Dave provides unique counselling support, incorporating lived experience, for young adult stroke survivors (18-50) with

 

• Fatigue after stroke

        Including:

• Understanding fatigue

• What impacts your fatigue

• Learning how to work with fatigue and changing your relationship to it

• The impact of inner protection on your fatigue experience

• Grief and acceptance

• Finding the balance of living with fatigue and the desire to engage in life and move forward

​

and / or

​

• Rebuilding life after stroke

      Including:

•  Understanding your limitations and changes in capacity

•  Developing support networks

•  Making space for the grief and loss

•  Acceptance

•  The impact of self protection and learning to work with this

•  Learning to be kind to yourself

•  Managing the tension between drive to move forward and limitations in capacity

•  Developing new dreams for your life and moving towards these dreams

 

Dave works with people who:

• Have experienced stroke as a young adult (18-50)

• Have a desire to engage in therapy and learn and grow in  the areas where I offer support (as listed above)

• Are open to self exploration and reflection, goal setting, and meditative practices (including mindfulness)

• Have the cognitive capacity to engage in therapy (be able to do the things listed above)**

• Have the speech and language capacity to engage in therapy (mild speech and language impairment is workable)**

 

 

** these can be discussed prior to the commencement of session together

 

Why Dave is the right counsellor for you

• I care deeply about people

• My lived experience – I’m a stroke survivor too

  • I had a stroke at age 44 in 2019

  • I experience high levels of fatigue after stroke, which has an ongoing significant impact on my daily life

  • I know what it is like to no longer be able to do (or do for any length of time) many of the things I loved, and the deep loss associated with this

  • I have worked hard to rebuild my life after stroke and get to a good place in myself

• Fatigue

  •  As part of my Masters of Counselling Practice, I did a research paper titled ‘Navigating the ongoing Journey of Living with post stroke fatigue’, where I:

    • Read extensively on fatigue and fatigue management

    • Observed my own fatigue closely, with therapeutic support, to gain a greater understanding of fatigue and how to manage it effectively

    • Learnt how to gain a greater acceptance of my own fatigue and live within the limitations it places on my life

    •  Developed my own fatigue education and treatment program

•   I work in in a lived experience role in fatigue research

  • I work within a stroke research team, advising from a lived experience perspective, on new and innovative ways of treating post stroke fatigue. I am up to date with the most current treatment approaches

•  I have engaged in fatigue after stroke therapeutic programs (OT, Neuro psychologist)

•  I have learnt from other stroke survivors about how they manage their fatigue

• I share my strategies in managing fatigue with many other

       stroke survivors

• Rebuilding life after stroke

  • I have worked hard on myself to get to a good place with life after stroke

    • Grieving the losses and changes in capacity and what I am able to do

    • Gaining a greater acceptance of my new life

    • Navigating the changes in friendships, relationships, isolation and connection, as a result of stroke

    • Learning to manage the tension between the desire to move forward and the limitation as a result of stroke

    • Learning new ways to dream for my life, that are manageable within my capacity now

    • Creating a new meaningful life, where I feel like I have hope and purpose

    • Learning to love myself exactly as I am

• I have a passion for supporting others after stroke

  • I work in a lived experience advisory role and have been part of the development of the Young Stoke Service (www.youngstrokeservice.org.au)

  • I have led peer support groups for survivors of stroke and brain injury for approx. 3 years and still do this regularly (voluntary)

  • I am actively involved in stoke peer support community (www.genyusnetwork.com) 

• I have presented at a National Brain Injury conference on Isolation and Connection after brain injury

• I am a qualified counsellor (Masters of Counselling Practice) with years of counselling experience

• I have worked in roles supporting people for over 20  years in many different areas

 

 

I want something good to come out of the challenges I have experienced because of my stroke. Supporting others as they navigate some similar challenges is very meaningful to me.

 

 

Delivery of sessions

Sessions are run over zoom for participants anywhere in Australia or face to face to face out of our offices in Murray Bridge SA.

 

Session are run in the mornings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

Cost

$100 per hour session

Sessions may be able to be covered with NDIS funding where available

Private health rebates are available with some private health funds

 

Intake

Please complete the expression of interest form here, if you are interested in engaging in counselling session with me

Or email me at dave@emergecounselling.com.au if you have any questions or would like any additional information