Bernadette Zeeman
AMHSW. BSW. BA. Grad Dip Ed. PG Child Dev. Adv. Dip CS. Dip CS. Dip Youth Work. Dip Protective Intervention.
“Stop every now and then. Just stop and enjoy. Take a deep breath. Relax and take in the abundance of life.”
Bernadette works with clients across the lifespan including families and couples, helping them find ways to deal with personal and social difficulties that affect mental health and wellbeing, with a focus on each person’s unique situation and strengths. She believes in the importance of creating a caring, supportive and non-judgemental environment when assisting clients to create change.
Bernadette particularly enjoys child counselling; She provides a whole-family approach working in partnership with client families. She has a strong professional background through many years of working in Child and Family Services. She utilises a child focused and creative counselling model that is centred on optimising children’s abilities to express, explore and resolve upsetting thoughts, feelings, experiences, in developmentally appropriate ways.
Her collaborative approach may include working with clients and their family, doctor, teachers and others, to develop treatment plans and strategies to best meet client’s needs. She can also help people identify and connect with appropriate services they may not have known about.
She has a trauma-informed practice, this means she incorporates core principles of safety, trust, collaboration, choice, and empowerment in her services.
As a trauma-informed social worker, Bernadette draws on her knowledge about trauma to respond to clients in a way that conveys respect and compassion, honours self-determination, and enables the rebuilding of healthy interpersonal skills and coping strategies.
Bernadette has experience in helping client utilises a wide array of tools in her work to help people find better solutions to current concerns, including strengthening relationships, develop and practise new skills, while gaining confidence in themselves and their recovery.