Linda Elsey Biography

Clinical Counsellor – 13 years in mental health services

Positions Held: Project Manager/IT Manager/Trainer/Facilitator/Counsellor

Background:

Linda was the baby of the family with three older siblings, she grew up in Mullumbimby NSW until she was six when her family relocated to the western suburbs of Sydney. Her two eldest siblings had left home when she was a baby, so it was just her brother and her together through-out childhood. Linda completed her HSC, then completed a diploma in computer operations which lead her into a career in Information Technology (IT) where she spent twenty-five years. During that time, she gained a diploma in business management and project management as well as many IT courses. It was a very steep learning curve keeping up with the constant changing technology platforms.

Employment Experience:

Linda spent twenty-five years working and contracting for many private and government organisations in her capacity as an IT professional. Working long hours, travelling interstate and overseas for work, called for a change. Linda wanted to obtain a long-time goal of working for herself in her own home environment. It was a big decision for her to leave a career at the top of her game and start all over again.

Linda spent the next year studying to obtain the qualifications necessary to change career paths into counselling: she had a passion to help others heal from adversity, throughout her career she encountered many. Once qualified Linda went through the difficult journey of setting up her own private practice: it was a tough time starting a business and building a client base. After a few years, the business started gaining momentum and today she has a thriving practice.

During Linda’s thirteen-year career in counselling she has achieved considerable experience, knowledge, and qualifications but never stops learning / training to benefit her clients.

Linda spent four years with the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC) assessing student counsellors for their practical assessments for their Diploma in Professional Counselling. She contracts for an organisation that she provides home-visit counselling to the elderly as a part of in-home-care packages. She is also registered as a provider with a number of Health Funds regarding Private Health that offer rebates for counselling. Linda is currently contracted to provide Employee Assistance Program Counselling (EAP) for eight different EAP organisations. She is registered as a Department of Justice Victims of Crime counsellor and is registered counsellor with Work Cover N.S.W. (icare) as an accredited provider of counselling services to injured workers.

Linda is an Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Clinical Counsellor as a Clinical- Level 4 member. She is and member of ACA College of Clinical Counsellors. As a trained and Registered Counselling Supervisor with ACA College of Supervisors, she provides clinical supervision services to professional counsellors from a range of backgrounds and provides clinical supervision through EAP work to groups ranging from six to fifteen people.

Linda is a skilled facilitator with five years of experience contracted by Corrective Service of NSW as a program facilitator running ten-week programs with offenders in the community. She has been trained in and runs the following programs Foundations, Domestic and Family Violence, Addictions and Aggression.

Linda served seven years on the board of the Professional Counselling Association of ACT-NSW, where she also held the role as the Website Manager. In addition, she was the Convener of ACA’s Gosford Branch for seven years, providing free group supervision to practitioners at Gosford and at the Newcastle branch meetings.

Importantly, Linda has hundreds of hours of face-to-face / phone and video work with clients using EMIT/EMDR as a means of assisting them to achieve their counselling goals, especially in the areas of trauma, anxiety, depression and addictions.

Trauma Specific Training/Experience:

  • Level 4 EMIT/EMDR Practitioner and Trainer

Qualifications:

  • Master in Counselling – Monash University
  • Graduate Diploma of Counselling – Addictions / Family Therapy / Loss & Grief
  • Diploma of Counselling
  • Diploma Clinical Hypnotherapy
  • Clinical Supervision Training – Phillip Armstrong
  • Cert IV in Training and Assessment

Advanced Study Majors:

  • Abuse Counselling
  • Career Counselling
  • Loss & Grief Counselling
  • Child Development & Effective Parenting
  • Relationship & Conflict Resolution
  • Workplace Counselling
  • Applied Suicide Intervention Skills
  • EFT Emotional Freedom Technique
  • Reiki Master

Membership & Registrations: 

  • ARCAP (Australian Register of Counsellors & Psychotherapists)
  • QMACA (Australian Counselling Association)
  • ACA College of Supervisors
  • ACA College of Clinical Counsellors
  • GMAIPC (Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors)
  • Registered Mental Health Practitioner

Areas of Counselling Specialties:

Trauma, Crisis, Critical Incident Stress, Relationship Issues, Clinical Supervision, Stress Management, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Loss and Grief, Group Work and Training, Behavioural Difficulties, Addictions, Anxiety, Spiritual and Personal Issues, Couples Counselling, Workplace Counselling, Abuse, Children/Teenagers/Adults/Elderly as well as the LGBTIQ community.

Other team member profiles:
David G Broadbent
Cath Edwards
Grahame Smith
Judy Reader
Ken Schmidt