Individual psychotherapy – MELBOURNE | ONLINE
Something beneath the surface
has been trying to get your attention
Depth-oriented individual psychotherapy for Brazilian and immigrant women in Melbourne — in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.
Why do therapy?
You moved countries. You rebuilt your life — the practicalities, the language, the daily rhythms… and yet, something hasn’t quite landed. A heaviness you can’t fully name. A sense that you are performing a version of yourself, in a language that isn’t quite yours, in a country that doesn’t yet know who you are.
Or maybe something keeps returning — a pattern in your relationships, a way of shutting down, a grief that doesn’t have a clear object. Individual psychotherapy at Talking Works is a space to bring all of that. Not to fix it quickly, but to understand it — slowly, carefully, in depth.
Why do therapy?
You moved countries. You rebuilt your life — the practicalities, the language, the daily rhythms… and yet, something hasn’t quite landed. A heaviness you can’t fully name. A sense that you are performing a version of yourself, in a language that isn’t quite yours, in a country that doesn’t yet know who you are.
Or maybe something keeps returning — a pattern in your relationships, a way of shutting down, a grief that doesn’t have a clear object. Individual psychotherapy at Talking Works is a space to bring all of that. Not to fix it quickly, but to understand it — slowly, carefully, in depth.
Is this for you?
Therapy might be for you if…
- You feel like you’re holding everything together on the outside, but something feels off underneath
- You’ve been in Australia for years and still feel like you’re performing a version of yourself
- The pressure of being an immigrant woman — to adapt, to succeed, to be grateful — is quietly exhausting you
- Something keeps repeating in your relationships, and you can’t quite reach the root of it
- You want to understand yourself more deeply, not just manage your symptoms better
- You want therapy that looks at who you are, not just what you’re doing
- You want to speak Portuguese or Spanish in a session and not have to translate your inner life first
- You sense that what you’re carrying has a history — and you want to understand that history
- You’ve tried other approaches and felt like something was missing
- You want to work with someone who understands what it means to be an immigrant woman navigating life far from home
If any of this resonates, a free 15-minute introductory call is available. Send us a message.
What individual psychotherapy at Talking Works actually is
What we mean by depth-oriented work
Individual psychotherapy at Talking Works is grounded in relational psychoanalysis — a tradition that takes seriously the complexity of the inner world, the unconscious patterns that shape how we relate, and the transformative potential of the therapeutic relationship itself.
We draw on the work of Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion, and integrate ISTDP (Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy) — a clinically rigorous approach that works with the emotional forces beneath symptoms.
This is not therapy that tells you to think more positively or gives you homework.
It is therapy that asks: what is this pattern protecting you from? What did it once make sense to feel — and what is it costing you now?
A feminist, intersectional lens
We also work through an explicitly feminist and intersectional framework. That means we don’t look at your inner world in isolation from the world you live in.
Gender, migration, race, culture, class, the body — these are not background noise in the consulting room. They shape what you carry, how you learned to feel, and what therapy needs to address.
For immigrant women, this is not optional. It is clinically essential.
In your own language
Sessions are available in Portuguese, Spanish, and English — because the language you think in is the language in which therapy should happen.
For many Brazilian and immigrant women living in Australia, therapy in English means an additional layer of translation — not just of words, but of culture, context, and feeling. That translation costs something. Here, you don’t have to pay that cost.
What we work with
What you can bring to sessions
Individual psychotherapy at Talking Works works with a wide range of presentations. You don’t need a diagnosis. You need a reason that matters to you.
Migration grief and cultural loss
Grief for the version of yourself you left behind, for the relationships that changed, for the country you loved and left and sometimes barely recognise when you return.
Identity and belonging
Who are you becoming here? Who did you have to become to survive the transition? Identity in the diaspora is rarely simple — and it deserves a proper space.
Anxiety and depression
Not just symptom management — but an exploration of what the anxiety is protecting, what the depression is expressing, what the inner world is trying to say.
Relationships and intimacy
Patterns that repeat. Connections that don’t quite reach. Distance where there should be closeness. The way your early relational world shapes the one you’re building now.
Trauma
The quiet, everyday kind – the accumulation of experiences that didn’t feel dramatic enough to call trauma but left their mark nonetheless. Including the trauma of migration, discrimination, and cultural rupture.
The body
What the body holds that the mind hasn’t found words for yet. Somatic experience, physical symptoms that carry emotional meaning, the relationship between what you feel and where you feel it.
Motherhood and family
Raising children between two cultures. The inheritance you want to pass on and the one you’re trying to break. The relationship with your own mother, seen more clearly now that you’ve become one.
Work and professional identity
The immigrant experience at work — feeling overlooked, having your competence questioned, navigating institutions in a second language, the particular exhaustion of being a highly skilled woman in a system that doesn’t always see you.
How it works
What to expect
The first session
The first session is a conversation — not an assessment, not a diagnosis. We talk about what brings you here, what you’re looking for, and whether we’re the right fit for each other. There is no pressure to commit.
The work
Sessions are 50 minutes, usually weekly, though the rhythm is something we establish together. The pace of psychodynamic work is different from CBT or coaching: we are not working through a protocol. We are following the thread of your experience, wherever it leads.
How long does it take?
Depth psychotherapy is not a quick fix, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Some people find a significant shift in a few months. Others work for longer. What we can say is that the work tends to be cumulative: each session builds on the last, and the changes tend to be lasting rather than temporary.
In person and online
Sessions are available in person in Melbourne and via Telehealth across Australia and New Zealand. Both formats work — the relationship is what matters, not the room.
frequently asked questions
FAQs
Do I need a referral to see a psychologist?
No. You can book directly without a GP referral. However, if you would like to access a Medicare rebate, you will need a referral from your GP with a Mental Health Treatment Plan. We are happy to explain how this works – just ask when you get in touch.
Can I do therapy in Portuguese?
Yes. We offer sessions in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. Many clients prefer to work in their native language, particularly for emotionally deep or personally significant material, where working in your first language makes a real clinical difference.
How is psychodynamic therapy different from CBT?
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) focuses primarily on changing thoughts and behaviours; it is structured, goal-oriented, and typically short-term. Psychodynamic therapy focuses on understanding the deeper patterns, history, and unconscious dynamics that drive those thoughts and behaviours. It tends to be less structured, more exploratory, and longer-term. It is not better or worse than CBT — it is different, and suits different people and different goals.
How long will I need to be in therapy?
There is no fixed answer. Some clients experience significant shifts in 3-6 months. Others choose to continue for longer, either because the work requires it or because they find ongoing therapy valuable. We discuss this openly and review regularly — you are never locked into anything.
Do you offer Telehealth sessions?
Yes. Sessions are available via Telehealth across Australia and to the world (except the USA) — same quality, same depth, different setting.
What if I'm not sure what I need?
A free 15-minute introductory call is available. It is not a therapy session; it is a conversation about whether we’re the right fit. No commitment, no pressure.
Do you work with clients outside the Brazilian and immigrant community?
Yes. While the practice specialises in work with immigrant women, we see clients from all backgrounds. What matters is the fit, not the passport.