Stefanie Hagger
Psychotherapist, Counsellor
Stress Therapy Australia
Kew East, Melbourne VIC 3102
In Person + Telehealth
Philosophy & Vision
Stefanie is the director of Stress Therapy Australia. She provides therapeutic services for children, adolescents, and adults throughout Boroondara and Yarra Ranges. Specialty areas include anxiety, stress management, grief and loss, depression, complex trauma, life transitions and burn out.
Background
I have a psychological science degree and a master in counselling and psychotherapy.
I bring with me a broad range of experiences dealing with children, adolescents, and families as well as adults who have experienced significant and repeated trauma.
I have gained a breadth of experience working with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, with an open mind and a non-judgemental manner. This experience has led me to successfully establish trusting relationships that has provided others with a springboard to use for their own personal growth.
My experience with the Royal Children's Hospital and Berry Street has further stretched my ability to support the provision of care and provide support to young people with complex needs.
Services
A successful outcome must be collaborative, in which the therapist and client are equal partners in this two-way process.
We work together to build upon your self awareness so we can identify specific triggers or stressors such as work, relationship and family pressures, that can lead to acute stress reactions such as anxiety, low mood, poor sleep habits, poor concentration and irritability.
We find strategies to build upon your coping skills to address burn out symptoms and develop individual self-care practices to help prevent and manage future recurrences.
Stress Therapy Australia is an NDIS provider, offers Telehealth and phone call services from anywhere around Australia as well as face to face therapy sessions.
Quality Provision
As a strength-based psychotherapist, I am guided by a process of working together to build understanding and acceptance of your experiences and explore how you make meaning of your life.
The way one views potential stress can have a significant effect on how we experience it, either making it easier or a lot harder to get through. With this in mind, I believe that people have an internal strength and capacity for self-awareness, choice, and potential for meaningful change.
Areas of Special Interest
Accreditations
- Bachelor of Psychological Sciences - 2020 - Swinburne
- Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy - 2022 - ACAP
Modalities
ACT - CBT - Compassion-Focused Therapy - Emotionally Focused Therapy - Existential - Experiential - Gestalt - Integrative - Mindfulness - Motivational Interviewing - Person Centred - Solution Oriented - Strengths-Based - Trauma-Informed
Therapy Approach
As a strength-based psychotherapist, I am guided by a process of working together to build understanding and acceptance of your experiences and explore how you make meaning of your life.
Stress therapy Australia uses an Integrative model of therapy that is tailored towards an individuals needs. This approach involves selecting techniques from a range of complementary and evidence-based therapies, to cater for each unique life challenge. Some of these will include acceptance and commitment therapy (values based), Attachment Theory, CBT, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Person Centred, Solution Oriented, Trauma-Informed.
Professional Associations
- Australian Counselling Association
- Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia
Practice Locations
565 High Street
Kew East VIC 3102
Parking out the front of Kew East.
Located opposite Victoria Park with trams and buses at the doorstep.
25 Fleming Lane
Monbulk VIC 3793
Appointments
Consulting in Kew East Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays 8:30am - 6pm
Consulting in Monbulk Tuesdays Only
Online and phone appointments available
Fees & Insurance
60 min one on one session: $140
60 min Family Therapy: $160
60 min NDIS price is dependant on need.
Payment Options
Credit Card, direct deposit, cash.
Rebates for counselling services are available for private health insurance members who have the appropriate level of Extras cover.
Bupa Recognised Provider
Australian Regional Health Group (ARHG)
Contact Stefanie
Please contact me to book a 15 minute free initial consult
A conversation with Stefanie Hagger
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I chose the counselling profession because I have a strong desire to help people improve their lives. I have an interest in people transitioning through challenging experiences. Some transitions include parenthood, mid life crisis, grief and loss, trauma, puberty, menopause, identity crisis, depression, relationship issues and career transitions.
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There are a number of therapeutic approaches and philosophies that I use within the counselling arena based on an individuals need. Some include the following.
Humanistic approach is a perspective that influences the way I work as it emphasises looking at the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual. That each person has the capacity for meaningful change.
I am also influenced by acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). It focuses on helping a person to identify and behave more consistently with their own values and is more concerned with cultivating psychological flexibility: the ability to change behaviour depending on how useful that behaviour is to the persons life in the long term.
CBT is also important component as it helps people think about their thinking and emotion focused work is another fundamental approach I use as it is informed by an understanding of the role emotions play to human experience. This helps clients to strengthen the self and create new meaning to their experiences. -
I began working with teens who have experienced significant and repeated trauma. This then led me to volunteer at the children's hospital alongside my masters degree as I thought I would specialise within the child and adolescent space. I grew exponentially, both personally and professionally through these thought provoking and intense environments.
When I opened my private practice, I began working with adults as well as children, teens and their families. I discovered that I thoroughly enjoyed the different developmental stages across a life span and I continue to explore and professionally develop across a wide variety of stages. -
I use an integrative model of therapy tailored to respond to an individuals needs.
Reflection is a very personal process and everyone will work towards it in a different way.
Some clients enjoy journal work, whether that be digitally, or in a book. Some write poetry as a form of expression, while others who find words difficult, tend to draw, or paint their experiences.
Some bring photos that help them tell their story.
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Everyone is inherently different, and as such we all have our own ways and time frames of coping with issues. This will be discussed as we move through each session.
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Without a doubt.
Therapy has given me the ability to become self aware, to navigate, and transition through overwhelming thoughts, feelings and behaviours, provided me with self-regulation strategies and helped me identify and build healthier habits so I can continue to move towards the life I want to live.
I truely believe that the greatest relationship one will ever have is the one they have with themselves.
This then becomes the springboard to the quality of all the other relationships you have in the other areas of your life. -
Watching another regain their strength and purpose. It takes a great deal of strength and courage to put a lens towards oneself. Extremely rewarding role.
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All the time
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Our difficulty to connect as humans to ourselves and others with compassion.
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Anguish | August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck | 1878
This painting creates a visceral feelings in me. As a mother, I find myself transfixed on the utter grief and primal need to protect. Beautifully painted and very powerful work.