Rate Nikki Gasqueres

Life can become overwhelming when you're trying to hold everything together, struggling with relationships, or simply not feeling quite like yourself.

You may be dealing with anxiety or stress, difficulties at home or in a relationship, low confidence, family conflict, or a significant change in your life. For young people, it might feel more like not knowing where you fit, feeling misunderstood, struggling with friendships or family, or finding emotions difficult to manage.

Sometimes the difficulty goes back much further. You may have grown up feeling that your needs weren't always noticed, heard or understood, and now find that this affects your confidence, boundaries, relationships or the way you respond when things become difficult.

I'm a warm, down-to-earth counsellor who believes therapy should feel safe, genuine and collaborative. Building a strong connection is particularly important to me. I enjoy working with both adults and young people, and I know that for teenagers especially, counselling works best when they feel respected, understood and able to be themselves — rather than feeling that they are being analysed or told what to do.

I won't sit back and simply listen while you try to work everything out alone. Together, we'll explore what's happening, make sense of the patterns underneath it and look at practical ways to help things begin to change.

I particularly enjoy working with young people and adults experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship or family difficulties, emotional overwhelm, grief and significant life changes. I also work with parents who are struggling to understand or reconnect with their child or teenager, and with people wanting to develop healthier boundaries and relationships.

My approach is strengths-based and emotionally focused, drawing from family therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, ACT, CBT and other evidence-based approaches according to the needs of each person.

Before becoming a counsellor, I worked for many years in education, and much of my counselling work has involved young people, parents and families. This combination has given me a strong understanding of young people and of the wider family relationships around them.

I hold a Master of Counselling and am a Level 3 member of the Australian Counselling Association.

Most importantly, I want you to feel that you can come to therapy as you are. You don't need to have everything worked out before we begin. Whether you're a young person trying to make sense of what you're feeling, a parent worried about your family, or an adult wanting something in your life to change, we can start with what's happening for you now and work from there.