Expert Advice During Life’s Most Trying Times

Mental health does not discriminate – it can creep up on you when you least expect it and debilitate every aspect of your life. Likewise, even the happiest of couples can experience hardship. With today’s stresses, it is unrealistic to believe it will always be sunshine and rainbows. Paula Pohill has been helping individuals, couples and families through their emotional battles for more than 14 years.

“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen, 1992

Communication is the key to a Strong Marriage

14+ Years Experience

Proven Track Record

Friendly & Non-Judgemental

No Wait Time

Supportive Resources Between Sessions

Couples & Individuals

After Hours and Saturday Appointments

Meet Paula

Relationship & Marriage Counselling Sydney

Paula Polhill is an experienced and skilled Psychologist, offering Marriage counselling and individual counselling in Sydney, Gladesville. Paula is a goal-focused therapist who facilitates positive changes in a couple’s relationships in as few as 4-6 sessions.

Paula has helped hundreds of couples reconnect after living with months/years of resent, dissatisfaction and poor communication. Regardless of what the contributing factors are, Paula helps couples learn some simple and powerful tools, that improve the couple’s communication and assertive skills; help couples understand what went wrong; help them see and validate each other’s perspective without justifying or getting defensive; improving emotional and physical intimacy (INTO-ME-SEE) and overall experience more feelings of trust, love and connection.

Paula is passionate about helping couples who feel stuck and miserable in their relationships. Call today for more information! After-hour appointments available.

Anxiety Treatment Sydney

Having experienced anxiety and panic attacks in her teens, Paula understands how anxiety can cripple your life and disconnect you from what and who matters. Paula Polhill is an experienced and skilled Psychologist, offering Anxiety Treatment in Sydney, Gladesville. Paula enjoys treating individuals suffering anxiety and uses a range of current evidence-based treatments to create positive outcomes in a relatively short time. Paula has helped hundreds of Clients change their relationship with their anxiety rather than them continue to fight a futile daily battle which only leads to exhaustion and despair. Paula frequently witnesses the transformation that her Clients make, from debilitating anxiety, to a life of connection, meaning and vitality. If you’re sick of anxiety making your life miserable and small, then Call today to make an appointment and learn how YOU can drop the mental rope.

1. Call & Discuss

For Couples:

Call Paula to briefly discuss issues in your relationship. From there, Paula will make a provisional assessment of the couples needs and suggest an interim plan. Paula will then offer an appointment that suits you both (Saturday & after-hour appointments are available).

For Individuals:

Call Paula to briefly discuss your struggles, whereby Paula will be able to assess your level of distress and needs. Paula will suggest a plan of action, that might include you getting a mental health care plan from your GP (GPMHCP), which will allow you a Medicare rebate for up to 10 sessions in a calendar year. Paula will walk you through the process, make an appointment at a time convenient for you.

2. Meet, Share & Create Plan

For Couples & Individuals:

In a safe, confidential space, Paula will listen without judgment and guide you to share your concerns, perspective, needs and wants. Paula will listen to both sides, help process thoughts and feelings and gain a better understanding of the problem and of each other. Before generating a treatment plan, Paula will determine whether both parties have the same overall goal and assess levels of motivation and willingness to create positive changes and outcomes. Paula will provide an estimate of how many sessions you will need. In this first session you will not only have a plan of action, but will leave the session with some insight. Paula will also begin to email you resources in preparation for your second and subsequent counselling sessions.

3. Learn & Develop

Couples:

Paula will guide you through a communication process based on evidence-based research, which will facilitate increased mutual understanding, empathy and validation of each other’s experience. This is a healing process that begins to open up communication, deepen the connection between each other and the beginning of a newfound growing trust. Sent resources are also followed-up and discussed in the context of related sessions.

Individuals:

Individuals will start seeing their problems from a different perspective and feeling more hopeful and in control of their life. Through learning some powerful evidence-based tools, they begin to feel their life open up and motivation and choices appear. Individuals begin the journey from avoidance and fear to one of committed action and traction. Sent resources are also followed-up and discussed in the context of related sessions.

4. Skill Building

For Couples:

Paula will continue to guide you through an ongoing communication framework

and empower you both to find meaningful solutions through committed action and practical strategies, rather than patch up old wounds. You will learn many different and effective skills that will allow you to attune more to your partner whilst also learning to ask for your own needs in the relationship, rather than try to get them through passive/aggressive patterns of behaviour and communication. You will be starting to really understand each other more and feeling your connection deepen as you both begin to nurture, enrich and mend your relationship.

For Individuals:

Individuals start feeling more confident and have begun to make small but effective changes in their life. They have started to regain some control over their life and are more able to disentangle from negative stories and thoughts that have been defining their life thus far.

5. Progress & Review

For Couples:

At this stage, most couples have developed a more meaningful and supportive connection, having healed past wounds, learned how to resolve recurring issues and restoring emotional and physical intimacy. With a deepened connection (with less resent, hurt & pain) and a clearer partner plan, couples usually feel more confident and hopeful about their future and will need fewer sessions as they continue their work at home with Paula encouraging maintenance sessions only.

For Individuals:

At this stage, individuals are developing some mastery of skills learnt thus far. They have taken committed actions that have alleviated stress. They are feeling more confident, asserting their needs more, creating healthier work/life/play balance and their life is beginning to open up. They are learning to untangle from negative/destructive thoughts and stories about themselves, others and the world. They are no longer allowing anxiety to control their life and make it small. They are beginning to change their relationship to unwanted experiences, realising the futility of fighting with them and understanding the dirty paint hat comes from avoiding and fearing. They are connecting more to what and who matters in their life. They are becoming more psychologically flexible. They are starting to feel some vitality come back in their life.

6. Review & Maintain

Both Couples and Individuals:

Once couples and individuals have achieved their therapy goals with Paula, she will recommend a follow-up session or two, (depending on the person or couple’s needs) to review progress and reinforce skills learnt and to ensure old destructive and avoidant patterns don’t re-emerge. Any unexpected barriers are also addressed and supported.