The Psychosynthesis Centre: Coaching, Courses and Paperwork for Therapists

26/10/2025

🌿 Calling all Australian Registered Counsellors & Psychotherapists! 🌿

Karen Bieman and I have just launched a new Facebook space - Counsellors Connect – Australia - a place designed especially for registered counsellors and psychotherapists to connect, collaborate, and navigate the big changes ahead together.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/counsellorsconnectaustralia

As many of you will know, the Proposed National Standards were released in mid-October 2025 (details in the pinned post once you join), and they signal some major shifts for our profession - including a move toward a national license to practise.

We created this group so we can:
✨ Stay informed with updates from ACA and PACFA (the only two associations currently in consultation).
✨ Share insights, resources, and support as these changes unfold.
✨ Build a collegial, grounded, and encouraging community of practitioners who lift one another up.

Between us, Karen and I have 35 years in the field - spanning counselling, psychotherapy, supervision, and training - and we’re passionate about creating a professional home where we can all grow together.

If you’re a registered counsellor or psychotherapist, we’d love to have you join us! 💬

👉 Search: “Counsellors Connect – Australia” on Facebook and request to join or follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/counsellorsconnectaustralia

x Jodie & Karen

PS - If you are a student member of either association, you are also welcome. If you join PACFA as a student member, even if you are doing a dip - you get low-cost CPD 🙂 (Not sure about ACA).
PPS - if you are not currently registered, do come on in once you are!

22/10/2025

Even if we accept the idea of a chemical imbalance, we still have to ask: "what’s causing that imbalance in the first place?" The latest understanding suggests it may actually stem from nervous system dysregulation - meaning medication might manage symptoms, but not address the true root cause.

A major study published in Molecular Psychiatry titled “The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence” examined decades of research involving tens of thousands of people. The scientists found that serotonin levels and their breakdown products in the blood or brain fluids were no different between people diagnosed with depression and those without it. This is striking, considering that up to 90% of the public still believes depression is caused by “low serotonin” or a “chemical imbalance.”

The serotonin theory of depression was first proposed in the 1960s, but it gained mainstream traction in the 1990s when pharmaceutical companies began marketing a new generation of antidepressants - SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) like Prozac. These drugs were promoted on the premise that they corrected an underlying chemical deficiency.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, a professor of psychiatry at University College London, explained:

“Many people take antidepressants because they have been led to believe their depression has a biochemical cause, but this new research suggests this belief is not grounded in evidence….It is high time to inform the public that this belief is not grounded in science.”

The researchers also reviewed experiments where serotonin levels were deliberately lowered in hundreds of healthy participants. The result? No one developed depression simply from reduced serotonin levels.

This raises serious concerns, especially since antidepressants alter normal brain chemistry. They often blunt both negative and positive emotions, and several studies suggest they may work primarily through placebo effects, by creating a sense of hope rather than correcting a measurable chemical imbalance.

As Moncrieff and her team put it:

“Our view is that patients should not be told that depression is caused by low serotonin or by a chemical imbalance, and they should not be led to believe that antidepressants work by targeting these unproven abnormalities. We do not understand what antidepressants are doing to the brain exactly, and giving people this sort of misinformation prevents them from making an informed decision about whether to take antidepressants or not.”

All of this points to a deeper truth: depression may not begin as a problem with brain chemistry at all. Instead, it may arise from life experiences, trauma, chronic stress, and nervous system dysregulation - factors that then influence the brain and body, rather than the other way around. Mainstream medicine often misses this perspective, but it may hold the key to understanding and healing depression at its source.

10/10/2025

Deakin University embeds trauma-informed practice in teacher education:

In an Australian first, Deakin University will integrate trauma-informed practice across all its early childhood, primary and secondary initial teacher education (ITE) courses from 2026.

29/09/2025

New research shows the gut microbiome can talk directly to the brain via the vagus nerve, with certain gut bacteria activating neural pathways that influence mood, behaviour, and thinking.

Scientists found specific microbial signals stimulate vagal neurons, helping explain gut–brain links seen in emotional and cognitive changes.

This work strengthens the idea that gut health matters for mental well-being and brain function while stopping short of claiming simple fixes.

It also opens the door to microbiome based therapies that might one day help treat mood and brain disorders.

Practical takeaway: a balanced diet and gut friendly habits could support both digestion and mental health as research advances.

09/09/2025

Patients Furious at Therapists Secretly Using AI.... I recently attended a group supervision where one of the therapists was talking about this. I raised, 'did you ask the client's permission?' This stuff is real...

Going to a real-life therapist is supposed to be an experience devoid of AI — which makes some mental health pros' AI use all the worse.

07/09/2025

Struggling to be seen online? Want to rank high in AI & Google searches? Come along to my webinar for the latest strategies & tips! Book your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/1661756441249?aff=oddtdtcreator

07/09/2025

Therapy That Isn’t Psychotherapy:

PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.

28/08/2025

This is a tragedy. I am seeing in many Facebook groups to use ChatGPT for therapy. Please don't. If you are feeling depressed, anxious or otherwise, please seek the help of a Qualified Registered Clinical Psychotherapist (PACFA have a list).

The parents of Adam Raine, who died by su***de in April, claim in a new lawsuit against OpenAI that the teenager used ChatGPT as his “su***de coach.”

In their complaint, Adam’s parents say that he had been using the artificial intelligence chatbot as a substitute for human companionship in his final weeks, discussing his issues with anxiety and trouble talking with his family.

“He would be here but for ChatGPT. I 100% believe that,” Matt Raine said.

In a new lawsuit filed Tuesday and shared with the “TODAY” show, the Raines claim that “ChatGPT actively helped Adam explore su***de methods.” The lawsuit names OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, as well as its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. The family’s lawsuit is the first time parents have directly accused the company of wrongful death.

A spokesperson for OpenAI said in a statement Monday that the company is "deeply saddened by Mr. Raine’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family."

Read more: nbcnews.app.link/SztK5IAf9Vb

28/08/2025

Long COVID is more than fatigue. Our new study suggests its impact is similar to a stroke or Parkinson’s:

Long COVID isn’t just a bunch of lingering symptoms. A new study shows it can stop peoole doing what they want to do, and need to do.

12/08/2025

Our relationship with food is rarely just about hunger. For many people, it begins in childhood, shaped by the way our primary caregivers responded to our needs for comfort, safety and connection. These early bonds, known as attachment, can influence how we use food to soothe ourselves, connect with others, or manage difficult feelings.

Read more here: https://www.jodiegale.com/attachment-styles-and-emotional-eating-explained-how-early-relationships-influence-eating-behaviours/

Discover how childhood attachment styles shape emotional eating patterns and learn steps to create a healthier relationship with food.

04/08/2025

Thanks Brave Therapy for sharing x

I asked ChatGPT if it could replace me as a therapist. 🌟Here is the answer: No, I don’t think I can—or should—replace you as a therapist.

While I can support with psychoeducation, research, reflection prompts, and even generate ideas for interventions, I can’t replicate the core of what makes therapy effective: the human presence, attuned relationship, embodied responsiveness, and capacity for deep emotional resonance. What happens in a therapeutic encounter is profoundly relational and co-regulated—something an AI simply cannot embody.

Your years of experience, your nervous system, your capacity to sit with complexity, hold space, and respond intuitively in the moment—none of that can be replaced by a machine. If anything, I can be a tool that helps you extend your reach or streamline some tasks, but not a substitute for the therapeutic relationship you cultivate.

™

30/07/2025

Doctors fear ChatGPT is fuelling psychosis. AI software can ‘mirror, validate or amplify’ users’ delusions, report warns:

AI software can ‘mirror, validate or amplify’ users’ delusions, report warns