Cancer Support

Our highly trained counsellors provide strategies for people dealing with every aspect of the cancer journey: from diagnosis, to coping with medical and surgical treatment decisions, to dealing with survivorship and end of life issues.

We support clients to regain a sense of control over their lives by developing strategies to help them to:

* Build inner strength and resilience
* Better cope with fear, anxiety and depression
* Deal with loss and the changes in function that are often part of cancer and its treatment
* Have a sounding board that enables them to make decisions that are supportive of health and wellbeing
* Express their true feelings without worry of impact on family and friends
* Feel empowered in dealing with health practitioners
* Address personal, family and partnership issues
* Rebuild self-esteem and sense of identity
* Reassess priorities and values based on where they are now
* Gain new perspectives that are self-empowering
* Better cope with the transition from treatment to survivorship

Living Well Services provides consultative services to the Cancer Council of Victoria and Breacan.

Endometriosis Support

Our goal is to support women and their partners to have a better understanding of endometriosis and how the different aspects of the disease can impact on their health and wellbeing.

We provide practical strategies you can use to regain a sense of control and improve your quality of life while dealing with the physical and emotional impacts of endometriosis. We support women to feel empowered by being proactive in the management of their health, to address the issues that directly undermine their wellbeing, and to develop more realistic expectations of themselves and their resources.

Support is also offered to mothers of daughters with endometriosis. As endometriosis often “runs in the family” many mothers experience guilt when they see their daughters suffering from this disease. Similarly mothers of young girls need support and strategies to help them deal with their “worry” that their daughters will develop the disease as they grow older.

Treatment can be an issue as women come to terms with the possibility of having a hysterectomy and the implications this has for their fertility and for their sense of identity as a woman and often benefit from counselling support to assist them in making this decision.

Infertility & IVF

Infertility is a potential issue many women face and our counsellors are experienced in supporting women to come to terms with this reality in terms of its impact on the expectations they had held for themselves and how they define their role as a woman

IVF: We also provide support for women and their partners to assist them in dealing with the stresses that often arise as they go through the IVF program.

Specifically we provide:
• Strategies woman can use to manage their emotions and mindset as they go through each cycle.
• Support to help them better cope with the process and feel they are doing everything they can to maximise their chances of becoming pregnant - and so gain a feeling of being more in control of their process.
• Support to help them maintain perspective and quality of life and value their relationship as this often gets lost in meeting the practical requirements and rigours of the IVF program.
• Counselling support for women who have not had a successful outcome from IVF to help them integrate the experience and to reframe any negative feelings they may have about themselves, such as feelings of failure, so that they are able to move forward in their lives with a more positive mindset.

We provide Consulting support to the Endometriosis Care Centre of Australia and have worked with Dr. Jim Tsaltas and Assoc Prof Peter Maher since ECCA’s inception. We have also conducted Women's Endometriosis Support Groups at Freemason's Hospital.

Weight Loss

Clients are supported to view their weight issues as symbolic of a time and energy management problem rather than being indicative of poor will power and the judgements that come with this. This helps to objectify the situation and is empowering as clients are given a mindset and practical tools they can use to understand and better manage their relationship with food and start to feel they have control over this part of their lives.

Specifically we support our clients:

Relationship Counselling

Relationship counselling is provided to support couples to resolve their issues and to redefine their relationship in terms that best support them personally. Within this we look at the “energetic roles” within the relationship: specifically “male” and “female” energy and how these relate to the practical roles being fulfilled by each partner.

Seeing roles in terms of energy helps to create a deeper understanding of each other and results in each person having more accurate expectations of what the other partner can “deliver” to the relationship. As they come to appreciate the role each plays in the relationship this strengthens each partner’s feelings of value and self-worth and the relationship becomes stronger.

Assessing each partner's needs and their roles within the relationship also helps to clarify the strength of the relationship and supports clients to feel stronger within themselves should they need to come to terms with the fact that a relationship may be over.

Having an energetic perspective means that the rules of relating are the same regardless of physical gender and so these principles apply equally well to same or different sexed couples.

If you would like to understand more about energy in relationships phone 1300 768 682 to order your copy of our Relationship Handbook:

“RELATIONSHIPS: THE ENERGETIC CONTRACT”($28.50 incl GST and Postage)

Personal Issues &
Stress Management

Whenever stress starts to become a problem or people feel overwhelmed, not happy with some aspects of their lives or not coping this undermines confidence and erodes self-belief and self-esteem. If an issue is causing angst then it is a drain on their energy and needs to be addressed.

Our goal is to support clients to rebuild their confidence by providing a framework that helps them make sense of their situation and practical strategies they can use to address their issues so that they feel they are more in control of their lives, are managing the situation, and can feel self-empowered.