What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 7pm Tuesday 8am - 7pm Wednesday 8am - 7pm Thursday 8am - 7pm Friday 8am - 12pm

Awake Counselling

Home
Australia
Sydney, NSW
Awake Counselling

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Awake Counselling, 410 Elizabeth Street, Sydney.

Elvis Caus (pronounced Chaush)

🌿 Therapist | Trauma | EMDR
💬 Approved Counsellor (NSW Victim Services) & Victims of Crime
🌻 Supervisor
🔑 Authorised Visitor
📍 Surry Hills (in-person)
🪴 Telehealth

14/11/2025

Radical acceptance gets misunderstood a lot.

It isn’t resignation and it isn’t “just deal with it.”

It’s the practice of saying:

“This is what’s here right now - and I don’t have to like it to work with it.”

For many people I support, this approach becomes a turning point because it helps reduce that internal battle. When we stop fighting reality, we suddenly have more energy to respond from a grounded place.

In Awake Counselling we often pair radical acceptance with:

• body awareness
• naming emotions
• EMDR strategies
• small daily habits that build stability

Acceptance creates space. Space creates change.

✨ Where might a little acceptance help soften something in your reflections this week?

12/11/2025

Today we recognise National Survivors’ Day where we remember and commemorate the courage and journey of those people who have survived sexual assault and institutional abuse, their supporters, and whistle-blowers across Australia.

If you or someone you know has been affected by institutional child sexual abuse, the National Survivors’ Foundation Casework Team can help.

They can assist with navigating legal, mental health and social welfare systems and coordinate the right support for your needs. They are available Monday to Friday on 1300 12 44 33.

1800RESPECT is also available to help you. Call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.au for online chat and video call services.

National Survivors Foundation

09/11/2025

I’ve been listening (again) to one of my favourite podcast episodes:

How to Make Better Choices with Barry Schwartz on The Happiness Lab. lauriesantosofficial

What I love most is this reminder:
We don’t always need perfect choices… just better ones.

In therapy, that often looks like:
• slowing down
• noticing the feeling that’s driving the urge
• aligning decisions with your values rather than fear

When we understand why we choose the way we do, we suddenly have more space, more clarity, and more self-compassion. This ties directly into many of the goals we work on in therapy: strengthening insight, expanding emotional capacity, and building sustainable habits that support growth.

If you’re curious, here’s the episode:

https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-laurie-santos/how-to-make-better-choices-with-barry-schwartz

✨ What’s one small choice you want to make with more intention this week?

06/11/2025

Earned secure - growing new pathways is possible and manageable with intent, commitment and support.

Attachment injuries are real - and repair is real too. With practice, your system can learn: ‘I can be close and keep myself intact’ • conflict is survivable • boundaries protect connection.

What therapy looks like can include us jointly mapping your patterns • build nervous-system skills • reprocess the memories that still run today • practise new moves in the present.

Insight in session - action and change in life.

Which small relational habit would move you 1% toward secure - naming a need, taking a pause, attempting a repair?

04/11/2025

Disorganised / fearful-avoidant attachment and what it can feel like could include: push-pull inside - wanting closeness, fearing it at the same time • body swings between panic and shutdown • relationships feel like walking on a fault line.

How it shows up can include fast flips in intimacy • strong triggers around anger, withdrawal or unpredictability • ‘I’m too much - and not enough.’

EMDR + attachment focus can help highlight how to go slow • build stabilisation skills first • titrated reprocessing of trauma/neglect • strengthen compassionate parts that can co-regulate inside. Aim - more safety in the body, more choice in relationships.

A tiny practice - orient to the room, feel your feet, name 3 safe things right now before responding.

02/11/2025

Avoidant / dismissing attachment and what it can feel like can mean things like being independent to a fault • big emotions feel unsafe or “too much” • the body cools or numbs in conflict • closeness can feel like losing air.

How it shows up can include and not limited to keeping topics on the surface • pulling back when things get intense • solving instead of feeling.

EMDR + attachment focus would include resource tolerance for emotion and closeness • reprocess experiences of emotional misattunement or criticism • install ‘My needs matter’, ‘Closeness can be paced and safe.’

A tiny practice - share a 10% more honest sentence with someone safe, then breathe and stay just a little longer.

31/10/2025

Anxious / preoccupied attachment and what it can feel like is something that is well documented, including our social channels. Reactions and behaviours such as hyper-alert to distance • worry about being left • strong urges to seek reassurance • body runs hot - tight chest, racing thoughts.

How it shows up can include and is not limited to over-explaining, checking, people-pleasing • conflict spikes when texts slow or tone shifts.

EMDR + attachment focus can include on resourcing first - grounding, breath, self-compassion • reprocess memories of unpredictability, emotional hunger or inconsistent care • install beliefs like ‘I am worthy’, ‘I am good enough’, ‘I can wait and still be safe.’

A tiny practice - pause, place a hand on chest, name the need underneath the worry, choose one kind action for yourself before you reach out.

29/10/2025

Secure attachment in real life and what it can feel like can vary from person to person who come with their life experiences.

Comfort with closeness and space • trust that repair is possible • emotions move through without flooding or shutdown.

How it shows up includes clear communication • balanced boundaries • easier to ask for help • quicker recovery after conflict.

EMDR + attachment focus can help to install positive templates - safe relationships, self-soothing successes, times you handled conflict well - to strengthen neural pathways that already work.

What helps you feel safe, seen and soothed — even on hard days?

27/10/2025

Our earliest relationships teach our nervous system what “safe” feels like - this is attachment. It shapes how we connect, cope, and repair in adulthood. Good news - attachment patterns aren’t life sentences. With insight, practice, and therapy, we can move towards earned security.

How EMDR helps - attachment-informed EMDR sits on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model - we target attachment injuries, resource the system first (eg: safe/nurturing figures, containment), then reprocess memories that still drive today’s reactions. The goal - steadier self, safer connection, more choice.

What attachment has taught your body about closeness and distance - and what would you like it to learn next?

🖥️ Sessions available via Telehealth — video and telephone across Australia.

26/10/2025

Ready for the 2 days Attachment EMDR training with .emdr and will be doing several posts in the coming weeks to generate conversations about attachment and attachment styles.

25/10/2025

People often ask what an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW) is - and how it’s different from seeing a psychologist.

At its heart, both of us support people through therapy - but our training paths and lenses are a little different and we both have lead agencies which guide us. Both professions are trained to look at the whole picture - how your past experiences, relationships, community, and environment shape who you are today.

As an AMHSW, my work brings together both - the evidence-based therapies (like EMDR, CBT, ACT and IFS) with a trauma-informed, relational, and systemic lens. It’s about understanding not just what’s happening inside you, but also what’s happened around you.

In therapy, I aim to create a space where curiosity replaces judgement, and compassion replaces shame. Whether we’re exploring trauma, anxiety, identity, or grief - it’s always about reconnecting to the parts of you that are resilient, adaptive, and ready for healing.

That’s the heart of Awake Counselling - bringing evidence, empathy, and humanity together.

🖥 Available for both in-person and Telehealth (video & phone) sessions Australia-wide.

Australian Association of Social Workers

24/10/2025

I’m in Brisvegas for a couple of nights before starting my advanced EMDR Attachment Training on Monday and Tuesday - and I couldn’t resist taking a long morning walk to enjoy the tropical surroundings.

There’s something special about slowing down and noticing the glimmers that nature provides freely - the colours, the sounds, the patterns. All reminders that regulation starts in awareness - when we pause long enough to see what’s already around us.

I also took a moment to model my new Awake Counselling merch (arrived in a few new colours 🖤💛🌿). It’s been a beautiful start to what will be an inspiring couple of days of learning and reflection.

✨ What glimmers have you noticed lately?

Address

410 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW
2010

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 7pm
Tuesday	8am - 7pm
Wednesday	8am - 7pm
Thursday	8am - 7pm
Friday	8am - 12pm

Telephone

+61449191883

Website

http://www.awakecounselling.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Awake Counselling posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Awake Counselling:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Practice
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Sydney?