& Psychotherapy
Trauma and PTSD Counselling in the Sutherland Shire
Caringbah, in person or online.
I'm Wade Eames, a PACFA Registered Clinical counsellor and psychotherapist (28644) in Caringbah. I work with adults living with trauma, PTSD and complex trauma, including trauma that sits alongside addiction or shows up in relationships. Sessions are in person in Caringbah or online, and the work goes at your pace. You don't need a referral.
You're at the shops and someone drops a tray behind you. Your heart's going before you've even turned around. Ten minutes later you're back in the car, and you still can't settle.
Or nothing that obvious happens. You just haven't felt at ease in your own life for a long time, and you've stopped expecting to.
Both make sense. Your body learned something when it needed to, and it's still doing that job.
What trauma counselling with me is like
Slower than most people expect, and that's on purpose. We don't start with the worst thing that happened. We start with you, what's going on now, and what helps you feel steady enough to go near the harder stuff.
A lot of people expect to tell the whole story in the first session. You won't be asked to. Some never tell it in full, and the work still moves.
What I pay attention to is what's alive in the room. What your body does when we get close to something. The part of you that goes quiet, or gets irritable, or makes a joke right when it matters. Those parts have been protecting you, often for years. They make sense, and we get to know them before we ask anything of them.
The relationship comes first, and the rest flows from there.
Single-incident trauma and complex trauma
Single-incident trauma is one event. An assault, an accident, a sudden death, something that happened at work. Complex trauma builds over time, usually in relationships and often in childhood, where the danger came from the people who were meant to keep you safe.
They feel different. After one event, people often say they were fine before and they're not now. Complex trauma feels more like who you are. The shame, the people-pleasing, the way you brace when someone gets close, the sense that something's wrong with you that you can't name.
PTSD is the name for what can follow either one: flashbacks, nightmares, feeling on guard all the time, avoiding anything that reminds you, or feeling numb and cut off. You don't need a diagnosis to start.
I work with both. After a single event there's often a clear memory to work on, and EMDR can be a good fit. With complex trauma the work is usually longer, because what got hurt was your trust in people.
How sessions work: pacing and safety
You set the pace. Nothing gets opened before there's enough ground under you to hold it.
Early sessions are about getting to know you and building steadiness. Noticing when you're starting to leave the room, what brings you back, what your body does when it's had enough. You'll have a way to slow down or stop, and you'll have practised it before you need it.
We leave time at the end of each session to settle, so you're not walking out to your car with something still wide open. If it gets too much, we slow down. That's always available, and choosing it isn't going backwards.
EMDR and IFS
EMDR works on a specific memory directly, so it can lose its charge without you having to narrate it. I'm trained in EMDR and use it inside the wider work, not as a standalone procedure. EMDR sessions run 90 minutes ($195).
IFS (Internal Family Systems) is the model I work with most. It treats the parts of you that carry the pain, and the parts that protect you from it, as something to get to know rather than push past. I'm IFS Level 1 trained.
I also draw on attachment-based, polyvagal-informed and psychodynamic work, and DBT skills for when emotions are running too hot to think.
Who you'd be seeing
I work in private practice at Next Steps Counselling & Psychotherapy in Caringbah.
I also know what it's like to sit on the other side.
Cost, rebates, Victims Services and WorkCover
Sessions are $150 for 60 minutes and $195 for 90 minutes.
Private health: I'm registered with Bupa, Medibank, HCF, ahm and ARHG. Whether you can claim, and how much, depends on your level of extras cover.
Medicare: I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist, not a psychologist, so there's no Medicare rebate and a Mental Health Care Plan doesn't apply. You don't need a GP referral to see me.
Victims Services NSW: I'm an approved Victims Services counsellor. If you're an eligible victim of violent crime, counselling is at no cost to you.
WorkCover (NSW workers compensation): I'm SIRA-approved (approval number 151287). If your claim covers psychological treatment there's no gap, and I handle the treatment request paperwork with your insurer.
Where and when
In person at Level 1, 418 Kingsway, Caringbah, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. It's close to Cronulla, Miranda, Sutherland and the rest of the Shire.
Online over Zoom on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Hours are 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday, and 8am to 6pm on Fridays.
How to start
Book online, or call or text me on 0479 155 439. You don't need a referral, and you don't need to know what to call it.
You don't have to be sure you're ready, either. Plenty of people come to a first session to find out whether this fits, and that's a good enough reason.
If you need support right now, Lifeline is 13 11 14, any time. In an emergency, call 000.
Common questions
Do I have to talk about what happened?
No. You can say as much or as little as you want, and you decide when. A lot of trauma work, including EMDR and IFS, doesn't depend on you telling the whole story.
Is this covered by Medicare?
No. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist, not a psychologist, so Medicare rebates don't apply, but health fund rebates are available with Bupa, Medibank, HCF, ahm and ARHG, depending on your extras cover.
Can I do this online?
Yes. Online sessions run over Zoom on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Trauma work, including EMDR, can be done online, and the pacing and safety are the same as in the room.
Do I need a PTSD diagnosis or a referral?
No. You don't need either. If something is still affecting you, that's enough to start.
What if I can't remember it clearly, or I'm not sure it counts as trauma?
That's common. You don't need a clear memory or a label for it. We work with what's there.
How many sessions will I need?
It depends on you and what you're carrying. Work on a single event can move sooner. Complex trauma usually takes longer. We'll talk about it as we go.
Can I see you through Victims Services or WorkCover?
Yes. I'm an approved Victims Services NSW counsellor, and SIRA-approved for NSW workers compensation (151287). Both are gap-free, and I handle the WorkCover treatment request paperwork.