Here for you,
to really hear you
A little bit about me…
My name is Daniela MacAulay, and I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Psychotherapist and a Mum, based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
My work is holistic and is largely informed by my psychotherapeutic training in contemporary Gestalt therapy as well as my person-centred counselling training and an interest in somatic work and existential therapy. Years of working with disadvantaged women who experienced interpersonal trauma have also helped to shaped my passion for women’s issues.
I am trained and experienced in supporting clients impacted by trauma.
I am a clinical member of Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA).
My Journey
How overcoming my own struggles led me on the path of becoming a therapist.
In my twenties my life appeared to be “on the right track”. I had a promising marketing career, social life and my own little apartment in Prague. On the inside, I struggled to see a purpose or meaning in my work, life felt somewhat empty and I didn’t really feel like I belonged anywhere in particular. My way of coping was through food, controlling my weight and using alcohol to escape reality. I no longer looked like I had an eating disorder, but I was still very much in recovery from anorexia that ruled my life through highschool and for quite a long time after. Nobody close to me really knew what was going on for me.
When I was 27, my dad very unexpectedly passed away. I tried seeing a psychologist then, but didn’t connect with her and soon gave up. Instead I decided to try living in Australia for some time. I travelled, worked a little, studied and did a fair bit of partying. I was still pretty lost. I returned home two and a half years later, only to realise that if I had ever felt like I belonged there, now I definitely didn’t. I missed Australia as if a part of me had been left behind — The free part. I felt homesick, I felt like I couldn’t breathe and I felt completely alone.
This is when I gave therapy another shot. It took a couple of tries to find a good match, but then someone recommended a psychotherapist who seemed to work a little bit differently to the psychologists I’d seen previously. (It was much later I learnt that there was a difference in the training and approach for psychologists and psychotherapists). I saw her twice a week at first and then weekly for a while. I finally felt like someone was hearing me and that I wasn’t alone in it all. She stayed with me and my big emotions. That was the first time I ever experienced another human holding space for me this way. Slowly I started to get clarity and, even though I hadn’t figured out everything, I knew my next steps. I had a direction and I was finally seeing colours around me where there was just grey for a long time.
Fast forward a few months and I’m at the orientation for my Counselling Degree in Sydney. Right there, something really significant happened. I felt like I belonged. I knew with all my heart that I was exactly where I needed to be. It was the first time I ever felt that in my life. I absolutely loved my whole degree, despite having to work two jobs to pay for it and having to travel a long distance for my practical experience. It wasn't easy — but I couldn't have been happier.
As a part of my training, I did a placement at an outpatient eating disorder clinic. That's when I realised that food had become something I knew I needed to live, but also something I could enjoy freely. I noticed that the way I looked was no longer what defined my worth. I learnt to treat my body (and myself as a whole) with respect and love. Soon after I was able to open myself up to a healthy relationship that bears no resemblance to previous partners. There has been more therapy along the way and more ups and downs of life. Becoming a mum challenged me to the core of my being and brought up wounds I had no idea existed. But I am living the life I want and I am engaged in it with all of its uncertainty, challenges, joy, pain and excitement. Living a life that feels authentic, meaningful and fulfilling is the intention that drives everything I do and I want to help others do the same.
What is Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt therapy is a holistic, relational, integrative and experiential psychotherapeutic style.
One of the main goals of gestalt therapy is the client’s increased awareness.
This brings change, growth and healing. Gestalt therapy holds the belief that people already have all the resources to lead a meaningful life, but sometimes get stuck in ways of interacting with the world that get in the way of that. These ways of relating to others are often something that they learnt in the past and that had served them very well at some point. Such fixed patterns of making contact can, however, become a source of frustration, dissatisfaction with life, relationship issues and even mental and physical illness.
Gestalt therapists support their clients in exploring these patterns and becoming aware of the way they take place in their life.
This is often done by working with the present moment and with what happens in the therapy room between the client and the therapist. The therapeutic sessions are like a microcosm of the client’s world outside of the room. This work is often playful and always client-led. Gestalt therapists place aside their assumptions and recognise the uniqueness of every individual client. The focus of gestalt therapy is on integrating what makes the client their whole self and supporting them in finding their own way towards wellbeing.
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