On The Couch Counselling

21/04/2026

With Business Women's Collective – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉

21/04/2026

Hey Mandurah 👋

Our kids have big feelings and important stories to tell, and it’s important that we listen when things are going well, and especially when they aren’t.

In case you haven’t already heard, there’s an important national survey on kids’ mental health happening in our community right now. Young Minds: Our Future helps build a clearer picture of how children and teens are going, and that information helps shape future mental health services.

Some families may be invited to take part through a face-to-face interview, with older children also able to share their own thoughts through a short tablet survey.

If your household is invited, I warmly encourage you to consider being involved. Every story adds to the bigger picture, and together those voices help create real change.

You can find out more at 👉 www.ymof.org.au

19/04/2026

Sharing again as the first meet up is this coming Friday 24th April! Please share with anyone in the pregnancy loss community you think may be interested in attending. Thank you. 🩷💜

19/04/2026

Have you caught the new short animated movie on Disney called 'Versa'? Here's my latest blog about it. Please feel free to share, thank you!

There is something quietly confronting about the 11-minute animated Disney movie, ‘Versa’, not because it demands attention in a dramatic way, but because it draws you into a space many instinctively turn away from; the devastating stillness that follows the death of a baby just before birth.Ver...

17/04/2026

Thank you Mindful Mamas

https://www.facebook.com/share/18PKtyKDqW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

My rainbow baby didn’t heal me.

And I think that’s what people don’t understand.

They didn’t erase the grief.
They didn’t replace the baby I lost.
They didn’t magically make everything “okay.”

What they did…
was teach me how to hold two truths at once.

I can be deeply in love
with the child in my arms…

and still ache for the one who isn’t here.

I can celebrate milestones
while remembering the ones I never got.

I can smile in this life
and still mourn the life that almost was.

Because a rainbow baby isn’t a replacement.

They’re proof that love continues…
even after it’s been broken.

And if anything,
they didn’t take my pain away…

they made my heart bigger
so it could carry both.

14/04/2026

Healing from complex trauma asks for patience, kindness and gentle guidance. I offer a calm, respectful space in Mandurah where we can move at a pace that feels safe - focusing on safety, stabilisation, and practical skills like grounding and foundational somatic techniques.

If you’re carrying repeated or long‑term pain from loss, birth or relationship trauma, you don’t have to carry it alone. Together we’ll explore what helps you feel steadier, rebuild trust in yourself and your relationships, and find steady, small steps toward renewed hope.

If you’re in Mandurah or prefer online sessions, I’m here to listen. Start with a confidential chat - it can be the first gentle step.

Share this with someone who might need to hear it, or comment below if you have questions about how trauma‑informed counselling works.

On The Couch Counselling offers online and in-person counselling sessions to support individuals, couples, and families through life’s challenges.

14/04/2026

Healing from complex trauma takes time, patience and gentle support. In Mandurah, compassionate therapy can help you untangle painful patterns and build a steadier present. Read practical guidance and what to expect in therapy in our latest post — it might be the first step toward relief. https://wix.to/C11Fyw4

Healing from complex trauma is a journey that asks for patience, kindness, and gentle guidance. When the past feels heavy and the present uncertain, finding the right support can make all the difference. Here in Mandurah, there is a compassionate space where you can begin to untangle those difficult...

02/04/2026

Hi everyone,

I’d like to share a community initiative that feels deeply important to me and one that's been on my mind for some time.

I’m going to be hosting a monthly grief café called 'The Quiet Cradle grief cafe, for those who have experienced pregnancy loss'. It will be a gentle, informal space to sit with others who understand, without pressure, expectation, or the need to explain.

This has grown from both personal experience, professional insight and a very human recognition that this kind of loss is often carried quietly and alone. My intention is to offer a space where that doesn’t have to be the case.

We will meet on the last Friday of each month at Mostyn and Frankie Cafe, North Yunderup.

Places are limited to keep the space contained and supportive, so please contact me directly to reserve a seat.

If you’re part of this community, I’d really appreciate you sharing this with any friends, family, or contacts who may benefit.

Thank you so much.

Darrell
www.onthecouchcounselling.com.au
www.pregnancylosscounselling.com.au

16/02/2026

I've just attended a one hour webinar on 'Grief In The Workplace', facilitated by Grief First Aid. It offered a thoughtful reminder that loss does not stay neatly outside the office door but arrives with people, sits beside them, and often goes unseen.

I thought more about how my own husband had to show up for work carrying his grief over the death of our daughter, and I wondered if much has changed in 22 years. Just how do workplaces respond when grief is present, today? Whilst some environments may hold space with compassion and flexibility, others may often unintentionally, move quickly to restore normality, leaving little room for the human experience that sits underneath performance and productivity. It seems grief is just too uncomfortable.

I also found myself thinking about the increasing reliance on EAP providers as the primary response to employee distress. Access to professional support is invaluable and often essential yet I wonder if, in leaning more heavily on this arm of care, we risk quietly shifting the human responsibility to connect - does having a referral pathway mean we no longer need to sit alongside, acknowledge, or simply check in?

And what do we actually notice about a colleague who is grieving? Do we see their difficulties with concentration, physical ailments, their impaired decision making, becoming withdrawn with general reduced engagement or do we misconstrue this as poor performance? In many cases, these are normal responses to trauma and loss, but when these cues are misunderstood, there is a real risk of missing the opportunity to recognise that someone may be grieving and in need of support rather than scrutiny.

How does your workplace manage when grief touches the lives of its employees? What support is offered, both formally and informally? How are conversations held? What's acknowledged, and what's avoided?

It also raises a more personal question. When you notice a colleague who may be grieving, what is your response? Do you lean in with presence and empathy, or step back out of uncertainty? And if you've experienced grief yourself while working, can you recall what felt helpful, and what did not?

We will all encounter grief at some point in our lives. How we respond, both as organisations and as individuals, can make a lasting difference.

21/12/2025

https://www.onthecouchcounselling.com.au/post/when-christmas-feels-joyful-again-and-why-that-s-ok

Why it’s ok to feel Joy at ChristmasFor many people who live alongside the death of someone they love, there’s an unspoken rule that grief should hurt - especially at Christmas - like there’s an expectation that grief should be front and centre of your life, forever. But…over time…somethin...