Individual, Couple, and Family Counselling in Albany

Sheree Bootes

B.A., BSw (Hons), Masters in Family Therapy, MAASW, CMAAFT
Accredited Gestalt Psychotherapist
Accredited Social Worker
Accredited Mental Health Practitioner
Registered EAP Provider

Connecting You to Here and Now

Are you considering therapy for yourself or your family? Perhaps you have a teenager who needs support. Or maybe you and your partner are experiencing difficulties and would like to find new ways to connect and thrive together. You could be suffering from depression or anxiety, facing challenges at work, or want to increase your self-awareness and understanding of how you currently relate to others.

As a Gestalt Therapist, I can help you to become aware of those processes that interrupt you from being ‘here and now’. Gestalt is a German word that cannot be translated into English with a single word or phrase and is best translated as ‘a fixed pattern’. To explore ‘fixed patterns’ as a therapist I consider three phenomena: a thing, its context or environment, and the relationship between them.

You will find your first session moves quickly into the core of the issue or challenge that brings you. There is no need to review and analyse years of your history. The Gestalt process is about supporting you to discover how your ‘fixed patterns’ may limit you and introduce you to a variety of potential viewpoints from which to choose.

From my years of experience as a Counsellor, Social Worker, Relationship Therapist, and Gestalt Therapist, I offer a therapeutic relationship that will provide you the opportunity to show, share, and develop different aspects of yourself in a safe and accepting environment.

What past clients have said about my work:

“What we did last year was very significant because it gave me the closure and separation I had been looking for. I’m not sure how many sessions we had in total nor whether it’s possible to ‘heal’ a situation that quickly; however something deep has shifted and for the first time in my life I feel I’ve overcome my main stumbling block. The depression has lifted, the anxiety has eased, and personal relationships are functioning better. It’s quite remarkable really as I was seeing a lifetime of therapy ahead of me!! Thanks again for helping me through a very dark period…have been singing your praises to all those close to me.”

“I’ve been seeing Sheree regularly since late last year when some long standing problems caused a crisis in my mental and physical health. Seeing her each week has helped me greatly. Just knowing I had an appointment each week helped me cope with the anxiety and depression that seemed to be engulfing me but most important is the more enduring results of being able to think about my difficulties more clearly. I always walk away from the sessions feeling lighter, more positive and with a better sense of how to go about building up my mental health.I have a way to go but despair has been replaced by optimism. Even on really bad days I don’t lose sight of the progress I’ve made and look forward to a very good recovery and being able to draw on my experiences in future times of stress.”