Psychotherapy and Mental Health Counsellors
Creative Devotional Counselling Services (CDCS) provides psychotherapy and mental health counselling support to a diverse range of clients. Margoth Alvarado, director and leading counsellor, is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, and she has full membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Australian Counselling Association (ACA), EGALA Association, and the Mental Health Academy. At CDCS we are able to provide traditional and alternative therapeutic interventions that cover the areas of mental health, domestic violence, sexual assault, children’s therapy and more.
Margoth, owner of Creative Devotional Counselling Services , is a highly qualified & very experienced counsellor with professional qualifications across multiple disciplines, including Psychotherapy, Sand Play, Mindfulness therapy, Social Work, Youth work and Child Protection, Sexual abuse counselling, counselling victims of crime and domestic violence. Margoth has a Bachelor of Social Science in Counselling and Mediation and also holds a degree in Social work and Accredited Mental Health , a diploma in Community and Human Services, and extensive experience in working with people living with metal health, with a disability service and also has experience in child protection. Accredited for Equine therapy, full member of the EAGALA Association as an EQUENE Assisted therapy.
Providing Services in:
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – CBT.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – ACT.
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy – SFBT.
- Interpersonal psychotherapy – IPT.
- Motivational Interviewing.
- Equine Therapy.
- Psychodynamic Therapy.
- Solution focused Therapy.
- Emotion focused Therapy.
- Mindfulness.
- Mindfulness based cognitive therapy.
- Musical Executive Function Training.
- Musical Mnemonics Training.
- Psychoeducation.
- Animal Assisted Therapy.
- Goal setting and journaling to track progress.
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What happens during therapy?
Our expert counsellors are highly skilled at helping you understand what is causing your difficulties; their specialist knowledge covers all kinds of issues. Therapy involves three main aspects:
- Initial Discussion: Initially we meet to discuss the nature of your problem and examine the factors which may be causing it. Sometimes I may conduct some psychological tests to gain further insight into the nature of the problem (these tests are usually questionnaires or special puzzles) but usually we simply have a detailed discussion. Until the cause of a problem is understood, treatment will be limited.
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: Once we have an understanding of the problem, we begin the change process. This involves identifying the patterns of dysfunctional thoughts or behaviour, understanding the consequences of the behaviour, and then seeking to change them (these techniques include “Cognitive Behaviour Therapy” and problem solving techniques).
- Past Trauma Resolution: Experience has shown that current problems are often caused by emotional traumas or experiences from the past which have not been resolved. These may need to be resolved before the current behaviour will change.
Therapy techniques I commonly use to resolve past emotion include:
- Counselling and insight – Talking about things which are worrying you can bring a great sense of relief. This is enhanced as new perspectives are discovered and new approaches developed.
- EMDR – This is a special technique which is used to reprocess the emotions associated with traumatic incidents. Further explanations would be given prior to using this therapy technique.
About Margoth Alvarado
Margoth is the director and owner of Creative Devotional Counselling Services. She passionately believes that given the right space and environment, people open up and talk about their lives in a way that empowers them to take steps to change.
She has a strong connection to the growth of men, with over 15 years experience in designing individual and group programs for men and fathers as well as facilitating human relations groups. At the core of her professional career is the enabling of men to tell their stories plus witnessing them relish the opportunity to be heard and take responsibility to change their lives.
Margoth acknowledges that many men don’t feel emotionally savvy enough in their relationships. She offers her clients the opportunity to build more confidence in their communication and expression. She observes a variety of limiting coping strategies that some men adopt, including the need to be in control, the tendency to avoid or distract from difficult feelings or thoughts, and in particular, the need to protect their loved ones by staying silent.
She supports clients to clear away limited, negative and destructive ways of responding to difficult feelings. Margoth often teaches mindfulness and experiential, in- session focusing skills to enable men, women, and couples to become more psychologically observant, resilient, and flexible in resolving their problems.
Creative Devotional Counselling Services’ aim is to encourage clients to define and act on their core values in order to create a rich, fulfilling, and meaningful life. They are all currently fully qualified members of the Australian Counselling Association and the Australian Social Workers Association.
What is a Clinical Psychotherapist?
As a Mental Social Worker and professional counsellor, I am a specialist counsellor who has completed 10 years of university training in the scientific study of human behaviour, mental processes, and emotional problems. I have also completed 2 years of master in Mental Health and Clinical social Worker. I have been working in this field since 1998.
A clinical Social Worker should not be confused with a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has completed specialist training in mental illness. They can prescribe medications and usually work with the more severely disturbed and the mentally ill. As they are medical doctors, part of their fees are covered by Medicare. Sometimes I will recommend that we have the support of a psychiatrist and your local GP in helping with major problems including medication to improved Mental Health conditions.