At Collaborative Care, our aim is to help our clients reach their full potential. We provide clients with effective clinical interventions to cultivate a more meaningful and flourishing life.
Our Services
Individual Psychotherapy
For anyone seeking support to:
- Manage anxiety, depression and other mental health issues
- Gain skills and practical strategies to manage life’s challenges
- Overcome body image issues and eating disorders
- Develop interpersonal skills and relationships
- Enhance connections and reduce isolation
- Cultivate more focus, resilience and compassion
- Cope with Trauma, Grief and Loss
For further details, please contact us.
Parent Coaching & Counselling
Supporting a loved one with an eating disorder is an incredibly challenging, stressful, and isolating experience. Based on over 10 years of clinical experience, the Collaborative Care team have directly assisted people impacted by eating disorders.
The Collaborative Care Parent Coaching and Counselling framework is available in recognition of the importance of supporting parents in supporting their loved ones with eating disorders.
Who is it for?
For parents of loved ones with eating disorders, disordered eating and/or body images.
What will it look like?
We offer 6-8, one on one, counselling & coaching sessions for 50 minutes each.
How can it help you?
Gain a greater understanding of the impact an eating disorder has on your loved one
Understand the origins of your parenting style
Learn effective communication skills to reduce conflict
Become a more effective emotional coach for your loved one (and others in the family)
Regain confidence in parenting
Booking a session
We offer a free 15-minute consultation to help you better understand our approach and to ensure we will be a good fit for you. To schedule your free 15-minute consultation, please contact us.
Carer Workshops & Information Sessions
Collaborative Care works alongside mental health organisations and community services across NSW to support Carers in supporting their loved ones with a mental health concern. With over 10 years of knowledge and experience, we are uniquely placed to support carers. We offer Information Sessions & Workshops which are specifically designed to support Carers. The workshops cover a broad range of topics that relate to the role of being a Carer and provide:
- Opportunity to share similar experiences and struggles with others
- Psychoeducation
- Enhanced connections and reduced isolation
- Development in skills and practical strategies
We offer workshops in the following areas:
- Mindfulness
- Assertiveness
- Self esteem
- Depression
- Self-Compassion
- Effective Communication
- Managing Anxiety
- Disordered eating/Eating Disorders
- Emotional Regulation
To find out how we can support your organisation in achieving your goals for empowering and improving lives of families, please contact us.
About Us
Michelle Sperling
Clinical Social Worker
Master of Social Work, Master of Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy, Bachelor of Arts (Social Science)
Michelle is a registered Clinical Social Worker, a highly experienced clinician who has worked with a range of clinical presentations in a variety of settings including; not-for-profit, Federal Government and private practice.
Michelle uses a strengths-based, compassionate, and holistic approach. She believes it is important to create a safe, therapeutic space for people to share their vulnerabilities and feel supported.
Michelle draws from various evidence-based modalities to inform her practice including; Trauma Informed Care, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT), Schema Therapy(ST), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Interpersonal Therapy, Family Based Therapy and Narrative Therapy.
Michelle usually works with older adolescents aged 16+ and adults who are seeking support in the following areas:
- Anxiety
- Body Image Issues
- Carer Support
- Depression
- Disordered Eating and Eating Disorders
- Low Self-Esteem
- PTSD
- Stress
- Trauma
- Veterans and their families
To compliment her private practice, Michelle works with a Federal Government organisation supporting Veterans and is also a Sessional Presenter with Butterfly Foundation’s Prevention team, delivering specialist programs which address factors that influence negative body image, disordered eating and the development of eating disorders; to professionals, parents and students in schools.
Michelle is fully registered and a member with the Australian Association of Social Workers.
Archana Waller
Registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist
As a registered counsellor and psychotherapist, I offer short term counselling for life’s crisis or longer-term psychotherapy to adults with a wide range of personal challenges, including:
- Anxiety & Depression
- Relationship with Self and Others
- Emotional Regulation
- Parenting
- Eating issues and Eating Disorders
- Coaching Carers of Loved Ones with an Eating Disorder
My special interest lies in working with adults experiencing body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and eating disorders, and their carers who support them.
Applying a collaborative approach, as an integrative therapist, I draw on psychodynamic, attachment, person-centred, behavioural, cognitive and mindfulness theoretical orientations. My approach aims to address human concerns about anxiety and fear in a mindful, compassionate way, while encouraging the client to pursue a full, rich, and meaningful life. To facilitate change and to empower clients, evidence-based interventions and specialised interpersonal skills are used.
Publications
Waller, A., Paganini, C., Andrews, K. and Hutton, V. (2020), "The experience of adults recovering from an eating disorder in professionally-led support groups", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 217-229. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-07-2020-0088
Archana Waller, Chiara Paganini, Katrina Andrews & Vicki Hutton (2021) Trust and a sense of safety in the group: The benefits of professionally-led support groups in eating disorders, European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, DOI: 10.1080/13642537.2021.2000462 https://doi.org/10.1080/13642537.2021.2000462
ANZAED 2021 Hybrid Conference: Oral and Poster Abstracts. Journal of Eating Disorders 9, 162: P.8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00505-6
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