Kaoru

Kaoru is an AHPRA Registered Provisional Psychologist and a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS). She is also a Clinical Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA).

 

Kaoru speaks both English and Japanese.

 

Kaoru has 13-year experience as a psychotherapist/counsellor. During this period, she has been working as a school counsellor (Sydney Japanese International School) and a Victims Services counsellor. In her private practice, she has worked with adults, children, adolescents, couples and families. She has experience working with individuals who have a range of concerns including depression, anxiety, stress, grief and loss, adjustment disorder, interpersonal difficulties and trauma-related symptoms.

 

Kaoru is passionate about empowering clients through person-centred and evidence-based interventions. To meet her clients’ individual needs, she also uses an eclectic range of approaches based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, Focusing, Sandplay, Bowen Family Systems Therapy, Schema Therapy, Imago Relationships theory and Gottman Couples Therapy. Having completed both Basic and Advanced qualifications of Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) training, she is now working towards her accreditation with the EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA).

 

As a provisional psychologist, Kaoru has worked with adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders (verbal/non-verbal) under NDIS.  She is also qualified to see people who are currently being funded under Workcover.

 

Kaoru is married and is a mother of a 27-year-old son. She believes her experiences of being born in Japan, and moving to Singapore and then to Australia as a teenager has helped her to connect with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. She believes her two decades of intensive training in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, as well as her own experiences of motherhood has enriched her practice in assisting clients to achieve a meaningful and value-driven life.

 

In her spare time, Kaoru enjoys drinking matcha soy latte, going to the movies and walking her Pug x Jack Russell dog.

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