ABOUT KAREN SRI THOMAS

Registered Counsellor, Psychotherapist

based in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia.

My deepest wish is to support people as they work through their individual psychological and emotional issues such as anxiety, depression, self esteem, and grief as well as through their relationship issues in adulthood – that are often playing out within family dynamics and between couples.

In early 2022 I established Hummingbird Therapy, a private practice based in South Yarra, Melbourne. Previously, I worked as a Specialist Trauma Counsellor at 1800RESPECT and as a generalist Counsellor at Doncare Community Centre. I continue to provide Grief Counselling and support at The Grief Centre, Australia-wide.

Prior to counselling in the early 2000s, I worked for many years in education as an Academic Lecturer teaching Indonesian language and as Research Fellow in Asian theatre studies. I received a Phd in Southeast Asian studies from UCBerkeley early in my career. I held roles as director of a tutoring business and consultant in human resource management. While I have loved assisting people in their learning of specific work related areas, I have long felt drawn to supporting people holistically, ie helping the whole person in the context of their relationships, their life, their work and how they are with themselves.

A note about the hummingbird: it is a symbol of resiliency and kindness, recovery and renewal, and in some cultures, protection from evil spirits.  Hummingbirds and flowers are in relationship with one another, and depend on each other for their existence.

The client as a whole person, in the context of their relationships and life situation, is the counselling focus.

My approach is holistic, bringing curiosity and openness to clients’ moment-to-moment experiencing in a bodily way, helping them connect and attune deeply with themselves, sensing and feeling in a way that goes beyond words, analyses and categories.

As an experienced and trauma-informed psychotherapist, my approach emphasises the human potential for self-discovery and growth. In our healing, therapeutic relationship, my wish for clients is to develop an empowered sense of their authentic self.

My integrative, experiential approach draws on methods and practices drawn from Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Attachment Theory, Existential Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, and Trauma-informed practices.

Focusing invites us to attend the wisdom of your body, to explore our felt sense of specific relationships. Clients come to know and understand their needs and desires in order to begin being the person they want to be in life and in their relationships.

​​Many clients begin counselling with me as a next step after benefiting from other forms of therapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy and cognitive processing therapy. Each session is tailored to their unique needs and emotional and psychological difficulties. As we work together, they find ways of developing a sense of peace, self compassion, resilience and empowerment. I help them attend to those stuck places-those emotional, psychological stoppages-that stand in the way of being their authentic selves in their lives and relationships.

A further note about me…

Therapy, and in particular Focusing, has brought me greater self-awareness, reflectiveness, and curiosity about my inner world. My relationship with myself has changed deeply, which has greatly impacted (and continues to impact) who I am personally and who I am in my relationships with others.

Being open to- and cultivating my own inner knowing allows me to be a better therapist with clients. As we embark on the therapy journey together, I help clients organically first to find their sense of groundedness. From here comes an inner calm from which to carry life forward in a way that feels right for them.

As we pause to stay with our moment-by-moment experiencing, we come to know not only our emotions but also what lies underneath them at a deep, often untouched level.

Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing approach that is underpinned by his philosophy of the implicit, opens up a whole new world perspective that lies beyond those recognised by the usual cognitive behavioural therapies. His Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy approach invites us to experience ourselves deeply and without relying entirely on the intellect.

When we attend to the wisdom of the body, we experience the felt sense of what’s inside us. Gendlin points us to felt-sensing, that is, to feeling and sensing into- and speaking from our body. We notice, acknowledge and allow what wants to form in the body – bodily sensations, images, metaphors, emotions, feelings. This approach invites us attune to the bodily felt meanings within us, that lead to an inner knowing of who we are deep down and what next steps to take that feel right.

Education & Credentials

• Registered PACFA #27996
• Practicing Since 2020
• MCP (Master of Counselling & Psychotherapy),
  PhD (Southeast Asian Studies)

Please contact me to schedule a free initial consultation

+61 404 529 704

karen.thomas@HummingbirdTherapy.org

In-Person, Phone &/or Telehealth sessions