• Bachelor of Psychology
• Youth Mental Health First Aid- Mental Health First Aid Australia
• Understanding and Applying the CBT Model: A Foundation Course for Clinicians- Centre for Clinical Interventions
• Attachment Theory and its Application to Therapy- Lidia Genovese
• Protective Behaviors Professional Development Workshop- WA Child Safety Services
• Structural Family Systems Therapy

Anxiety

In working with anxiety, we will identify and explore the emotions and thoughts you are experiencing, and understand how these may be influencing your current behaviours. We will identify any unhelpful thinking patterns and work to build new helpful ways of thinking to challenge the anxious thoughts. We will test relaxation and grounding strategies to use when you’re feeling anxious in order to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety. We will also identify specific triggers or situations that lead to you feeling anxious, and possibly slowly introduce you into those situations to build comfortability and reduce the worry or fear associated with the trigger.

Depression

In working with depression, we will work to increase your motivation and energy by planning small enjoyable activities or tasks. If this is difficult, we can explore the barriers to completing these activities, and start with small tasks to build a sense of accomplishment. We will explore the origin of the depression and if necessary, work together to reduce the impact of that trigger or difficult situation resulting in you feeling depressed.

Anger

In working with anger, we will identify any triggers and underlying emotions associated with the anger. We will implement skills to managing the anger in the moment, and reduce the build-up over time. If there are specific difficulties resulting in you feeling angry, we can work to manage those to reduce the impact they’re having on you.

Trauma

In working with trauma, we will start by implementing strategies to manage any distress, reduce overwhelm, and self- soothe when thinking or talking about the traumatic event(s),and to manage  triggers of the trauma in your daily life. We will then work slowly and at your own pace to understand the traumatic event(s) and how it may be influencing the way you see yourself, see the world, as well as impacting different areas of your life such as relationships, work/ study, etc.

Children and young people

In working with children and young people (aged 10+), we will explore the current difficulties in a relaxed and easy to understand way. We can work on identifying and naming specific emotions as well as developing an understanding of how those emotions present and why they are occurring. We can implement strategies to manage uncomfortable feelings and develop resilience in coping with these in the future. We can utilise talk therapy, as well as working in an interactive way to appeal to different learning styles and personal comfort.

Please find below a note from Keara

“Life is certainly good at throwing curve balls and these can make it hard to be your most  healthy and able self. This is what therapy with me is for. Therapy may seem daunting, however, I describe myself as friendly, approachable, relaxed and empathic. I create a supportive and safe space for you to identify, explore and process the difficulties that are impacting your life. I enjoy building trusting and honest relationships which help you to feel more confident and capable to deal with whatever life throws at you next.

I can work with you at your own pace while we work on the goals you identify in our first few appointments. I can help you build insight into the thoughts, emotions and behaviours that are barriers to you experiencing positive mental health. We can work on exploring the origins of these difficulties and work to reduce the impact, whether it is a previous traumatic experience, conflict in relationships or stress with daily life.

I have worked with youth and adults for the last five years, where I have focused on developing clients emotional intelligence and awareness to cope better with the difficulties they are experiencing now and in the future.  Additionally, therapy has included providing strategies and skills to manage difficult situations.

I have my own lived experience with mental health difficulties and therapy, and this has given me a greater level of empathy, understanding and passion to support people.

It is important to me that you make the most of your experience in therapy and achieve the mental health goals you desire.

I enjoy working with adults and teens.” – Keara Wood, Psychologist

Keara’s areas of interest and passion are:

• Anxiety
• Attachment issues
• Relationship difficulties
• Depression
• Trauma
• PTSD
• Personality disorder
• Grief and loss
• Emotional dysregulation
• Children and teens (aged 12 and above)
• Bullying and school refusal
• Self- esteem
• Suicidal ideation and self- harm
• Australian Defence Force