Established in 2010, Learning to L.O.V.E (Listen, Observe, Visit, Experience) aims to work with individuals, couples, families and small groups to help them through their inter as well as intra personal relationship issues. All are welcome; our goal is to listen and observe as well as visit the concerns that you might have so as to assist you in experiencing a more fulfilled life.
Irene offers face-to-face, Skype and telephone counselling. She is also available outside of regular business hours offering sessions in the evenings and Sundays. We make it our goal to provide a safe and trusting therapeutic environment in which healing can occur. We will provide a warm and nonjudgmental environment where you can feel safe to explore any emotional, psychological or spiritual issues. We are there to listen and to accept you as who you are.
General Counselling
In difficult circumstances, family members and friends are often unable to provide an objective perspective. Counsellors, on the other hand, are trained to value and accept all clients with respect and without judgment. We believe that healing and change needs to occur at a pace that you, the client, can embrace. We will work together, taking in your environment, your strengths and your goals resulting in a more empowered version of you. This approach allows the client to have an objective perspective in gaining insights that will greatly assist in managing their situation.
At Learning to L.O.V.E, Irene aims to work with the whole person. She recognizes that people have the potential to heal themselves if given enough support and guidance. The client may be an individual, a couple, a family, a child or even a small group of people. Areas of counselling include: Anxiety – Couple relationships – Grief and Loss – Parenting – Personal Growth – Self-esteem – Stress Management – Spiritual Guidance – Christian Marriage Enrichment – Identity Search, and many more. She also conducts Depression and Anxiety Recovery Programs for the community.
Christian Counselling
If you would like to work through your issues and concerns from a spiritual perspective or emphasis, Irene’s approach would definitely be ideal for you. She is not afraid to address spiritually related issues, and is even more than willing and happy to pray before the sessions, if you need. Through her life and various personal experience, Irene has applied many of her Christian values to her counselling practices, and she is always prepared to go down this route should you so choose. Her multicultural background adds an added dimension. This approach allows the client to have an objective perspective in gaining insights that will greatly assist in managing their situation.
About me
Irene, also known as Boon Pheak, established Learning to L.O.V.E in 2010. She is a fully qualified and registered counsellor, and is also member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). She obtained her Master of Counselling from Monash University, Australia. Irene is originally from Malaysia, but has spent years in New York, USA, to further her education in health education and religion. She moved to Melbourne in 2000. Living in three different countries has certainly helped Irene to be more sensitive to different cultures and religion, an attribute which she has found to be very helpful in her counseling approaches.
Irene specializes in providing support across a wide range of counseling services. Her aim(s) is to create an environment where the client feels safe, comfortable and supported. Irene can help clients explore feelings and emotions that are often related to their experiences. This allows them to reflect on what is happening to them and to consider alternative ways of doing things. Working in a confidential setting, Irene listens attentively to her clients and offers them the time, empathy and respect they need to express their own feelings and perhaps understand themselves from a different perspective. The aim is to reduce their confusion and enable them to make changes in their life if they decide to do so.
Irene works collaboratively with the client to help them develop strategies to work through their current issues. This is done by assisting them to better understand themselves and providing options, setting goals and helping them to take action. Irene believes that once you have decided what you want from therapy, that it is important to choose appropriate milestones along the way, so that progress is tangible.
Learning to L.O.V.E. can give you the energy and the support to help you take responsibility for your life and have the courage to make the necessary changes in order to grow and develop.
