Jemma Thacker, Psychologist
Jemma is a kind, solution-focussed psychologist who is easy to talk to. Her natural ability to form connections and gain quick insights into people form the foundation for effective treatment of depression, anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, interpersonal issues, enhancing social skills, and dealing with life difficulties.
Jemma works with teenagers, young people, and adults from all walks of life. She is particularly interested in helping clients overcome depression, anxiety, grief, social issues, trauma and other life challenges.
Jemma genuinely cares about her clients and most people find her friendly, kind manner puts them at ease and makes them feel understood. As an empathetic psychologist she is dedicated to helping individuals overcome life's challenges and achieve optimal mental well-being.
Jemma's background in various therapeutic modalities allows her to tailor her approach to meet each unique individual's needs. Driven by a genuine passion for helping others, she has worked with a diverse range of adults to achieve their therapeutic goals.
Jemma welcomes clients from diverse backgrounds, she is open minded, non-judgemental and actively listens to understand both the concerns, and strengths, of her clients.
Jemma assists individuals from 16 years and older, and couples.
Therapy with Jemma
Jemma draws on a range of evidence-based therapeutic modalities to tailor therapy to each individual. She believes in a collaborative approach to therapy, working together with her clients to set goals, regularly review progress, and adapt treatment as needs and priorities evolve.
For Jemma, clients are experts in their own lives, and her role is to support, guide, and offer psychological insight while respecting her clients' autonomy, values, and experience. She creates a safe, trusting, and respectful space within which client and therapist collaboratively guide the direction, pace, and focus of the therapeutic work.
Combined with her warmth and compassion, Jemma aims to provide practical solutions for difficult psychological issues. She is trained and experienced in a number of evidence based therapeutic modalities such as Gottman Method Couples Therapy, EMDR, CBT, ACT and IFS.
Jemma welcomes clients from all backgrounds and orientations.
Psychologist providing Gottman Couple's Counselling
Jemma is trained in The Gottman Method which helps couples grow their emotional connection and become happier together. As an approachable, friendly and non-judgemental therapist, Jemma provides couples with a safe and non-judgemental space for couples to explore how their relationship became stuck, and how to repair and strengthen it by exploring the life experiences and habits that may have led them to current issues, and providing practical ways to move beyond that.
She is skilled at guiding couples in ways to improve communication, increase intimacy and affection, manage conflict without harm, and strengthening their friendship and emotional connection.
The Gottman Method for couples focusses on teaching specific skills that foster a sense of friendship and teamwork. This may include exercises like building "love maps", which is a way to deeply get to know each other's likes, dislikes, passions, fears, important memories, longings, and dreams, as well as likes and dislikes, favourite hobbies, and even music preferences. This builds a sense of intimacy, acceptance and friendship which is foundational to a happy relationship.
She also guides couples to insight about where communication may have become stuck and destructive, by understanding habits that Gottman has named "the four horseman": criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, and replacing them with with gentle, constructive and loving communication.
Jemma welcomes all couples from different backgrounds, ages, and sexual/gender orientations.
EMDR Psychologist helping Clients overcome Trauma and Distress
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a proven therapeutic technique that helps people heal from trauma and distressing life experiences. Originally developed for Trauma processing and PTSD, it has proven useful for other conditions too such as Anxiety, Depression, Phobias, previous distress and even Grief.
EMDR is an evidence-based psychological therapy which means studies have proven it's effectiveness, and it is recommended by the World Health Organisation and the American Psychological Association. Utilising Bilateral Stimulation, eg by following your therapist's finger, a moving light on a light bar, or through tapping, the back-and-forth movement helps your brain process the memory, anxiety or grief, reducing its emotional intensity and integrating it, similarly to how your brain processes dreams during REM sleep.
This allows the brain to process distressing events differently, reducing the trauma and upset associated with them, so that they become less upsetting. EMDR and psychotherapy furthermore help shift negative self-beliefs (such as 'I cant cope') and allows a sense of empowerment and relaxation to grow.
Depending on how complex or severe a trauma experience is, EMDR often brings relief in a relatively short time. Complex trauma such as childhood trauma, or longstanding anxiety, may take longer and require a more integrated approach. Nevertheless, EMDR has proven itself very valuable for clients who have felt emotionally stuck for a long time, and for whom it has provided considerable relief.
Areas of Practice
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Managing Life Transitions & Challenges
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Alcohol & Substance Abuse
- Low self-esteem
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Work Challenges
Qualifications & Professional Associations
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Diploma of Professional Psychology
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Honours Bachelor of Psychological Science
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Bachelor of Science in Psychology
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Registered with the Psychology Board of Australia
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Registered Psychologist, Australia Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)