Thomas Burnside
Integrative Counsellor
Helping people lighten-up their anxiety.
About Me
I used to be very mentally unwell so I know what it’s like. In particular I struggled with social anxiety that would lead to psychotic episodes. I have been admitted to St Vincents psychiatric hospital twice and they helped me for 7 years before I was able to work. Now I do alright for myself; for example leading Melbourne Walking Club and meeting about 100 people each week. That’s why I am a counsellor… because I have a soft-spot for people who are struggling with mental health and I want to help the same way mental health professionals helped me.
Latest Blog Posts
Feeling Lighter as the Goal of Therapy?
One thing that I find particularly interesting about psychotherapy is that there are different schools of thought about what a person should strive to become. For example, to name a few: Aristotelians say it's happiness Buddhists say it's enlightenment Yogis say it's self-realisation Humanists say it's self-acualisation Psychoanalysts say it's integration of the unconscious mind Adlerians say it's moving from inferiority to superiority Jungians say it's individuation Christians say it's moving...
Early Childhood Recollections in the Adlerian Approach
One of the interesting things about Adlerian therapy is the idea of early-childhood recollections. In Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy Gerald Corey states that most people have only 6-12 recollections of their life before the age of 10 - this number would be roughly accurate for me. Adler believed that the memories we hold onto from early childhood are significant for our personal growth because they are the ones that are particularly significant in shaping the lens through...
First Contact with Adlerian Therapy
I have been reading a chapter on Adlerian therapy from the textbook "Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy" by Gerald Corey. Even though Adler was Freud's psychoanalysis protege, they eventually went their separate ways. Adlerian therapy became wildly different to psychoanalysis. I found it helpful to simply read about Adlerian therapy. For example it made me think for the first time about how which number sibling someone is can mean they have a very different experience growing...
Contact
I have a small counselling practice in Hawthorn East where I can see patients. It’s essentially a downstairs studio (I live upstairs). Please don’t show up unannounced – give me a call, email or make an appointment ahead of time.
Phone: +61 430 443 795
Email: tomburnsideco@gmail.com