Do you find yourself stuck with past emotional trauma, repeating the same habits and behaviours again and again in a negative loop?
Tried everything but can’t get out of this endless cycle?
Strongly desiring to experience an inner freedom and happiness you think will never be yours?
There is a way out.
Emotional trauma is a disconnection with self, it is a split, it buries our inner child innocence and creates a guilt and shame wounded ‘self’ that retreats protectively behind a defensive ego barrier, peeping out at the world through indirect, rationalised experience to hide the core thorn ‘I am unloveable’ (or its variations), wrapping it in fear, lest this thorn be exposed as true, and our ultimate rejection and humiliation is complete. And through distorted feelings and emotions, a false representation of reality is perceived, binding us ever tighter to diminishing returns.
If we never open up to experience something greater than ourselves, then we only experience ourselves, and around and around we go, caught in a loop of repetitive behaviours and negative emotions, lost in the labyrinth of self.
There is a way out. It requires a complete change in perception.
How do I know this? I have been there, for the first half of my life. Stuck in this cycle in the dark, waiting for luck that never arrives. In fact I moved in, got the t shirt and became the landlord!
Welcome to The Wound Is The Gift
Hello, I am Darren
I specialise in helping people like you grow and expand beyond personal limitations of past conditioning / emotional trauma, through personal change, and into a more expansive and fulfilled life.
We don’t need to struggle, settle for less or resign ourselves to the belief we can’t change. We are all here to grow and evolve. We can change. I am proof of that.
I am a professionally trained counsellor, Buddhist practitioner, and lifelong spiritual adept. I have spent my entire career in service to others and have developed a unique method of healing and change.
Do you find yourself stuck in the same old loop, repeating the same habits and behaviours again and again, growing more and more self-critical? Wishing or hoping for your luck to change, but also fearing change? Is this a theme in your life? Then you’ve come to the right place.
If you are ready to open your mind and your heart, with safe, professional, guided support, then let’s work together. Let the light in! Then let your inner light shine!
Who you are is OK and you are uniquely you!
“Know thyself” - Socrates
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My Service
What is it?
Safe space to explore, discover and heal
Confidential and caring
Skilled, professional, unique approach
Reconnect to your authentic self
Save years and money from endless external searching
Pragmatic and practical
We cover shadow work, inner child work, responsible aware communication, self-compassion, grounded open spirituality, clear perception, positive needs, qualities, values, awareness, direct experience of your own truth, authenticity and much more.
Are you the right fit?
Yes, if you are:
Ready to heal your emotional wounds
Ready to start connecting to who you are on a deep level
Ready to align your emotional, physical, spiritual and mental needs
Ready to explore your potential and step into inner happiness
Ready to get down to the actual real inner work that matters.
How does it work?
1:1 in person, online Zoom or Microsoft Teams sessions
Self-paced, trauma-informed, humane
Open, safe, two-way sharing of issues, challenges and aims
Practical written work to help you explore and understand
Recommended helpful readings and music.
Who AM I?
Someone who has been there
I have walked this path - it works
A sensitive and caring guide
A trained professional counsellor, a non-judgemental intuitive, with a grounded sense of self and practical spirituality
I have taught and helped many others, with excellent feedback.
“ What really impressed me is that Darren was able to address difficult childhood and adult experiences without me even having to directly tell the story or get emotional. I felt comfortable opening up about vulnerable issues and conditioning. The way he held space and kept me in the present is truly a gift!””
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Testimonials
truly a gift!
SB, Arizona, USA
Darren’s combination of traditional psychology, Zen Buddhism and spirituality is exceptional. His background in counseling, his professional and personal experience, the readings and studying he has done on his own, I mean everything is coming beautifully together and was such a benefit to me. It’s such a freeing approach.
From the beginning Darren was different from most coaches or counselors. Darren was professional and supportive in all his interactions. He’s open to exploring with the client and most importantly at the client’s pace. He is very respectful. There was never any obligation or pressure.
What really impressed me is that Darren was able to address difficult childhood and adult experiences without me even having to directly tell the story or get emotional. I felt comfortable opening up about vulnerable issues and conditioning. The way he held space and kept me in the present is truly a gift!"
loving and safe…
SG, Launceston, Tasmania
In my sessions with Darren, the combination of trauma “therapy” and Buddhism feels loving and safe.
What I found to be profoundly valuable in our sessions are:
Dealing with the split, disconnection, in myself.
The awareness that what traumas, or what was done to me is not me.
Awareness of states of mind, my conditioning.
Recognition of my feelings, thoughts, fears, terror, how these connect with my behaviours.
Triggers and the connection to past.
Understanding of the ego self.
Awareness of it, opening, seeing a different path.
Recognising, seeing, feeling the innocent child.
Awareness of emotions, thoughts, feelings are not me …acceptance that they are there.
Recognition of my spiritual self as the “I AM”, and inhabiting a physical body.
Sign posts on a path to freedom, self love.
Darren, your methodology, sign posts, illuminations of the above is unique, holistic, accepting ...and crucial to helping me find myself beyond trauma."
major breakthroughs…
KW, London, UK & Perth, Australia
I can highly recommend Darren and his counselling and spiritual work. He uses a unique system that has really helped me to look very deeply into my conditioning and ego. Through meeting Darren and working with him I have had some major breakthroughs in parts of my life that I had felt very stuck for many years. His techniques have helped me to create a path for healing, growth and personal transformation.
Darren has such a vast array of training and life experience; he has a lot of wisdom that has helped me a great deal in my personal relationships especially around speaking up and using my voice. Darren has worked with people of all ages and across many areas within counselling and psychology-related fields.
Thanks Darren for the support very happy with the breakthroughs I’ve had.
exceptional…
PW, Brisbane
Darren is that rare individual who makes you feel at ease discussing life issues and facilitates a safe and comfortable experience. His encouragement and guidance to explore aspects of myself were exceptional and facilitated a deeper awareness of my life events. During our discussions, it became very clear he has a vast amount of professional and life experience which complimented the healing process. I most definitely recommend his services wholeheartedly.
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F.A.Q.
What does it cost?
My fee is AU $100 per session. Each session is 1.5 - 2 hours, as this allows adequate time to discuss, explore, digest and learn.
How often should I have a session?
I recommend one session each fortnight.
How many sessions do I need?
Good professional counselling and healing is not an endless number of sessions. That is unhelpful to you and unprofessional. It depends on the person and what they need help with. People come for change, growth, healing and personal development reasons and get inspired to keep working on themselves as they become happier and more motivated to grow and achieve greater wellbeing and things for themselves. However, it is up to you, and the decision is yours.
What else do you provide?
I will often provide homework to be completed at your own pace to help your progress, plus links to information that is helpful to you. This is part of the service.
How would you describe your approach?
My main approach is transpersonal counselling, which means it “…integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience. The transpersonal is defined as "experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos.”
I incorporate this approach with useful modalities such as
Attachment Theory
Buddhist Psychotherapy
Cognitive Behavioural (CBT)
Compassion Focused
Emotionally Focused
Existential
Gestalt
Humanistic
Integrative
Mindfulness-Based (MBCT)
Motivational Interviewing
Narrative
Person-Centred
Positive Psychology
Rational Emotive Behaviour (REBT)
Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
Strength-Based
Transactional Analysis
Trauma Focused
What are your qualifications and experience?
I have a Graduate Diploma in Counselling from the Australian College of Applied Psychology. I worked for DrugArm Australasia as a substance abuse counsellor and program coordinator, including partner and family members.
I have volunteered for Bloomhill Cancer Care (Sunshine Coast) and Red Cross (Brisbane) and worked for the past 13 years for the Queensland Government (Australia) in positive behaviour support for people with disability and mental health issues.
At present I help clients locally in Tasmania, in Australia and internationally.
And importantly, I have walked this path personally, seeking many ways to heal myself and my past, until I discovered that there is no missing piece that I need to continue to exhaustively search for. I then developed my findings into my unique system. I combined my learnings and experience as a professionally trained counsellor, 40 years as a student of Zen Buddhism and eastern philosophy, and hard won spiritual insights, to overcome my own ingrained beliefs and negative patterns, buried in my subconscious since childhood, and stepped out of this inner struggle into an aware, present, expansive person with inner freedom and happiness.
Is my information kept private and confidential?
Everything you share with me is strictly confidential. The only exception to this is if I become aware that your safety or someone else's safety may be compromised. I have a duty of care around your safety and the safety of others. Wherever possible and appropriate I will always speak with you and work towards a collaborative approach to next steps with you prior to taking action. This is all part of a professional counselling service.
Can I contact you outside of my sessions?
You contact me outside of your sessions via email with brief questions. Anything that is not brief can either be saved until your next session or you can arrange to have an extra session in between sessions (standard fee will apply).
What is your availability?
I prefer to work with a smaller number of clients per fortnight so I can facilitate deep work. Places are limited. Please use the contact page to get in touch with me for available times.
What if I have a complex diagnosis like Complex-PTSD, Clinical Depression, Chronic Anxiety, Schizophrenia, or a clinically diagnosed mental health condition?
If you do have a clinically diagnosed mental health condition, then I strongly recommend that you continue to work with your mental health specialist and your medical doctor. It is important that you do this so that you can reach a point in your daily life that your diagnosed condition stabilises, you have a support system around you, and your diagnosed condition does not have a crisis impact on your ability to function well in your day-to-day life. Yes, you are not your condition, however, a stable functioning base which can be built on is a common sense, recommended approach to help support you in navigating your complex condition and functioning optimally.
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CONTACT me
Get help to step out of emotional trauma and negative behaviour patterns, into genuine change and inner freedom!
Let the Light in!
If what you have read resonates with you, then please contact me via this form to arrange a free, no obligation chat to see how we can work together.