About

Hi, welcome to Ciel Therapies. My name is Millie and I’m so glad you’re here. A little about me...

I am an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker registered with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).  I have experience working with adults, families, young people, Veterans and people from diverse cultural backgrounds. I also have 16 years’ experience working with young people and families both from an education and Social Work perspective. I have built my experience through working in a wide variety of fields such as high schools, homelessness and family intervention work. I gained my clinical mental health experience working in hospital and health services as well as veterans & families counselling services. I have worked in Child and Youth Mental Health, Adult Mental Health and Multicultural Mental Health. I have also worked as a psychological therapies clinician.

My mental health experience entails working with people suffering from depression, post-natal depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, personality disorders, panic disorders, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief and loss, self-harming, suicidal ideation and relationship issues within families. I also work with parents and families to develop or enhance their parenting skills by supporting them to navigate their children’s stressors and challenging behaviours. I also pride myself in being approachable and being able to provide culturally appropriate and culturally safe counselling services to people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Following my Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree, I trained in Master of Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Translating & Interpreting (French), and I'm currently studying a Master of Clinical Family Therapy Degree. As an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, I have been assessed as having extensive post-graduate training in mental health and can provide services under Medicare. I work from a person-centred, culturally safe, trauma informed and psychosocial intervention framework while utilising application of different therapeutic techniques during service provision. I possess competencies in building positive professional relationships while balancing service user’s empowerment and self-determination.

I have also acquired specific training and experience in undertaking counselling services using a number of therapies such as, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, DBT for PTSD, Motivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Family Therapy, Solution focused therapy, narrative and trauma informed care. I’m also a facilitator of parenting programmes such as Tuning into Teens, Tuning into Kids and 1 2 3 Magic.

I’m married and a mother of one beautiful daughter, which also informs part of my treatment focus. Personally, I have witnessed how mental health is conceptualised in my culture. This experience motivated me to be passionate about spreading mental health awareness in an effort to help de-stigmatise and normalise talking about mental health issues, especially coming from a culture where mental health is stigmatised.

Coming from a culturally diverse background, my work draws from lived experiences, and various psychosocial orientations. I specialise in working with people from multicultural backgrounds while putting culture and religion at the forefront of therapy by providing culturally appropriate and culturally responsive counselling. My treatment approach is holistic and person-centred, with the core belief that therapy should be a collaborative process between you and me. Therefore, it is essential that we have a good therapeutic relationship to foster our success. As a therapist I will help you establish physical, emotional, or spiritual healing through the integration of the most therapeutic models, insights and practices that are both holistic and culturally appropriate.

Most importantly, I want you to know that I am always humbled and honoured to have the chance to work alongside you on your journey towards well-being. Should you decide to work with me, regardless of your presenting problems, I am committed to the following:

- Providing an open, straight-forward approach.

- Taking a tailored approach to work with you to enhance your mental health and wellbeing.

- Checking in with you regularly regarding our progress.

- Helping you accomplish your goals and objectives within a reasonable time-frame.