Big question! It has its own page.

Briefly, counselling involves a safe and confidential collaboration between a qualified practitioner and their client to promote mental health and wellbeing, enhance self-understanding and resolve identified concerns. (Australian Counselling Association)

Choosing to see a counsellor can be a transformative move toward improving your mental and emotional well-being and thriving in you life. Life can be overwhelming at times. A counsellor such as Robyn, provides a safe, supportive space to explore your thoughts, feelings, and challenges without any judgment in a confidential space. Robyn can help you gain clarity, develop healthier coping strategies, and improve communication and relationships. Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, burnout, stress, grief, or major life changes, counselling offers personalised tools and guidance to help you navigate difficult situations. It can take some courage, but taking this step demonstrates strength and self-care, empowering you to create a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Robyn Bowman offers counselling that is kind, compassionate and understanding. Utilising her well-practiced listening skills, she ensures the you feel safe, optimistic and valued. Robyn has worked for many years in school settings, in pastoral care, Chaplaincy, schools ministry and teaching. Now, at Robyn Bowman Counselling, she brings to the counselling room her skills and extensive life experience so that you can receive understanding, compassion and an opportunity to process emotional and behavioural challenges. Robyn’s experience includes parenting (now adult children), running her own businesses, church life, musicianship, marriage and many other family and worklife complexities. 

In her counselling, Robyn utilises a variety of methods. Although fundamentally person-centred in her approach to ensure you feel heard and understood with compassion, Robyn also takes aspects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Family systems therapy , Trauma and creative therapies to help move you towards the life that you want, which matches with your values and where you can thrive. 

Robyn is also a Parent Coach with the Parent Hope Project.

Yes, of course. I would love to talk you you, or heaf from you by email. You can use the contact page above, or email on admin@robynbowmancounselling.com.au or phone or text o 0494129364

Yes, Robyn is registered with the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federations of Australia and the Christian Counsellors Association. More information about my registration can be found here by clicking the PACFA link in the footer.

• Master of Counselling (Excelsia College)

• Diploma of Ministry (Mary Andrews College)

• Bachelor of Arts, Psychology/Diploma of Education. (Macquarie University)

• Working with Children Check

• Police Check

• First Aid Certificate

• Registered with peak professional associations: PACFA and CCAA

• Extensive further training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mental Health First Aid, Creative Therapies, Child and Adolescent Counselling, Parent Coaching.

• Full insurance

• ABN 82 101 193 115

A counselling session at Castle Hill Anglican will cost $80 per session. There is a discounted cost for full-time students and people in financial hardship. If cost is a prohibititive factor, please let me know.

Robyn Bowman Counselling is using the Pastoral Care office in the church office building. A dedicated doorbell will assure your privacy.

If you attend, are connected with, or have heard about this service via St Pauls, you are welcome to see Robyn for Counselling at St Pauls. Please let Robyn know when you contact her that you are associated with St Pauls. If you aren’t sure how you were directed to Robyn Bowman Counselling, just let me know.

Robyn is a Parent Coach with the Parent Hope Project. This is an evidence based program grounded in Family Systems Theory. Its a 6 or 7 week manualised program. designed to empower and inspire parents with hope, guidance, and valuable principles. Click this link for more information.

Yes, the Heidi platform has proved to be of great benefit. It allows me to be more present with my clients, significnatly reduce practice expenses (and therefore your fees) and meets all the ethical and practical requirements for counselling. Additionally, the notes taken using Heidi are much more comprehensive as well as focussed on your goals.

Heidi does not keep a copy of your session, store your data nor use your data to grow its capabilities.

If you would like more information about this, please email your specific questions to me.

If you would like me to not use AI for my notetaking, I am certainly happy to discuss this with you.

You can get more information about Heidi AI here.

No, Counselling is not claimable through medicare at this time. While this is something our professional organisations are working towards, it may in fact add to the cost of counselling due to increased administration costs and government requirements. Robyn’s fees are currently well below the average for counselling consultations.

Counselling can also be conducted online. Additionally, Robyn has available daytime timeslots at her Kings Langley Room on Mondays and Wednesdays. You can book these sessions using the online portal but please mention the connection with St Pauls when you make your bookings.

This is a very complex question and the answer depends greatly on who the counsellor or psychologist is. I have created a page with more information on this topic but here is a quick answer.

There is a great deal of overlap between the work of these two professions as both use their expertise and training to enhance the mental health of their clients. Both seek to build a strong therapeutic relationship of trust with their client, in order to help them to thrive in their lives and reach their personal goals, by finding the issues, illness, relationships, choices and thinking or feelings which block them from doing that.

Counsellors tend to keep their fees low, usually lower than the gap paid when seeing a psychologist. Their clients cannot claim their payment through medicare, but this allows counsellors the freedom not to use a medical model of treatment with limited treatment options or formal assessments.

Psychologists often have long waiting lists. Psychologists practices are more regulated than Counselling and so there is a perception that they are more highly qualified. This is not necessarily true and many counsellors in private practice have post-graduate qualifications (eg, Masters or PHD).

As I said, its a complicated question. Do you have another question about this? Please feel free to email me. and I can add your question to my FAQs.

Yes. Counselling ethics are very clear about confidentiality. No part of your session, or even the existence of that session, will be shared with anyone either at the church or outside, unless you are in some kind of danger, or someone else is in danger from you. Robyn has a professional supervisor (who lives interstae) who she regularly to for guidance about her clients, but names are not used.

No. Robyns counselling is for mental health and sorting through difficult emotional issues. She will not pray with you or open the bible. However, her Christian faith nevertheless, informs her understanding of people and this world, and gives her a deep grasp of this fundamental part of your life.

No, not unless you tell them. Counselling is absolutely confidential, unless you or anyone else associated with you are in danger.

Yes, you certainly can. Kings Langley sessions are available on Monday and Wednesdays, day and evening. KL bookings are made through this link. Please mention during booking that your have made contact via St Pauls Anglican church at Castle Hill.

Many health related appointments happen during the day and are accessed using sick leave. If you have sick leave, you can also access counselling as mental health has the same priority as physical health. If you would like an evening appointment, please see my Kings Langley appointments on Monday and Wednesday evenings

Evening appointments are available occasionally on Thursdays at Castle Hill, or at Kings Langley on Monday or Wednesday. These appointments are, of course, also available online.

Please feel free to phone or email Robyn with any concern you might have.