therapy that slows down to listen in
Maybe you've spent years scanning for signs that someone's upset with you. Perhaps you struggle to trust your own needs, or find yourself constantly putting others first while your own boundaries dissolve.
You might long for intimacy but notice yourself pulling away when someone gets too close. Or maybe your body holds tension you can't quite explain - that familiar knot in your stomach, the hypervigilance that won't switch off.
Therapy here feels like a soft space to land. Together, we work at your pace to understand the patterns you developed to survive, reconnect with what your body is telling you, and explore new ways of moving through relationships and the world.
Meet Rhiannon
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Meet Rhiannon 〰️
I'm Rhiannon (they/them), an EMDR therapist and social worker who helps people rebuild trust in themselves, their bodies, and their relationships.
As a chronically ill, queer, neurodivergent practitioner, I bring both professional expertise and lived experience to my work. With a Masters of Social Work and specialist training in EMDR, somatic practices, and trauma therapy, I understand what it's like to navigate a world that wasn't designed for bodies and identities like ours.
I believe the struggles you're carrying aren't just personal - they're shaped by systems that weren't built with care for marginalised bodies and communities. Through EMDR and embodied approaches, I work with the memories your body keeps holding and the patterns you developed to survive in environments that often demanded you shrink, accommodate, or disappear parts of yourself.
My practice is grounded in justice-oriented care, which means I won't pathologise your adaptations or ask you to fit into frameworks that don't honour your reality. I meet each client where they are, honouring the fullness of your story without expectation of where you "should" be.
I live on Djaara Country (Castlemaine) and offer in-person sessions from my low-sensory Castlemaine office, as well as telehealth across so-called australia.
What brings people to soft story?
While soft story welcomes any adults from so-called Australia, I have particular experience working alongside people who
Find themselves constantly prioritising others while struggling to identify or voice their own needs. Perhaps you're hypervigilant in relationships, scanning for signs someone's upset, or you lose yourself completely when someone gets close.
Carry patterns from early experiences where your needs didn't matter, your emotions weren't safe to express, or love felt conditional on being a certain way. Maybe you struggle with guilt whenever you set boundaries, or find it hard to trust your own judgment.
Navigate questions of identity and belonging - including gender, sexuality, and finding your place - when early environments didn't make space for exploration or when the world around you demanded you be someone you're not, or asked you to shrink parts of yourself.
Live in a body that exists outside what's considered 'normal'. Where trauma isn't just what happened to you, but the ongoing experience of being othered, excluded, or having to prove your right to exist.
Sound like you? Learn more about counselling at soft story to see how we can work together.
ready when you are
Whether you’re feeling curious, cautious, or completely unsure, you’re welcome to reach out.
