Online | Tasmania | Australia
Trauma-Informed Therapist
Supporting adults seeking to heal past trauma that keeps them stuck, using Brainspotting, EMDR therapy and intensive brain-body work so they can recognise persistent trauma-related challenges and reconnect for a brighter, more connected life.
Are you worried that your past is holding you back from living a purposeful and connected life?
After years of carrying the weight of the past, you’re ready for change.
You’ve decided it’s time to put yourself first, build resilience from adversity, and embrace a brighter tomorrow.
You know from experience that time does not “heal all wounds”. And perhaps you’ve already tried talk therapy or medication without any real change.
It’s hard to know what will work and who you can trust to support you.
The last thing you want is to continue living with intrusive thoughts, having your trauma story stuck on repeat, and these challenges continuing to impact your life and your relationships.
More than anything, you want your life back.
You want to finally let go of ‘just surviving’ and feel like yourself again.
In-person and online Brainspotting, EMDR therapy, and intensive brain-body work to help you heal and reconnect
What would it mean for your future if you could:
Heal from your past traumatic experiences
Recognise unhealthy relationship patterns
Let go of the expectations of others
Release guilt and shame by addressing inner conflicts
Stop being regularly overwhelmed by triggers
Develop more patience and presence
Enjoy more confidence, clarity, and calm
Find your purpose and connection
I offer compassionate body and mind therapy, free from judgement, that helps you gain clarity and confidence, reignite creativity, and reconnect for a more satisfied and meaningful life.
No matter how long it’s been, your brain is equipped to self-heal.
You can get through this.
Supportive brain-body therapy options
Brainspotting Therapy
Brainspotting (BSP) uses relevant eye positions to identify, process, and release the core neurophysiological sources of emotional and physical distress, trauma, dissociation, and other challenging symptoms.
As a brain-body, bottom-up therapy, BSP works with your natural healing capacity and seamlessly integrates with all other therapeutic approaches.
At your own pace.
EMDR and Therapy Intensives
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is designed to resolve distressing memories or symptoms that lead to conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
EMDR Intensives incorporate what is relevant for YOU, options include EMDR and creative arts therapies, attachment-focused EMDR and The FLASH Technique.
Using a landscape of targets across five core themes: Shame, Guilt, Vulnerability, Control & Belonging.
Intensives focus on your core identified theme using a protocol.
IFS-Informed Services
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerful transformative tool that views each individual as a complex system comprising protective and wounded inner parts, all guided by a core Self.
Similar to members of a family, these inner parts often take on extreme roles, but the Self remains intact and capable of healing. As an evidence-based psychotherapy, IFS enables YOU to access and heal these inner parts, fostering both inner and outer connectedness. Helping all your parts to work together as a supportive team.
IFS can also acknowledge and witness legacy burdens that we carry from others. YOU have permission to acknowledge and let go of these burdens and expectations that YOU carry from others.
Sonia Skewes: Therapeutic Supports
Combining Brainspotting and EMDR therapy intensives for brain-body wellness
Though it might seem like it, you’re not alone in this.
My own significant lived experience with grief, loss, and trauma led me onto the path of becoming a therapeutic specialist. In this capacity, I have worked in the community services sector, including in early intervention mental health, recovery-based psychosocial support, and with mental health carers/families.
Over 15 years of working in this space, I’ve refined a self-led therapy approach of breaking things down into bite-sized processes to facilitate the recognition of necessary adaptations and the integration of acquired survival responses.
I often incorporate guided imagery, somatic movements, and creative processes to support the release of intergenerational and ancestral burdens that YOU may carry.
My training includes:
Level 1 and 2 in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy training with the EMDR Institute, & The FLASH Technique- EMDRIA
Internal Family Systems (IFS) training with IFSCA to offer IFS-Informed services & IFS-Informed EMDR-EMDRIFS
Phase 1 & 2 in Brainspotting Therapy training with the Brainspotting Training Hub and BSP with Children & Adolescents- BSP Austria
Master of Social Work (PQ) with Charles Sturt University
Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) at Charles Darwin University
My love of learning has drawn me further into brain, body, and mind-based therapies, including Self-Havening, Poly-Vagal Exercises, Questing, EMDR Addiction, and Group Protocols to deepen my EMDR understanding.
Using a three-phase approach to treating trauma
Revisiting the past can be daunting. My trauma-informed approach is designed to guide you gently through the work we do.
PHASE ONE:
We start by prioritising your safety and stability.
It’s essential to establish a secure base for your therapy and equip you with practical strategies, so you’re prepared for what might come up in our sessions and have practical strategies to manage.
PHASE TWO:
Next, we address your trauma through processing, acknowledging, and integrating the hard stuff.
This phase helps you focus on disrupting automatic responses like fight/flight/freeze/fawn reactions and managing emotional overwhelm.
PHASE THREE:
Finally, we focus on consolidation, integration, and reconnection while also honing life skills like assertiveness, problem-solving, and decision-making.
You’ll make meaning out of past experiences and confront limiting beliefs that have held you back. This phase is when significant shifts occur, requiring courage to step into a new role as an empowered adult.
Imagine a future full of clarity, connectedness, and choice
Don’t go on thinking things can’t improve. A better life starts here, with evidence-based supportive therapy for your brain, body, and mind.
In-person (NW Coast Tasmania) and online/remote.