Andrea Bentley

I have been in private practice since 2017 working with a diverse range of clients including historical trauma and the overarching effect this has on clients general wellbeing. I also work with psychiatric diagnosis offering targeted therapeutic interventions.

To enhance my psychotherapeutic work, I also offer alternative therapies which include

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy along with creative therapies (Sandtray and Interactive Drawing Therapy) as these therapies work well with trauma related presentations.

My Master of Psychotherapy intern placement was with Lifeline's Face to Face team. This was extended into a volunteer capacity to obtain PBANZ registration.

Caseload presentations were varied but often came through the crisis Helpline teams as a result of a traumatic circumstances. The role required detailed case notes and risk assessment and treatment planning as part of my degree along with agency documentation that monitored client progress.

The organisation offered in house training specifically working with trauma and crisis clients coupled with internal and external supervision as part of my internship.

Toward the end of my volunteer work, Lifeline was closing their face to face team and decided to hand over my client caseload as a way of offering continuity of care while establishing my private practice. To date, I am still working with some of these clients in long term analysis.

I was employed by Odyssey House initially as a Support Worker for Youth and Adult Services and then entered into a full time position as a Dual Diagnosis Practitioner within the Co-existing Disorders programme. I worked within a multidisciplinary team within the "Therapeutic Community" model. Running psychoeducational and process groups along with personal therapy and family group therapy. Given the complex presentation of clients, risk assessment and treatment plans were regular components of this job along with understanding psychiatric presentations and medications as this was part of the role in daily 24/7 inpatient care.

As part of my Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People, I worked with adolescence and their families gaining practical experience working individually and in group settings to address a range of emotional concerns, academic difficulties and social and development challenges including childhood trauma, abuse and neglect. Along with facilitating meetings with teachers, students and parents.