Monique Girardo, Psychologist
Monique is a warm, sensitively attuned and compassionate psychologist. She cares deeply about helping clients overcome their struggles and becoming happier and more confident. Monique creates a safe and supportive environment where clients can explore their experiences authentically and in depth. She uses a holistic approach to therapy, optimising healing with an integrative outlook focused on balance and equilibrium.
Monique's clinical experience combined with intensive training and life experience form the foundation for effective treatment of depression, anxiety, chronic symptoms, trauma, Complex-PTSD, PTSD, chronic physical issues, relational and attachment difficulties, complex family dynamics, nervous system dysregulation, stress and burnout, overwhelm from complex emotions, and individuals seeking deeper self-understanding and growth.
Monique helps adults from 18 years+
Therapy with Monique
Monique's areas of expertise include helping adults with challenges such as depression, anxiety, trauma, complex trauma, relational and attachment difficulties, complex family dynamics, nervous system dysregulation, chronic health concerns, stress, burnout, overwhelm or struggling with complex emotions, somatic disorders, and those seeking deeper self-understanding and growth. Depending on a person's unique needs and circumstances, Monique might gently and collaboratively explore subconscious thoughts, memories and past experiences to understand why someone might struggle in the present. She aims to help every person find their joy and become the happiest and best version of themselves.
Monique's style of therapy can best be described as compassionate, collaborative, non-judgemental, and encouraging. She is a kind and thoughtful psychologist who believes in the inherent good in all of us. Monique therefore strives to create a safe environment in which troubling past experiences or unhelpful thought processes and self-beliefs can safely be explored and therapeutically dealt with, so that a person may be free to self-actualise to the best of their potential.
Beginning her career in a clinical setting, Monique developed a strong foundation in conventional therapeutic approaches. Over time, her own personal journey led her to explore deeper layers of healing - an experience that now informs her work with clients seeking greater understanding, connection, and integration. Recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all path to healing, Monique supports each individual in cultivating self-compassion, awareness, and acceptance of their full experience. Symptoms and diagnoses often reflect deeper patterns shaped by past experiences and accumulated beliefs which she gently explores together to bring healing and growth.
Monique has extensive clinical training and experience, and she tailors her interventions to meet the unique needs and personality of each client, drawing from Cognitive-Behavioural (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Polyvagal Theory, wisdom traditions and therapeutic yoga.
Trauma Healing through Body-Based Therapies
Monique is both a Certified Yoga Practitioner (200 YTTC) and a Certified Applied Polyvagal Theory for Trauma in Yoga therapist. As needed, she offers a combination of traditional psychological therapy and 1:1 therapeutic yoga, drawing on a range of modalities to create an approach that is tailored to you. Her work with clients focus on balance between body and mind, past, present and future, by strengthening the innate nervous system that holds so many of our stories, and strengthening the connection between mind, body, and consciousness.
Many people who have experienced trauma find that they continue to struggle with incomprehensible anxiety, numbing, rage, interpersonal disappointments, chronic health struggles, and a pervasive sense of not feeling safe or inherently lovable. Research has shown that traditional 'top-down' talk therapies are not always fully effective in treating trauma symptoms that became 'hardwired' in the whole body's nervous system. More and more research show the increased potency of combining traditional psychotherapy with 'bottom-up' (body-based) therapeutic approaches such as EMDR and therapeutic yoga.
Research about yoga for trauma indicates that it is an effective, safe, and evidence-based complementary intervention for treating trauma and PTSD. Studies show it significantly reduces PTSD and depression symptoms by improving emotional regulation, body awareness, and nervous system balance. Trauma-informed yoga helps individuals reconnect with their bodies (interoception), aiding the regulation of autonomic fight-flight-freeze-fawn responses. Effective programs focus on empowerment, choice, and safety, utilising non-coercive, invitational language rather than authoritative instruction. Research shows that therapeutic yoga is particularly effective when combined with traditional therapeutic techniques.
Monique's natural kindness, gentle intuitive compassion and clinical training enable her to help her clients find their emotional balance, calm and resilience again. Accessing deeper layers of healing informs her work with clients seeking greater understanding, connection, and integration. She appreciates that symptoms and diagnoses often reflect deeper patterns shaped by past experiences, conditioning, and unresolved traumas. Her approach centres on the concept of equilibrium - the balance between science and spirituality, biology and psychology, structure and intuition. Monique always remain sensitively client centred and she approach each individual with respect for individual needs and preferences.
Monique utilises yoga and other body-based therapeutic modalities particularly for those with trauma, childhood abuse and neglect, intimate partner abuse survivors, cumulative or complex trauma, trauma stemming from interpersonal interactions, distinct acute event traumas such as car accidents, and traumatic grief.
Areas of Practice
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Managing Life Transitions & Challenges
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Chronic health concerns
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Attachment difficulties
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Complex family dynamics
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Overwhelm & complex emotions
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Somatic disorders
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Seeking deeper self-insight & growth
Qualifications & Professional Associations
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Bachelor of Psychological Science (First Class Honours)
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Bachelor of Psychological Science
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Certified Yoga Practitioner & Teacher (200 YTTC)
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Certified Applied Polyvagal Theory for Trauma in Yoga
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Registered with the Psychology Board of Australia
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Registered Psychologist, Australia Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)