Dr Robert Dawborn specializes in the treatment of severe and longstanding mental health  issues. This includes people with longstanding depression, longstanding anxiety or longstanding low self esteem or self confidence, complex post-traumatic-stress-disorders including dissociative disorders  and the trauma of sexual abuse, as well as ‘personality disorders’. Other people may have had feelings of ‘emptiness’ or of being ‘lost’ or ‘fragmented’ for much of their lives.

• Psychotherapy for people with severe and longstanding mental health issues – takes time and commitment  from both therapist and client. A collaborative effort is needed and it is rare for effective therapy for longstanding conditions to last less than a year. Therapy may be as frequent as once or twice weekly for this period of time.

• As a medical practitioner Dr Dawborn is able to provide longer term therapy under Medicare. Although out-of-pocket-expenses for the first 12 sessions may be significant, after this-the medicare safety net kicks in and out-of pocket costs decrease to approximately $20 per session. So over the period of a year, average weekly out-of-pocket costs for therapy may be as low as $30.

• For most people requiring longer term therapy, the initial period of therapy is about forming a therapeutic relationship, a relationship of collaboration where issues are explored with an attitude of curiosity rather than of shame. The process of forming a therapeutic relationship sometimes takes a long time – but is the major task of therapy – and it is this special type of relationship –  that allows the work of therapy to be done.

• Dr  Dawborn’s approach to counselling provides tools and perspectives such as epistemology (the theory and philosophy of ‘how we know what we know’) , mindfulness and process meditation, which make it easier to resolve complex emotional issues.

The therapeutic relationship which has also been called an ‘intimate relationship’ (Russell Meares, 2000) is one in which we are free to be ourselves and from this position we are also free to explore who we are – in terms of our motivations, our intentions, our feelings, our values and beliefs.

We can start to discern and to understand our patterns of experience and behaviour. We start to feel freer in ourselves to experience and to get on with our lives.

For people who have grown up with ‘intimate relationships’ and who have been mostly able to ‘be themselves’ in life – trust in relationships will be pretty much taken for granted. We trust ourselves and know how to assess who we can ‘rely on’ and ‘for what’. We can make use of ‘good enough’ relationships to get what we need to maintain a strong sense of self. And we are able to give others close to us, what ‘they need’. For these people a therapeutic relationship may be quickly established.

However, many people, who come to therapy with longstanding mental health issues, have not grown up in an environment of relationships that provide reliability and emotional sustenance. For these people and their therapists, the major initial and ongoing task in therapy is the formation between patient and therapist of a ‘therapeutic relationship’ – one in which more and more the patient is free to be themselves and to explore their experience of day to day life, their ‘inner life’ – particularly we are referring to our everyday experience of ourselves in relationship with others.

We can discuss the general theory of how counselling might help and we can also look at those moments in therapy that allowed us to see everything differently or allowed us finally to make an important decision.

To start off in a theoretical way – contemporary psychotherapy is based on relationship theory on the one hand and trauma theory on the other hand.

An ‘intimate relationship’ as opposed to a ‘relationship of alienation’ (Meares,R 2000, 2005) is one which facilitates change and growth. In such a relationship, we feel accepted, not judged and are more willing to be ‘ourselves’. From within such a relationship, a therapeutic relationship, we can explore our perspectives, values, beliefs, emotional states, motivations and intentions-make decisions, take action and move forward…

We can process our experience in this safe setting of ‘intimacy’. Eventually we may be able to process traumatic experiences as well.

The process of forming a safe relationship in therapy – one in which the work of therapy can be done-is easy for some people. But for those who have been traumatised forming a safe relationship takes time and is the major task of therapy. This process is unique for each person …..

So this is a start to our discussion – I look forward to your ideas, insights and for those who have done therapy – your experiences – particularly those personal or relationship moments that made the differences in your life.

References: Intimacy and Alienation – memory, trauma and personal being. Meares, Russell 2000. Routledge.

WillungaTherapy Entrance

The entrance to WillungaTherapy (3/31 Sophia Grove) is now the back entrance – access is from Hakea St.

Hakea St is accessed from Sophia Grove – our carpark is the last gate on the right hand side before the creek. It is not marked – it is simply the back entrance to 31 Sophia Grove.

He can be contacted at Mirool Counselling Centre Tel: 9783 3222

Dr Robert Dawborn

Dr Dawborn is a GP with counselling qualifications, so can provide counselling & psychotherapy under medicare without referral.

GPs can also refer you to see Dr Dawborn (who is himself a Medical Practitioner) under a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan. Dr Dawborn can see people with mild, moderate or severe mental health issues – initially under a mental health plan for 10-16 sessions.

For people with moderate to severe conditions, counselling or  psychotherapy including other treatment can continue using GP item Number 44. This allows people with more severe conditions to undergo longer term therapy. Because of the Medicare Safety Net Threshold longer term therapy is very affordable.

Dr Dawborn’s  practice caters for patients who are seeking psychotherapy as their main treatment modality. He prescribes anti-anxiety, antidepressant and antipsychotic medication for some of his psychotherapy patients.