Philosophy & Vision
John Cuturilo is the counsellor of Your Listener Counselling. He works with clients remotely across Australia, and via in-person visit in his catchment area (he is based in Dandenong, Victoria). John is empathic, approachable, and knowledgeable, helping people to overcome challenges, make changes in their lives, learn about how their minds work, and ultimately become more independent problem-solvers.
John strives to address shortfalls in common mental health practice. He is sensitive to each client's needs while thoroughly exploring each relevant aspect of their lives, offering unique insights in to human functioning and mental health, and as much as possible, taking each appointment as an opportunity to help them learn a new idea or develop a new action that they can take regularly to help them achieve their goals — ultimately empowering them to face their challenges. He wants to be seen as a human being just like his clients.
Background
John's history in counselling, social services, and disability services has seen him work with a broad range of clients, including those facing severe illnesses and disadvantage, and from diverse cultures and backgrounds. With a unique ability to understand the mind, communicate, solve problems, organise, and help people to feel at ease, he has been able to instil hope in people who felt ignored by their systems. This was born not only of his devotion to learning, but also from his own history of mental illness, a situation which required him to be self-sufficient, and leads him on his continuing journey to be the best he can be for himself and others.
Services
Areas of Special Interest
Accreditations
- Bachelor of Psychological Sciences
- Graduate Diploma of Counselling
Modalities
CBT - Existential - Motivational Interviewing - Person Centred - Schema Therapy
Therapy Approach
John's counselling approach is evidence-based, combining person-centred, cognitive, behavioural, existential, and schema modalities with motivational interviewing and evolutionary theories. He carefully evaluates theory against his own and clients' experiences while considering feedback to adapt his approach to each person. He offers an unwavering commitment to quality, keeping his services affordable and delivering them professionally.
Professional Associations
- Australian Counselling Association
Practice Locations
Dandenong VIC 3175
Fees & Insurance
• 15-minute introduction: free
• 60-minute session (standard): $149
• 90-minute session (standard): $199
• 60-minute session (concession/N.D.I.S.): $89
• 90-minute session (concession/N.D.I.S.): $119
Payment Options
Concession pricing applies to holders of government-issued concession cards or student cards. Clients with self-managed or plan-managed National Disability Insurance Scheme (N.D.I.S.) funding may be able to pay for services via their plans.
Contact John
Contact John to discuss your needs.
A conversation with John Cuturilo
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For most of my life I faced mental health problems and was subjected to a variety of different therapeutic interventions. Too many of them were ineffective or even harmful. I realised that there were people whose experiences had been to greater detriment than my own. I decided that I wanted to make a difference and learn not just the academic evidence regarding psychology and therapy, but also from my own and others' experiences. My goal was to be versatile, understand each client's unique experiences beyond what knowledge alone could convey, and be truly safe and ethical.
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I could describe my interest as helping each person learn how to understand their own experiences and take action to work with challenges. In terms of domains, I have particular interests in trauma and relational issues as the mechanics of how these develop are also fundamental to other problems, hence the skills that clients develop in these domains are hugely beneficial in other domains of life. While I work with a range of clients, I have a particular interest in working with men and senior clients, as I believe that these groups are forgotten in the campaign for mental health.
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I treat different therapeutic approaches as tools. Once I have understood the client's needs and goals, I choose the theories that most plausibly explain the problem and are most likely to be appropriate and accessible for the client. In almost any case, I draw from person-centred therapy and motivational interviewing, structuring the therapeutic dialogue so that it is non-judgemental and empowers the client to learn their own problem-solving strategies. If a client's concerns involve trauma or are otherwise best explained by past events, we may draw on, for example, schema or attachment theories to conduct psycho-education. If a client is grieving, we may use more abstract existential exploration. In any case, my goal is to always help the client decide on specific actions which they can do regularly to address their challenges and goals.
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Learning to be a therapist has taught me much about not just mental health and solving problems, but how our minds work in the course of our regular lives. I have learned how complex the process of interpreting the world is, and how we often take what we consider to be "the truth" on a subject for granted. What we consider to be the truth is often distorted by the way that our minds process information, and learning this has led to my passion for critical but compassionate thought. I enjoy educating others to explore what exists in the world and how we may be interpreting it, and to be willing to ask questions of ourselves and to treat seeking answers as a journey.