My name is Sasha Brittain, and I am a master’s degree qualified ACA registered counsellor, and the director of Empathic Counselling. I am also a wife (married for 18 years) and a mum! I provide counselling that is holistic, trauma-informed and evidence-based. I have experience supporting clients with a variety of life’s challenges, with a special interest in childhood trauma and its impacts on adult relationships. I tailor appointments to the unique needs of each client, integrating a variety of evidence-based therapies.
I am passionate about supporting each client to live life as their authentic selves, and am proudly neuroaffirming and LGBTIQ+ affirming. I am also passionate about providing culturally sensitive therapy. Before becoming a counsellor, I studied Japanese language and culture, and worked in Japan for a few years as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. As an ESL teacher in Brisbane, I worked with people from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, including working with refugees. This cross-cultural experience has helped me to develop a deeper empathy and appreciation for others, and has inspired an endless curiosity for our shared humanity.
I also have lived experience of trauma, which led to many years of anxiety and depression. When I sought mental health support in my twenties, I had some awful experiences with the several psychologists that I saw. I desperately wanted someone to hold space for me and to validate and understand my experience. In short, I wanted empathy and compassion. Instead, I felt that my trauma was minimised, and I was not given support that actually helped me! When I turned thirty, I realised that I wanted to “Be the change” as Gandhi said, and become the counsellor that I never had.
Through my own lived experience, the extensive study I did during my masters degree, and my work in the field, I am now able to “Be the change” for my clients every single day. It truly is an honour to walk alongside clients and support them to access their inner resources and strengths, and to empower them with information and practical tools that help them to better understand and accept themselves, thereby improving their mental health, emotional wellbeing and relationships.
My Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts (GU)
- Graduate Certificate in Counselling Skills (ACAP)
- Master of Counselling (AIPC)
My Certifications
- Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Levels 1 & 2 ~ Evergreen Certifications
- Certified Somatic Therapy Foundations Practitioner ~ Evergreen Certifications
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy Clinical Training Levels 1 & 2 ~ The Gottman Institute
- Parts Work Trauma Specialist Certificate Programme: Mastering the Best Tools from IFS Therapy, Gestalt, Somatic Therapy, and Other Parts Approaches ~ PESI Australia
My Professional Memberships
- Australian Counselling Association (Level 2)
- Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association
Additional Training
- Gabor Maté ‘s Compassionate Inquiry in Action: An Experiential Course for the Healing of Deep Traumatic Wounds ~ PESI Australia
- Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) with Trauma Survivors: Coming Home to Yourself with Dr. Sue Johnson ~ PESI Australia
- Working with Trauma: Interventions that Foster Resilience with Dr. Cirecie Olatunji ~ Mental Health Academy
- Trauma-informed Certificate ~ The Centre for Healing
- Trauma Healing Practitioner Course ~ Certified Excellence
- Attachment Theory and Science with Dr. Sue Johnson ~ PESI Australia
- Healing from Affairs: Moving Past the Trauma of Betrayal and Infidelity with Tammy Nelson ~ PESI Australia
- Healing Grief & Loss with David Kessler ~ PESI Australia
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Training with Dr. Russ Harris ~ Psychwire
- Best Practice Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy & Infant Loss ~ SANDS Training
- Supporting the Suicide-Bereaved ~ Mental Health Academy
- Positive Psychology & the Study of Human Strengths ~ Mental Health Academy