Therapies
Counselling Services, EMDR Therapy & Play Therapy in Cairns
Circle of Security Parenting Program in Cairns
Janine is an accredited facilitator of the Circle of Security Parenting™ (COSP) program and Circle of Security in the Classroom, providing parenting support programs in Cairns for parents and teachers, available in small group settings or individually. The COSP program is based on decades of research into attachment and how secure parent–child relationships can be strengthened and supported.
Circle of Security Parenting™ helps you better understand your child’s emotional world by learning how to read their needs, respond with confidence, and support their ability to regulate emotions. It also strengthens the development of your child’s self-esteem and sense of security.
This program may also be accessed by parents with NDIS funding, where it can support both parenting capacity and family wellbeing.
Play Therapy for Children in Cairns
Play Therapy is a specialised therapeutic approach designed to support children in expressing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through play. Because children often find it difficult to articulate emotions verbally, Play Therapy provides a safe, structured, and creative space where they can communicate using toys, games, art, and imaginative activities.
This approach allows children to process difficult experiences in a way that is developmentally appropriate, helping them make sense of what they are feeling and building healthier ways of coping.
Through Play Therapy, therapists can better understand a child’s inner emotional world and support them in working through challenges such as trauma, anxiety, grief, behavioural difficulties, and emotional regulation concerns.
The therapeutic play environment promotes emotional healing, resilience, and personal growth, supporting children to feel more secure, confident, and regulated in their everyday lives. By engaging with children through their natural language of play, therapy becomes a gentle and effective way to support emotional and psychological development.
EMDR Therapy for Trauma in Cairns
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychological therapy used by mental health clinicians internationally for over 25 years. It is widely used to support people experiencing a range of mental health concerns, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and trauma-related symptoms.
In simple terms, EMDR helps individuals process and resolve distressing or traumatic memories so they have less impact in the present. By reprocessing these experiences in a structured way, EMDR can reduce emotional distress, ease triggers, and support healthier responses to past events.
EMDR therapy has also been shown to assist with managing addiction-related urges and cravings, while supporting the development of more positive and adaptive future behaviours.
EMDR is more than just eye movements. It is a structured therapeutic process that includes careful preparation and emotional stabilisation before trauma processing begins. To support this, a range of complementary strategies may be used, including psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), stress management techniques, mindfulness and relaxation, breathing exercises, problem-solving skills, assertive communication strategies, and sleep support.
Additional Counselling Approaches and Therapeutic Modalities We Provide
Janine is also trained in a range of additional evidence-based therapeutic modalities that can be tailored to meet your individual needs, goals, and preferences. These approaches may be integrated into counselling sessions to support emotional wellbeing, behaviour change, and personal growth.
These include:
- Theraplay®
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Mindfulness and meditation approaches
- Circle of Security Parenting®
- Circle of Security Classroom®
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
