Katharine Heading is a counsellor in private practice and a Member of the Australian Counselling Association and the ACA College of Clinical Supervisors. Katharine has more than 20 years’ counselling experience in gambling addictions, grief and loss, trauma, mental health, disability, anxiety, depression, palliative care and suicide prevention.
In the early 1980’s Katharine started her career as a tin and copper miner in the remote township of Balfour in Tasmania’s far North-West, surrounded by horses, dogs, pademelons and wallabies, Tasmanian devils, tiger cats and possums and the wildly humorous black currawongs (black jays). Looking for a way to stay mentally flexible and continue learning, she undertook an undergraduate degree through distance education where she developed a passion for psychology. She moved to Hobart for schooling for her young children and to complete her studies, and during her years studying Clinical Psychology, she also worked at Relationships Australia, Tasmania with a focus on problem gambling; the Department of Psychiatry at the Royal Hobart Hospital, working on spider phobia, OCD, and the Fragile X Project; and Gambling and Betting Addiction Inc. as a group facilitator. In 2011, Katharine moved to western Victoria where she worked as a senior manager in community health, supporting programs as diverse as generalist counselling, youth, homelessness, family violence, dual diagnosis and alcohol and other drugs.
Most recently, Katharine has entered private practice and is passionate about tailoring therapy to the individual’s needs. She believes that people are the experts in their own lives and supports people to achieve their goals by focusing on their strengths and experiences and using positively affirming language. She draws on a mix of therapeutic techniques with particular emphasis on re-regulating nervous system dysregulation with hypnosis, relaxation and meditative strategies. She also offers equine supported mental health and nature-based approaches to counselling and psychotherapy.
