Meet our clinical team at the Macquarie cottage counselling service
Ian Hanslow (senior clinician and clinical registrant PACFA: Registered clinical counsellor RCC)
Ian has a Masters in Cultural Psychology majoring in Narrative Studies, a Bachelor of Social Sciences and Diploma in Social Sciences. He is a clinical registrant and accredited supervisor with the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia (PACFA) registration number 22722 and has been so for over 20 years.
Ian has over 28 years of therapeutic experience in the areas of Child Protection, Domestic and Family Violence, Family Therapy, Adolescent and Family Therapy, Alcohol and other Drug Family Counselling, working with adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse and trauma, Men’s health issues including masculine identity and sexuality issues and male sexual assault, relationship and couple therapy, living with a terminal illness and loss and grief.
Ian’s preferred therapeutic approach is Relational collaborative approaches with their origins in Narrative Therapy. His approach is also influenced by Strength Based Solution Focused approaches, Acceptance and Commitment therapy and client-centred approaches. He believes the client and person seeking therapy is the holder of the knowledge of their experience and the finder of the words to describe and make meaning of their experience.
Overarching Ian’s approach is his commitment to being Trauma-informed in his desire to assisting and supporting those who have experienced all forms of trauma reclaim a safe purposeful life and safe comforting, supportive relationships.
Over the past 29 years, Ian has developed a speciality in working with men who have experienced childhood and adolescent trauma, which in turn is impacting their lives today. As well as this Ian has developed skills in working in the following areas;
Identity issues both Sexual and Gendered.
Grief and Loss, and complicated Grief and Loss.
Relationship Difficulties and breakdown.
The impacts of childhood sexual assault, neglect, psychological and physical abuse.
Domestic and Family Violence Impacts on parents and children.
Conflicts between Parents and Children/ Adolescents.
Adolescent Development and Forming Identity.
Significant life changes, such as loss of work, terminal illness, pain management and chronic health.
Impacts of trauma, such as the issues mentioned above plus people affected by bullying, impacted by a natural disaster, complex repeated trauma’s, managing levels of disassociation.
Ian has also presented at international conferences and develops, facilitates his own training workshops for interested counsellors and therapists.
Ian is also commencing or has completed training in Dr. Bessel van der Kolk on How the Body Keeps the Score: Intensive Trauma Treatment Course'; 'Male-Friendly Counselling: Enhancing Therapy Work with Men - Develop gender-sensitive strategies for working with men and boys'; 'Clinical Applications of Polyvagal Theory in Trauma Treatment with Stephen Porges & Deb Dana: Integrating the Science of Safety, Self-Regulation and Attachment'; 'Essentials of Trauma Treatment: Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) Training Course'; 'Trauma Treatment with EMDR, CBT and Somatic-Based Interventions: A Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Training Course'.
Ian has a wealth of experience and is open to be interviewed by those seeking a suitable Counsellor or Therapist to see if he can assist and is the right fit for you.
Ian believes people have the desire to change and improve their life situations and with the supportive environment and relationships that are meaningful and supportive, this is possible.
Availabilities Tuesday 9am-5pm, wednesdy 9am-5pm and Thursday 9am-5pm. All other appointments need a request to be made.
Ian has time limitations therefore he won’t be offering a full therapeutic involvement in 2023, as in the past. Ian is no longer providing relationship and couple counselling, working with adolescents and children and their families, and high needs complex counselling.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Ian has made the decision to reduce the counselling side of his practice and will not be seeing any new clients. For the clients he is currently seeing, he will be available until the end of 2023. The start of 2024 and beyond Ian will be focusing just on clinical supervision with workers from the sector. He would like to take this opportunity to thank many for their support with referrals over the past 32 years of practice and being witnessed to many powerful recovery and growth stories.
Kristine Piper
Kristine has a Master of Counselling (2019, Monash) and a Bachelor of Theology (2012, SMBC), and has professional membership with PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia ) and ACA (Australian Counselling Association).
Kristine believes strongly in the capacity of people to stand, to keep going, and to learn and grow. She considers it a privilege to collaborate with people in their journey to better understand themselves and their situation, to work for growth and change, and to increase hope for the future.
Kristine has worked with people individually and in groups for 12+ years, in a chaplaincy, pastoral counselling, or counselling role. She has spent periods of time working particularly with young adults, with international students, with people and pastors in a church or parachurch setting, and with people with diverse experiences of sexuality and gender and those connected with them.
Kristine currently works with adults of all ages and stages of life, and with a broad range of mental health and life experiences. Some of the things she can help you with include: anxiety, depression, stress and burnout, grief and loss, a life transition, chronic ill health, identity, diverse experiences of sexuality and/or gender, spiritual identity, developmental and situational trauma.
Kristine draws on a variety of therapeutic approaches including Narrative Therapy, Focusing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), as well as other wellness and life skill strategies. She has a strong commitment to being trauma informed, client centred, evidence informed, and respectful of diversity.
Kristine meets with clients here at Macquarie Cottage and online. For more information visit her website at: www.kpcounselling.com.au
Geoff Blackburn
Geoff is a registered counsellor, therapist, and coach.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University, a Master of Counselling from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors and a Graduate Certificate in Career Development Practice from the Australian National Institute for Business and Technology. He holds Level 2 accredited membership with the Australian Counselling Association.
Geoff conducts his private practice at Macquarie Cottage and also works part-time with an NGO providing individual, couples and family counselling services in western Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
Geoff’s approach is client-centred and collaborative based on unconditional regard for the dignity and inherent value of each client. He utilises practices drawn from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He sees psychoeducation and therapy as a way for clients to view their lived experience through a different lens, gaining new perspectives and re-calibrating their view of self and others through meaning-making and re-storying.
His practice is trauma-informed having worked with refugees, survivors of partner and family violence, child abuse and post-separation/divorce clients seeking to regain access to their children.
Geoff has been a Blue Mountains resident for 45+ years.
Introducing our social worker
Heath Salmon
Dip MH, CTP- certification number: 726042 , BSocSc(Psychology), MSocWrk(Qual). Registration with the Australian association of social workers (AASW) number 513032
Heath has completed a total of 6.5 years of academic study. He has a diploma Mental Health, a bachelor’s degree in social sciences (Psychology) and a Master of Social Work (qualifying). Heath has also completed a counselling internship supervised by Ian Hanslow our principal clinician from 2019-2024. During this time Heath has completed additional training and has received a certification as a certified trauma professional from the USA.
Heath has had a plethora of experience ranging from casework, counselling, and working with children and families, especially in the area of statutory child protection. Heath has an interest in working with families and where there are child protection concerns, to find ways to deescalate those concerns before reaching statutory child protection services. Heath is a big believer in understanding what is going on for someone within their family context and to dialogue with these experiences within a holistic framework.
Heath’s other interests are working with people to find their passion in an area of their life that makes getting up in the morning worthwhile and promote the feeling of committing to something that pulls on the strengths, values, and interest of the person. Heath truly believes that having a passion is what drives recovery and keeps people, communities, culture and society alive. Additionally, Heath likes to work with those who experience auditory hallucinations, otherwise known as voice hearers, however, known in the Western sense as psychosis related disorders. Heath takes a different approach informed by seeing the voices as a real-life experience and learning to live and dialogue with them rather than to get ‘rid’ of them.
Heath is trained and offers various modalities for therapy; however, all of various therapy modalities he used will be utilised within the Power, threat, meaning (PTF) framework which is influenced heavily by narrative therapy. The PTF framework offers an invitation to understand the power that operates in people’s lives, the threat these powers impose, and the meaning made out of these experiences. This coincides with narrative therapy philosophy which asks questions akin to ‘what has happened to you?’ rather than ‘what is wrong with you?’ Heath is committed to using evidence-based and practice-based therapies as well as continuing professional development.
Here are some of the modalities used, I also encourage you to further research what they have to offer:
Narrative therapy
Cognitive-behavioural based therapies- CBT, ACT, DBT, MBCT/MBSR.
Open dialogue model
Voice hearing models
Somatic based therapies
Motivational interviewing
Solution-focused therapy
Strength-based approach
Recovery oriented approach
Safe and together model
Psychoeducation
Existential therapy
Family finding models
Crisis intervention/prevention model
Systems theory
Empowerment theory
Intersectionality
Heath receives ongoing supervision from an accredited supervisor. Heath is working towards his accreditation in mental health to be able to offer medicare, DVA, and private health services. Heath’s fees are as follows: Individual $100, student/not working/concession $60, families $120. Please note: Heath has limited availability for appointments and will only be able to offer evening sessions of a week day 5:30pm-6:30pm and some times on a Saturday. Please enquire for more.
Mark Mitchell
BA, BTh, Dip Theo Stud, MCouns, M.A.C.A. (Level 2), CCAA
Mark has recently joined the clinical team at Macquarie Cottage, having completed his Master of Counselling. Mark has been trained in a person-centred approach to counselling that is trauma informed. He uses multiple therapeutic approaches tailored to the needs of his clients with interests in Emotionally Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Narrative Therapy. Mark also has experience working with drug, alcohol and addiction issues. Mark sees both individuals and couples.
Mark’s approach is founded on the belief that people do not need experts to “fix” them but rather a person to walk alongside them to help them understand themselves and their struggles and then work together to bring about change. He believes human beings have a great capacity to heal themselves if they are given the right guidance, care, and support.
Mark has extensive experience in administration, management, and executive and organisational leadership. Mark has ten years of pastoral experience dealing with many issues in faith communities, such as depression, anxiety, relationships, and questions about meaning and purpose. He also has experience in child protection, having been employed by and on the boards of various not-for-profit child and family ministries.
You can contact Mark directly at [email protected] or leave an inquiry email on this website.
Photos of the counsellors can be seen at the bottom of this page with counsellor's photo's going in the same order as their biographies. Note. Not all counsellors have their photos available.
