therapy is not something that is “done to” you—therapy happens with you.
I work with people beyond symptom reduction and diagnosis.
Meaningful psychological change is worked towards when we begin to explore emotions, thoughts, sensations, and patterns you may have struggled with for a long time.
I work from the understanding that we are shaped in relationships, and that we can change through relationships. This relational understanding is foundational to narrative therapy, which is my main training, and also contemporary psychodynamic ideas, which inform how I work.
Narrative therapy is a non-judgmental talk therapy used with individuals, couples and families, and in trauma work as well as for anxiety and depression.
Beginning therapy
The goal might be to figure out the goal—sometimes we have to make space for not knowing. You also do not have to have it all worked out or know exactly what pains you before starting therapy.
It is important to take time to think about whether therapy with me is for you. We start with a brief phone call before deciding to meet.
Next, I allow the first three sessions as a space for us to understand what you want from therapy. I will also discuss with you if I think your struggles are suited for the therapy I can provide. If you have financial or time limits, we may work differently, as shorter-term work needs to be focused.
Scheduling therapy sessions
I usually work with people on a weekly basis. You can read more on this page where I explain how meeting regularly helps us build trust, maintain momentum, and provide consistent support through difficult periods.
Sessions usually take place on the same day and time each week as part of our mutual commitment to the therapeutic work. Sessions start and finish on time.
Short-term or longer-term therapeutic work
Therapy can be short-term or longer-term depending on the depth of your struggles, your goals, and where you find yourself in life right now. Some people come to therapy through a particular difficult time in their lives, going through a divorce or the loss of a loved one, while others are seeking to work deeper, longer term on persistent mental health issues. Even during shorter-term work, I usually require weekly sessions as a minimum, as less frequent meetings can make it difficult to establish and maintain meaningful therapeutic momentum.
Fee
I will tell you my fee when we first speak in the initial phone call. My focus in the first phone call is to learn a bit about you and what you are looking for. If this matches what I can provide, we can meet.
Questions people often ask about therapy
How do you work with trauma?
I have explained in more depth how I work with trauma and my approach to working with people who have experienced trauma.
How do we know when it is time to finish therapy?
This is individual and depends on the person, their struggles, what we are working towards, and sometimes financial realities. Meaningful therapy for struggles that may have roots in lifelong difficulties can rarely be held within the 10-session model that has become common through Medicare-funded mental health care. For some people, deeper therapeutic work takes longer.
Endings are important to work towards and discuss throughout therapy. Finishing therapy can also involve grief and loss, and this can become part of what we need to understand together.
I have written more about the limitations and stigma surrounding short-term, infrequently spaced therapy in Dismantling the stigma of being a revolving-door therapy client.
What about privacy? I worry about meeting someone I know if I come in person.
My in-person practice room in Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat, is located in a quiet setting. If you have any concerns, let us discuss them. Attending therapy in person in a regional city like Bendigo, where you have friends, acquaintances, clients or patients, can feel exposing, depending on how you feel about being in therapy.
Some mental health professionals are open about this; some are not. I wrote an article on this to reduce stigma about helping professionals in therapy.
How can I attend weekly therapy if I do shift work?
I will try to accommodate as best I can, and I do have some early morning and after-hours appointments available. I will discuss this with you in our initial phone call.