Claudia Da Silva- Online Counselling & Supervision

08/03/2026

Happy International Women’s Day. 🌸

I am made of the women who came before me.

The aunties who taught me courage,
the teachers who opened doors,
the friends who held my hand when I thought I might fall.

I am made of the women who cried in silence
and still woke up the next day to continue.

Women who bleed every month,
who move through menopause,
who carry the weight of the world on their shoulders —
and still keep going.

Women who hold families together,
who care for men, children, communities,
and still find within themselves the strength to exist, to dream, and to transform.

In a world often designed by patriarchal hands,
we make space.
With courage.
With tenderness.
With fire.

As Rita Lee once reminded us:
“Women are not the fragile sex.”

We are roots and storms,
care and revolution,
silence and voice.

Today I honour every woman who resisted,
every woman who opened a path,
and every woman still learning to shine.

May we never lose the courage to exist in the fullness of our light. 🫶🦋🌹

06/03/2026

25/02/2026

The Beauty of Being a Multicultural Supervisor🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

For more than 20 years, I have had the privilege of sitting beside therapists —
and over time, that has grown into thousands of supervisees across different countries, cultures, and seasons of life.

For the past five years, a Brazilian community of more than 500 counsellors and psychologists has continued to grow — connected across cities, time zones, and oceans.

When I pause, I feel the magnitude of that.

Multicultural supervision is not simply about discussing cases.
It is about holding stories shaped by migration, language, identity, and courage.

It is knowing that trauma has an accent.
That grief sometimes whispers, “Where do I belong?”
That what appears as resistance may be cultural loyalty.
That silence may carry dignity, not avoidance.

In supervision, we are not only refining technique.
We are protecting identity.
We are integrating worlds.
We are helping therapists stay rooted while they expand.

Over two decades, I have learned this:
Supervision is relational before it is theoretical.
Presence before intervention.
Humility before expertise.

To stand between cultures — and build bridges instead of walls — is sacred work.

Every grounded therapist creates safer spaces for countless clients.
The ripple is immeasurable.

This is not only professional leadership.
It is collective care across generations.

And I remain deeply grateful to walk alongside so many courageous clinicians.

🤍

CollectiveCare

23/02/2026

Who are we, as therapists, in the “bread line” of humanity?

Are we the ones who sometimes feel small?
Impostors?
Powerless in the presence of raw pain?
At times dysregulated ourselves?

Or are we the ones who stay curious, grounded enough to co-regulate,
quietly excited by the depth of the work,
humbled — yet deeply committed?

Perhaps we are all of it.

Human before clinician.
One nervous system meeting another nervous system.

Supervision becomes the place where we can remove the mask of certainty,
speak about our tremors,
and return to the therapy room less alone —
more integrated,
more resourced.

How have you been feeling in the face of today’s complexity?🦋🌹

Claudiascounselling.com

23/02/2026

Instructions Before Visiting Earth

by James McCrae

Here is the full poem:

Instructions Before Visiting Earth

In the event of your birth
please note:
this planet is loud.

There will be sirens,
and alarms,
and the sound of your own heart
breaking.

Do not be alarmed.

This is common here.

You may feel small.
You may feel lost.
You may forget
why you came.

This is part of the design.

Remember:

You are not required
to save the world.

You are required only
to stay.

To notice.

To love the person
in front of you.

To forgive yourself
for being human.

There will be beauty here.

Look for it.

It hides in ordinary places:
in hands,
in morning light,
in the quiet after tears.

If you feel overwhelmed,
lie down in the grass.

The planet will hold you.

You belong here.

Even when you think
you don’t.

Claudiascounselling.com ❣️🫶🦋

18/02/2026

When your inner child shows up…

She doesn’t check if it’s convenient.
She simply arrives.

As anxiety.
As anger.
As silence.
As tears you can’t explain.

In psychotherapy, we begin to see —
these moments are not random.
They are echoes.

A tone of voice.
A delayed reply.
A door closing.

And suddenly your body reacts before your mind understands.

That is the child part.
Still protecting.
Still remembering.

Inner child work is not about becoming small again.
It is about meeting the younger you who never had space to feel safely.

In therapy, we slow down.
We name what was never named.
We validate what was once dismissed.

And gently, the adult self grows stronger.

Not to silence the child —
but to soothe her.

“You’re safe now.”
“I’m here.”
“You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”

Integration is quiet.
But it changes everything.

🌿 When your emotions feel bigger than the moment…
whose story might be asking to be heard?

Claudiascounselling.com

03/02/2026

Grief..

David Kessler reminds us that we don’t talk enough about death and dying.
And perhaps what we talk even less about is grief that has no answers.

A whole family gone.
A letter saying do not enter — call the police.
A man who jumped from the fourth floor.
A young man, known and loved, who took his life two days before his birthday.

Then… silence.
Space.
And a thousand questions.

Helplessness.
Hopelessness.
The quiet, aching thought: What should I have done differently?

They were part of the community.
Part of us.
Maybe they touched a tender part of us that was already tired, already carrying too much.

As therapists, we are trained in risk assessments and safety plans.
And still — we could not save them.
There is a particular sadness in accepting that some losses cannot be prevented.

We look for meaning: Was it the system?
The cost of living, unstable work, relentless pressure?
The parents?
Bullying at school, the internet, the invisible cruelty of comparison?

And yet, the truth remains: Nothing is ever enough to fully explain su***de.

What we do know is this: Its impact reaches far wider than we imagine.
It leaves echoes in families, communities, clinicians — in places we didn’t know were vulnerable.

Perhaps part of our work is not only prevention,
but also making space to mourn the parts of us that died too — the sense of safety, certainty, innocence, control.

To speak about both the external losses
and the internal deaths we carry after su***de.

Not to fix.
Not to explain.
But to witness.

What part of me feels most affected by this?🤔

02/02/2026

Lately, many of my clients — and even my supervisees — have been saying the same thing:
“I’m not sleeping well.”

Difficulty falling asleep.
Waking up already tired.
A nervous system stuck on high alert.

We give it many names: menopause, ADHD, anxiety, FOMO…
Different labels — often pointing to the same experience.

“I can’t disconnect.”

So here’s my question for you:
Do you sleep with your phone?

I won’t even go into the thousands of studies about how mobile phones interfere with sleep patterns.
What I’m more curious about is this:

What is the very first thing you invite into your nervous system in the morning?

Your phone is beside your bed.
Your body hasn’t even landed yet.
Your feet are not on the ground.

The alarm goes off — and suddenly, you invite the world into your bed.

Emails.
Social media.
News.
Friends and strangers.
Other people’s pain, blood, fear, mistrust.
Strangers in your bed through Instagram.
Gossip and glamour from influencers.
Marketing telling you to buy things you don’t need.

Can you picture that?

And then we wonder why stress and exhaustion arrive before the day even starts.

If you grew up in stress or trauma, your nervous system already learned that mornings are not safe.
So when you lie there scrolling, your anxiety wakes up too.
Your stress response kicks in.
Your body carries everything before you even stand up.

So tell me —
Do you sleep with your phone in your bed?
Or in the bathroom?
Or in another room?

I’m curious...

28/01/2026

Observing without absorving..

One of the skills I continue to develop, day after day, is learning how to listen without absorbing every struggle I encounter.
Listening is not the same as carrying.
Empathy does not require us to take on pain that does not belong to us.

As therapists, we can listen attentively, hold space with respect, and understand our clients’ experiences deeply—
without turning their difficulties into a permanent emotional burden.
Not every pain that enters the therapy room needs to live within us.

For a long time, I confused empathy with emotional responsibility.
I believed that being a good therapist meant holding everything, absorbing everything, feeling everything.
Over time, I’ve learned that this is not care—it is exhaustion.

This is especially challenging for therapists with sensitive, attuned nervous systems.
Those who feel deeply and care profoundly.
Yet even empathy needs boundaries to remain sustainable and ethical.

Each client carries their own story, their own pace, and their own process.
Our role is not to resolve their battles, but to accompany them with presence, clarity, and care.

Learning not to absorb everything does not make us detached.
It makes us conscious.
It allows us to care for others without abandoning ourselves in the process.

🦋🦋How do you observe your clients’ experiences with empathy and presence, without absorbing them as your own?

Claudiascounselling.com

26/01/2026

💛 Australia Day: What it represents — and why it’s complex

Australia Day, celebrated on January 26, marks the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. For many, it’s a day of national pride, celebration, barbecues, beaches, and gratitude for life in Australia.

For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, however, this day carries a very different meaning.
It marks the beginning of colonization, which brought:

loss of land and culture

violence and massacres

family separations

erasure of languages and identities

intergenerational trauma that continues today

For these communities, it is often remembered as Invasion Day or Survival Day.

✨ Why does this matter for immigrants?

As people who have also left our homes — sometimes fleeing war, poverty, or seeking safety and opportunity — we are invited to reflect:

Can we love and respect Australia without ignoring its history?

How can we honour the country that welcomed us without erasing the pain of those who were already here?

What kind of belonging do we want to build together?

For many, this day isn’t about “canceling” celebrations. It’s about listening, awareness, and respect.

🌱 Perhaps the question isn’t “what to celebrate?”, but:
how can we walk forward with more truth, empathy, and shared responsibility?

Acknowledging multiple stories doesn’t divide us — it can be the first step toward a more just, inclusive, and connected community.