the Dulwich Centre website	... a gateway to narrative therapy, community work and psychosocial support                                              Dulwich Centre Publications Pty Ltd
www.dulwichcentre.com.au

COUNSELLORS AT DULWICH CENTRE

Shona Russell	Michael White	Carolyn Markey	Chris Dolman

THE APPROACH TO COUNSELLING WE USE HERE

The approach to counselling used here focuses on the stories of people’s lives and involves finding ways in which people can change their relationships to whatever problem or difficulty they are facing. This approach is known as ‘narrative therapy’. It is an approach that can be used in relation to any difficulties that a person may be struggling with. This approach to counselling often makes use of supportive letters and documents that can be referred to in between counselling sessions. It also often involves linking people with others who will be helpful and supportive along the way.

If you would like to know more about narrative therapy, feel free to ask your counsellor or there is also a lot of information on other pages on this website. 

ACKNOWLEDGING, WELCOMING AND CELEBRATING DIVERSITY  

We have a strong commitment to ensuring our counselling service can respond to the diverse contexts of people’s lives. The approach that we use in counselling is mindful of how societal ideas about family, sexualities, genders, age, class, and cultural background significantly influence people’s experiences of life. The approach is also vitally interested in the unique skills and knowledge developed by each person in the course of living their own life, in their own context, and in their own ways.

ABOUT THE COUNSELLORS AT DULWICH CENTRE

Shona Russell is an experienced counsellor who has worked in a range of therapeutic services with individuals, their friends, partners or families in response to a broad range of difficulties and concerns. A focus of her work is with the effects of experiences of abuse and other forms of traumas. Shona enjoys and has leaned a lot from her ongoing work with Indigenous Australians and their communities. Alongside her  counselling work, for the past few years Shona has been a key member of the Dulwich Centre Teaching Faculty which has involved offering workshops in Australia and overseas. Shona is actively involved in supervising practitioners and/or workplaces who are interested in using narrative ideas in their work. If you are interested in knowing more about the sort of counselling work Shona does, you may wish to look at her recent book (compiled with Maggie Carey) entitled, 'Narrative therapy: answers to your questions'. Shona is currently offering counselling at Dulwich Centre.

Carolyn Markey has considerable experience and great interest in counselling children, young people and their families or caregivers in relation to a broad range of problems that are affecting their lives. She has worked in a variety of  therapeutic contexts including major non-government welfare organisations and supported accommodation for young people, and has also used narrative ideas in tertiary and adult education settings. Carolyn has particular experience in the areas of family separation, effects of violence and abuse, school-related difficulties and working with people affected by concerns about anxiety or depression. Carolyn also enjoys using narrative ideas in group settings where people come together to talk about about similar issues they are facing. These have included groups in which people wish to talk about sole parenting, living with the effects of violence and abuse, or groups of men wanting to take responsibility for abusive actions. Carolyn also has considerable experience supervising other practitioners in narrative therapy. Alongside of her counselling practice, Carolyn currently works within the Teaching  Partnership at Dulwich Centre which has involved teaching narrative therapy workshops in Adelaide, throughout Australia and in Hong Kong.

Michael White lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia, and is one of the founders of what has come to be known as narrative therapy and community work. He maintains an active counselling practice and continues to experience the joy of being with people in narrative conversations that consist of journeys to destinations that could not have been predicted at their outset.

Chris Dolman values and enjoys working with individuals, couples, children and families who are responding to a broad range of problems and concerns in their lives and relationships. Chris works both in private practice and for a non-government organisation. In addition to having considerable experience in working with people facing issues of violence and abuse, he has worked with people around family separation, parenting, grief, addictions, mental health concerns and relationship matters.

If you wish to see Shona, Carolyn, Michael or Chris in therapy, or are interested in supervision, appointments can be made by calling us here in Adelaide on 82233966.

Back