For all inquiries or to book an appointment, please contact Jo

M: 0414 407 989 E: jo@evolveyourself.com.au

459 Crown St Surry Hills NSW 2010

Jo Schaeffer - Psychotherapy & Counselling - Surry Hills

Counselling & Psychotherapy

What’s the difference?


Counselling works at a practical level to address specific issues. It is usually solution-focused and goal-oriented. For example, if someone is fairly well functioning in their life and looking for extra support in a particular area, such as work relationships, or how to deal with your children, or a relationship breakup, counselling can address these issues and offer practical strategies for communication and change. Counselling may also be required in cases where someone is in crisis and more basic survival strategies and support systems are necessary.


Psychotherapy encompasses all of this while simultaneously going deeper to get to the root of the matter. It works on multiple levels, incorporating the physical/body/somatic, psychological, emotional, mental, relational and spiritual aspects of the person, to address deeper psychological patterning and functioning. This incorporates both the unconscious and conscious dynamics at play in your relationships and your life script. Psychotherapy also works with specific intentions and goals although these may not always be explicit.

Reasons for therapy:


  1. •anxiety or depression,

  2. •entrenched relationship patterns which are hurtful, harmful, de-vitalising, abusive, or not satisfying and loving

  3. •a foreboding sense of loneliness or abandonment

  4. •lack of confidence and self-esteem

  5. •grief & bereavement: dealing with loss or major change

  6. •when your existing relationships or support structures are not providing you with what you need

  7. •to explore what is blocking you from achieving something in your career or relationships

  8. •past trauma which is affecting your functioning and ability to move forward with your life

  9. •general burn-out, overwhelm or ongoing stress in your life

  10. •to confront issues from your childhood and family of origin which are affecting you in your relationships now and you want to change,

  11. •to make changes before you hand things down to your children, or if you have already and want to deal with it

Potential benefits and outcomes of therapy:


  1. •developing a strong sense of self with healthy boundaries and a greater range of internal resources

  2. •systematically free yourself from the limiting beliefs your have carried from your past

  3. •more satisfying, fun, healthy, loving, intimate relationships

  4. •get to know yourself better - what do you really think and feel about things and how do you express this with others?

  5. •feeling more comfortable and confident within yourself

  6. •living with more spontaneity and freedom to be yourself and rewrite the story of your life, now and into the future

  7. •learn to relax and trust in life

Scientific Evidence


Both counselling and psychotherapy are underpinned by an ever-growing body of scientific research into the brain and how it functions and develops in the context of our relationships. The findings of this research offer us ways of understanding how we work as therapists in relation to our clients and what they need for their brain and their body to process in a functional way. This work happens mostly in relationship. Although psychotherapy is a very personal and intuitive process, it is important that these aspects be grounded in empirical knowledge with clinical evidence of efficacy.

Visiting the past


Psychotherapy has a reputation for going back to the past and reliving your childhood. I think it is important to clarify this. Yes in some cases people want to be able to explore what happened in their childhood and in these cases talking about it may help resolve things. However, sometimes this does not necessarily lead to change. The point of psychotherapy is not to talk endlessly about the past with no signs of progress. If this happens it would certainly be addressed in the therapy.

Sometimes we need to clear beliefs and reconcile memories from the past in order to free ourselves from their hold on us and we need to learn how to do this without simply revisiting the past with no change.

For others, who are uninterested in the past, we can work very effectively in the here and now with whatever is important for you currently. Either way, it is possible to experience a sense of freedom and spontaneity which comes from living in the moment.

How I work


I have a deep respect for the individuality of each person, and their own process of development. This means everyone has different requirements of therapy and whether we are working together doing counselling or psychotherapy or some combination of the two, I will carefully tailor a treatment plan to meet your personal requirements. This will include specific areas you wish to address as well as negotiated aspects which I discuss with you according to my assessment of your psychological needs and functioning. 

Jo Schaeffer - Psychotherapy & Counselling - Surry Hills

My approach is integrative and holistic, incorporating the physical/body/somatic, mental, emotional, psychological, relational and spiritual aspects of each individual. Working with whatever issues you bring, we explore together what this means for you and how it relates to your overall intention for therapy.


The theoretical foundation which underpins my clinical thinking about my clients comes from my training in Relational Transactional Analysis (TA) and Somatic Psychotherapy. Relational TA has given me a comprehensive psychotherapy training incorporating developmental, attachment and personality theories which can  be applied to a broad spectrum of clients and modalities. Somatics is a body-oriented psychotherapy where we use our experience of our bodily senses to inform and guide our work. This is the practice of mindfullness which can be very helpful to identify what is really going on and guide us through the natural process of unfolding.


For clients who wish to incorporate bodywork into the therapy this can be an integral part of treating certain physical ailments, trauma, developmental wounding and very early relationship difficulties.


As my client, you can expect me to discuss with you your expectations of therapy and my assessment of your needs to negotiate a working contract. I will also be checking in with you periodically to re-evaluate our goals, review what is working and what is not and whether we are on track and make the necessary adjustments in a collaborative way.


As part of my professional integrity and maintenance, I am in ongoing supervision and professional development. My practice is governed by a code of ethics set out by the professional organisations to which I belong. These codes of ethics are on the websites of my member organisations WPATA and AASP, found in the Associated Links box on my Biography page.

Jo Schaeffer - Psychotherapy & Counselling - Surry Hills