Our approach is the practice of deeply listening and understanding
To experience joy and clarity, we must first have the courage to face our challenges. At Merie Burton Psychotherapy and Counselling, we incorporate a wide range of research-proven therapy techniques to help transform anxiety, depression, and loneliness into happiness, freedom, and confidence.
Our goal is to provide you with tools to empower you and help you reconnect and rediscover your true self. The therapy process allows you to cultivate your purpose, strength and resiliance to deal with life’s challenges.
Imagine if you could:
01
Deepen your intuitive wisdom
02
Believe in yourself and build your inner strength
03
Rediscover joy, passion and who you truly are
Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be;
embrace who you are.
- Brene Brown
Who we help?
Individual Counselling
Counselling focuses on enhancing people’s capacity to cope with specific life challenges such as a relationship ending, bereavement, and anxiety. Counselling helps resolve crises, reduce distress, develop goals for change and improve wellbeing. Counselling also assists with problem solving and developing inner resources to move on with life in meaningful ways. Psychotherapy focuses on achieving change in the personality or self. Often people notice that the nature of their personal difficulties are repetitive. Similar issues arise time and time again in different contexts and relationships. Psychotherapy helps people achieve better self-understanding and change long-standing patterns of behaviour that may be disrupting relationships, work or study.
Merie Burton | $185 individual counselling session (1 hour)
Peter Davies | $155 individual counselling session (1 hour)
Rachel Whitton | $155 individual counselling session (1 hour)
Fiona Richardson | $135 individual counselling session (1 hour)
Couples Counselling
As with individual therapy sessions, we draw on a range of theories and approaches in order to address the individual needs of the couple.
These sessions may require 2 hour sessions at times but will replace the need to attend therapy every week for an extended amount of time.
Fee: Couples Psychotherapy & Counselling Session inc. GST
Merie Burton | $225 couples counselling session (1 hour)
Peter Davies | $195 couples counselling session
(1 hour)
Rachel Whitton | $195 couples counselling session
(1 hour)
Skype, Phone, Group and Workshops
Throughout life we all experience times when we feel overwhelmed by personal or relational issues. We are trained in a variety of therapeutic interventions, and are able to offer support, direction, clarity and a different perspective.
We offer a wide range of counselling and psychotherapy services:
Individual Counselling
Individual Psychotherapy
Couples/Marriage/Relationship Counselling & Psychotherapy
Skype counselling
Telephone counselling
Couples Workshops & Seminars
Anxiety and Stress Reduction Workshops
Parenting Seminars
Group therapy for a variety of issues
Clinical Supervision
What does supervision mean in the context of counselling or psychotherapy? In the interests of both clients and practitioners, most professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy require members to incorporate supervision into their clinical practice. Merie Burton is a PACFA accredited supervisor and offers both individual and group supervision.
Individual
For registered counsellors and student counsellors
$165 for an individual one hour session.
Group
Merie runs group supervision for experienced, developing and student counsellors.
These sessions usually consist of 4-6 people per group.
Group supervision is $80 pp for 1.5 hr
Professional Supervision
Professional supervision for teachers, chaplains and other people in the allied health and people helping industry.
$165 one hour session.
Book Merie as a Speaker
I’m a sessional lecturer and educator and perform public speaking educational presentations at conferences, schools and other community events.
I enjoy creating an interactive learning environment with my audience and sharing my own experiences so we can learn and grow together.
I can happily talk for hours on many topics including; anxiety, depression, relationships, trauma and the various therapy techniques which we use.
Answers to our frequently asked questions
What services do you offer?
Individual counselling, couples counselling, clinical supervision for other counsellors, professional supervision for employees in people helping industries such as teachers and chaplains.
How long are your sessions?
Each session is 1 hour long, unless otherwise arranged.
Do you psychoanalyse your clients?
No, absolutely not! We are here to listen, understand and support you.
Can we skype or zoom or do telephone sessions?
Yes! we are available to do Facetime/Skype, Google Meet or Zoom online sessions.
What do we talk about?
The first session is about getting to know each other because the therapeutic relationship is really important. Basically it’s a time where you tell us a bit about you and what you want to be different as a result of counselling and you suss us out to see if we “get you”. We genuinely care for people and we like to spend time getting to truly understand where you’re coming from so that we can respond in a way that is going to help your individual situation.
How much do we talk about?
Some people like to go into their family history and talk about things from their past whereas other people just want to discuss a current issue. It’s really up to you. But we will work together to figure out what’s going to be the most helpful for you.
How much do your sessions cost?
Our session costs are GST inclusive and as follows: Merie Burton | $165 individual counselling session and $205 for a couples counselling session. Peter Davies | $135 individual counselling session and $175 for a couples counselling session Rachel Whitton| $135 individual counselling session and $175 for a couples counselling session
Is a mental health plan required?
You don’t need a mental health plan to see us. You can see us without having your mental health history recorded in the system. Our fees aren’t covered by Medicare but many private health insurers cover some of our fee. It’s best to check with your insurer first.
What if my partner doesn’t want to come to couples therapy?
You can still get effective strategies and tools by coming to sessions on your own. You can’t change your partner but you can learn different ways to respond to your partner.
How many sessions are best?
We usually suggest at least four sessions to start with. It’s up to you as to how many sessions you want or need. Some people use therapy as an ongoing “check-in” kind of like a service on a car. Some people use therapy as a problem solving tool and some people use therapy to speak to someone impartial and outside of their immediate family or friendship group.
How long is the waitlist?
There is usually about a 6-8 week waiting time to see Merie Burton, however, there is a cancellation list that you can register for. You could also request to see one of the counsellors on Merie’s team. These clinicians are mentored by Merie and work in a similar manner and framework.
How do you best prepare for a session?
Some people come with a list of topics they want to discuss and some people leave it up to the therapist to ask questions. either way is ok. Some people think about things that they want to be different after the counselling process and this can be a springboard for the counselling session.