3 April 2026
Meet Dr Anni Hine Moana
Each month we spotlight an ACA member in the ACA Monthly Bulletin, our monthly newsletter. The Member Spotlight is designed to showcase the work of our members to you! We hope their stories inspire or spark interest. Let’s share our experiences within our counselling community.
What motivated you to pursue a career in counselling?
My motivation to become a counsellor grew from both my personal experiences of counselling and witnessing how deeply people’s lives are shaped by stories—both the ones imposed on them and the ones they carry within. Early in my career working in community and educational settings, I saw how experiences of trauma, marginalisation, and shame could silence people and limit their sense of possibility. I wanted to work in ways that restored dignity, voice, and agency.
This commitment deepened during my Master of Counselling and later my doctoral research with Aboriginal women exploring the relationship between shame and alcohol-related harms. Listening to women speak of their “own history books” transformed my understanding of counselling. I came to see therapy not simply as symptom reduction, but as a collaborative process of re-storying identity in culturally safe and respectful ways.
Across roles in alcohol and other drug services, mental health, supervision, and education, my motivation has remained consistent: to create relational spaces where people feel heard without judgement, where culture and context are honoured, and where new meanings can emerge. Counselling, for me, is both a professional practice and an ethical commitment to walking alongside others as they reclaim their strength and authorship over their lives.
What specific areas do you primarily work within?
I primarily work within alcohol and other drug (AOD) counselling, trauma-informed practice, cultural safety (particularly with First Nations communities), clinical supervision, and tertiary education in addiction and counselling studies.
In my private practice, Westgarth Counselling Service, I provide individual counselling to adults, with a particular focus on women navigating identity, trauma, shame, and substance-related harms. My work is integrative and person-centred, drawing on narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, and evidence-based addiction treatment approaches. I also provide external clinical supervision to counsellors working in community health and AOD services, supporting reflective practice and ethical decision-making.
Alongside clinical practice, I work part-time as a Lecturer and Unit Coordinator in the Graduate Program of Addictive Behaviours at Monash University. A typical week includes teaching postgraduate students from counselling, social work, nursing, and medical backgrounds; developing curriculum; facilitating skills-based workshops; supervising assessments; and coordinating units focused on addiction treatment, socio-cultural perspectives, and co-occurring disorders.
I am also Convenor of the ACA Melbourne Chapter, where I facilitate group supervision and professional development activities for practising counsellors.
Overall, my week combines direct client work, supervision, teaching, and professional leadership, all grounded in strengthening culturally responsive, trauma-informed counselling practice.
Can you share a recent success or achievement in your counselling work that you're proud of?
A recent professional achievement I am particularly proud of was being asked to present my research at a number of conferences, including the 2025 ACA Conference in Adelaide and publishing a paper in the ACA Journal of Counselling Research on working with First Nations people.
I am also proud of my appointment as Convenor of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Melbourne Chapter in 2025.
In this role, I support the facilitation of regular group meetings that include monthly professional development sessions that bring together counsellors from diverse practice contexts, creating a collaborative community of practice.
This achievement is significant to me because it extends my long-standing commitment to workforce development and reflective practice—values that have shaped my work in policy development, clinical supervision guidelines, and tertiary teaching. It represents not only leadership within the profession, but also a practical contribution to strengthening counselling practice at a grassroots level.
What is the most rewarding aspect of being a counsellor for you?
Apart from supporting people to navigate ‘problems’ and to challenge dominant social discourse that supports the emergence of feelings of ‘deficit’, the most rewarding aspect of my work is how through research and education I have been involved in creating spaces in which counsellors feel supported, challenged, and professionally connected. This ultimately enhances client care. Seeing practitioners engage deeply in reflective dialogue and apply those insights in their clinical work has been both professionally rewarding and aligned with my broader commitment to culturally safe, trauma-informed counselling practice.
How do you contribute to the betterment of the profession and your community?
I contribute to the betterment of the community through clinical practice, research, education, and professional leadership, all grounded in a commitment to culturally safe and trauma-informed care.
In my private practice and previous roles in alcohol and other drug and mental health services, I support individuals—particularly women and First Nations clients—who are navigating trauma, shame, addiction, and complex social challenges. By creating therapeutic spaces that are respectful, collaborative, and culturally responsive, I aim to strengthen individual wellbeing and restore dignity and agency.
Beyond individual counselling, I contribute at a systems level. Through my doctoral research and subsequent publications, I have helped deepen understanding of the relationship between shame, gendered racism, and alcohol-related harms among Aboriginal women. This work has informed counselling approaches, supervision practices, and policy development within community services.
My contribution also extends to workforce development. I have written clinical supervision guidelines, developed trauma-informed AOD programs, and currently teach postgraduate students in addiction and counselling studies. By shaping the knowledge, skills, and ethical practice of emerging practitioners, I contribute to improving the quality of care delivered across the sector.
As Convenor of the ACA Melbourne Chapter, I further support community wellbeing by fostering reflective practice and professional connection among counsellors, strengthening the profession and, ultimately, the communities we serve.
Are there any projects or initiatives you're currently involved in?
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy I am involved in the ongoing review and improvement of evidence-based education of Masters students working in fields of addictions, mental health, counselling and public health.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in counselling/psychotherapy?
See a counsellor and do some personal growth.
We all need to reflect on our own narratives, our values, our life experiences and what motivates us.
Read widely on counselling, philosophy, sociology and ethics and reflect on the role played by social determinants in health and social and emotional wellbeing.
Think deeply and work in a socially and culturally inclusive manner.
Never stop learning. No one school/approach has all of the answers.
Is there a quote or philosophy that inspires your work?
Gabor Mate:
‘Ask not why the addiction but why the pain’.
Open question - tell anything that was not asked in the previous questions?
Inspired by the work of Michael White and David Epston (1990), Carl Rogers (1954) and Colin Tatz 2007 a distinctive contribution I bring to the field of counselling emerges from my published scholarship, particularly my work on shame as a relational and socio-political experience rather than simply an intrapsychic emotion.
In On the relationship of shame and problems with alcohol: Through the narratives of Australian Aboriginal women (2020), I explored how shame is often produced within contexts of gendered racism, historical dispossession, and structural inequality. This reframing shifts counselling practice away from individualised deficit models toward a more contextualised and compassionate understanding of distress.
In The ethnographer unbared: Looking at my own history book (2022), I also examined the ethical and reflexive dimensions of research and practice. By critically locating myself within the research process, I sought to model accountability and transparency in cross-cultural work. This reflexive stance informs my counselling and supervision practice, encouraging practitioners to examine power, positioning, and cultural assumptions in their work.
Collectively, my publications advocate for narrative and participatory approaches that privilege lived experience and community voice. By translating these insights into teaching, supervision, and program development, I aim to ensure that counselling practice is not only evidence-informed, but also ethically grounded, socially aware, and responsive to the broader forces shaping people’s lives.