Noels deepest intention is to help clients, therapists and practitioners cultivate a place of deep self- awareness, wise self-compassion, and the courage and vitality to step into the world with authenticity, creativity and confidence.
B.B.SC, B'Ed (counseling), Adv Dip Gestalt Therapy, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). MAPS. ClinGANZ
Noel has been a psychologist since 1997. He is a certified somatic experiencing practitioner, gestalt psychotherapist, and faculty member and trainer at GTA (Gestalt Therapy Australia) since 2001. He now works in full time private practice as a registered Psychologist (medicare provider) and Psychotherapist working with individuals and couples, as well as offering 1-1 and group supervision to counsellors, psychotherapists and organizations. As well as a practitioner, Noel is a co-trainer at the Equine and Animal assisted Psychotherapy Institute, and a senior trainer for ‘Embodied Processing’, an international online trauma training program through the ‘Centre for healing.’ He is lead assistant for the ‘somatic experiencing’ training program, a highly effective somatic approach to addressing trauma developed by Peter Levine. Having a deep passion in personal development and mindfulness practice, he is student of Zen Buddhism and an ongoing student of the Diamond Approach, a psycho-spiritual approach which integrates western depth psychology, and eastern wisdom traditions into its teachings and self-inquiry methodology.
Prior to full time private practice, Noel has worked extensively in a wide variety of counselling and psychological services since 1995, including Senior Psychologist at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre family counselling, drug and alcohol, sexual assault, problematic gambling, men's behavioural change programs, and the mental health fields. He currently has a special interest in working with shock, complex and developmental trauma, addictions, shame and struggles with identity and self-esteem. Noel regularly runs uniquely tailored workshops to mental health organizations on the topics of depression and anxiety, parts work, shame and self-criticism, trauma, attachment and addictions.
Noel believes in creating a safe therapeutic space where people can feel deeply heard and understood. He gently facilitates people to explore and build their awareness of their how their feelings, thoughts and beliefs, body sensations, coping patterns, interpersonal styles and context (historic and current) and are all connected. Through the process of awareness building people naturally experience more clarity, self-compassion, regulation and insight, which over time brings more agency, connection, empowerment, choice, flexibility and meaning into their lives.
Noels brings a holistic integration of developmental/attachment approaches, gestalt therapy, poly- vagal and nervous system theory, internal family systems theory (parts work), the enneagram, mindfulness and Buddhist psychology into his work. He is a certified 'Somatic Experiencing' practitioner, which utilises highly effective and safe body awareness methods for negotiating and releasing trauma, developed by Peter Levine. The outcome of this is that people develop more regulated and flexible nervous systems. Noel is also an ongoing student Zen Buddhism and the 'Diamond Heart approach', a western psycho-spiritual school that integrates depth psychology, Sufism and mindfulness approaches to personal and spiritual development.
While I believe that all therapeutic modalities are of value, my therapeutic style is trauma informed and based in gestalt therapy’s core relational, non-pathologizing, strength based, experiential, humanistic and existential approaches to understanding trauma, suffering and mental health challenges. (see more on therapy approaches)
Noel has done training in and or is informed by-
See therapeutic modalities – Gestalt therapy, Somatic Experiencing and Havening for more detail!
Noel supports people to explore and address a range relational, psychological and emotional issues including:
My own journey began in my early 20's when I decided to do my own therapy to address my deep unconscious sense of lost-ness, anxiety, insecurity and low self-esteem. This was a result of my own developmental trauma. Since my late teens I recall having an unnameable longing to know how to feel comfortable with myself, to be happy, free and at peace. I just didn’t know how on earth to do this! As a got a little older, this emotional suffering and trauma sparked a strong commitment and curiosity in personal development and self-awareness, taking me into many rich experiences of my own therapy, mindfulness and various spiritual paths and practices. Over time I learnt to find a more solid and consistent place of goodness and deep acceptance within myself which was for many years buried under layers of self-avoidance, self-criticism, shame and fear.
What I discovered over time, was that that instead of trying to become an improved version of myself, change happened naturally and paradoxically when I turned towards the truth of my experience as it was, with awareness, friendliness, curiosity, acceptance and compassion. I discovered that without force and efforting, I naturally unfolded towards a deeper, fuller level of peace and happiness through learning simple practices in awareness, nervous system regulation, embodiment, self-inquiry, acceptance and self-compassion. It is from this place that I was able to then risk showing up in the world authentically, including all my fallibility, messiness, limitations and unique talents and gifts.
I have learnt over these many years of personal work that change is more about changing our relationship to our experience, rather than trying to reach a particular ideal destination of freedom or peace. This relationship to our experience is based on an orientation of curiosity, love, compassion and acceptance. This is what I learnt most profoundly as the path to wholeness and inner contentment. What’s most important is not what I experience, but how I show up to and relate to it. This is where transformation naturally happens. As they say, the real issue is thinking you shouldn’t have the issue!
I found over and over again, that my clients are much more able to be aligned with their deepest intentions and values, and to live from them, when they can bring the deepest acceptance and understanding to where they are now. So, learning to be where we are in this moment with acceptance and kindness is the support that takes us naturally to who we are, and ultimately to how we want to live on this beautiful planet. My deepest passion is to support people to know and connect with their innate goodness and inherent value. It is from this place that people seem to thrive and live a connected, healthy, satisfying and meaningful life.