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genafawns.com.au

Somatic Psychotherapist

Hello, my name is Gena Fawns. I’m a somatic psychotherapist practicing in Northcote, Melbourne, in person and online.

 

I work with adults facing difficulties in any area of life, particularly

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Emotional regulation
  • Childhood trauma
  • Relationship issues
  • Communication
  • Self-esteem

Providing a safe and understanding place to explore your concerns and find a way forward, I draw on various techniques, theories and my own experience, to listen and respond to each individual.

 

My therapeutic focus is on the person and their lived experience, which includes their feelings, emotions and thoughts. Through empathic understanding I help clients build cohesion and resilience. I work relationally to combine somatic (bodily) awareness with a humanistic integration of all parts of the self.

Before starting my practice 35 years ago, I qualified and worked as a social worker and completed five years’ training in somatic psychotherapy. Since then I have taken additional courses in self psychology,  Embodied Imagination, emotion-focused therapy, EMDR, mindfulness, couple therapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, neurotherapy, and intersubjectivity.

I am listed on the Referral Database of the Blue Knot Foundation as a mental health practitioner with experience in supporting adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse.

In 2024, after three years’ training with Jungian analyst Robert Bosnak, I was certified as an Embodied Imagination Therapist by the International Society for Embodied Imagination (ISEI). In 2022, I trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitisation reprocessing) with Graham Taylor at Therapist Training. Both these methods have enriched my practice and brought fresh skills to my work with trauma, dreams, symptoms and body-based experiential processing.

I have studied various forms of meditation, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga and Transforming Stress into Well-Being. I completed a Master of Counselling at La Trobe University in 2014, and in 2018 studied contemporary relational psychotherapy with the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (IPSS), New York.

I was a founding member (in 1986) of the Australian Association of Somatic Psychotherapists (AASP); in 1991, I was accredited by the AASP as a Somatic Psychotherapist. I am also an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

I am a member of the International Society for Embodied Imagination (ISEI), and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP) in Australia. I follow and comply with the Ethical Codes of all these associations.

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay my respects to Indigenous Culture and Elders past, present and emerging.