Mr Tim Clark
Counsellor
Time & Space Therapies
Murrumbeena, Melbourne VIC 3163
In Person + Telehealth
Philosophy & Vision
Life can be hard. We can feel disconnected and alone in our struggles and sometimes it's hard to see a way through tough situations. But I have learned first-hand that our challenges can be handled if we have someone who really listens, who takes the time to help us understand what we've experienced and how it has affected us. The road ahead can feel safer and clearer if we have someone walking beside us while we figure things out. That is the essence of how I work.
Background
My career path has not been straightforward, but all of my experiences in other fields inform my work as a counsellor. Being a high school teacher gave me a rich understanding of our intense vulnerability when we are young, and my work as a massage therapist taught me of the vital role our bodies play in our mental wellbeing. Perhaps most importantly, I have done the hard yards over many years as a client in therapy, which has brought me to a place of acceptance and forgiveness, of myself and of others, in so many ways.
Services
I offer both online and in-person counselling, (Please note: During lockdown periods, only online services will be available.)
Quality Provision
I am a provisional member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), which has stringent membership requirements, including ongoing professional development. I also attend regular individual and group clinical supervision, as well as my own individual counselling.
Areas of Special Interest
Accreditations
- Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy - 2018 - Cairnmillar Institute
Modalities
CBT - Compassion-Focused Therapy - Existential - Person Centred - Schema Therapy - Trauma-Informed
Therapy Approach
I work in a fundamentally person-centred way, so it is important to me to be a warm, empathic and non-judgemental presence for my clients. I work always with the common factors of good therapy in mind, most importantly: a good working relationship between two people, characterised by trust and understanding.
I also integrate into my approach the wide-ranging wisdom of a number schools of psychotherapy and counselling, as determined by the needs and preferences of each person I see.
Professional Associations
- Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia
Practice Locations
203 Poath Road
Murrumbeena VIC 3163
The Murrumbeena rooms are a five-minute walk from Hughesdale Station on the Pakenham-Cranbourne line. Plentiful free street parking.
Appointments
Appointments are available between 10am and 7pm (last session) Tuesday-Saturday.
Fees & Insurance
Regular fees are $100 per 50 min session.
Payment Options
Cash, credit card or EFT deposit.
Contact Tim
Please contact me to make an appointment
A conversation with Tim Clark
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In my work as a teacher, I was finding more and more that people (students and colleagues alike) would come to me seeking guidance on things other than curriculum. I found I really enjoyed helping people talk through their problems and they seemed to walk away feeling better. It just seemed a natural progression to do it full-time.
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Professionally, my greatest influences are Ernesto Spinelli, Irvin Yalom, Carl Rogers, Karen Horney, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Jeffrey Young, Paul Gilbert, Dan Siegel, Nancy McWilliams, Pat Ogden, Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, Melissa Harte, and Edward Teyber.
Spread across all of those names there are existential, person-centred, somatic, psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, emotion-focused, schema-based, mindfulness-based, compassion-focused, neuroscientific and interpersonal ideas, all of which have helped to shape me both personally and professionally.
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Being a massage therapist, I'm very interested in the mind-body connection, but I also have a first-hand understanding of how strange it can be for some people to hear that their physical complaint might have a psychological or emotional origin.
Shame is also a key interest. So many of us walk around with a deep-seated belief that we are fundamentally defective or unacceptable and it can be so destructive.
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A neat answer is to say that if there is no sense of progress at all by the end of the third session I would begin to wonder if counselling is going to work, or if it may not be the right fit and a referral might be appropriate.
A more accurate, messier answer is to say that it is incredibly variable. Feeling aimless or stuck is a common part of the process, but also a valuable one because it's our areas of 'stuckness' or 'blind spots' that are so important to bring out. We do all sorts of things to keep from seeing what's painful, and our coping mechanisms are often entrenched and inflexible. It takes patience and faith to 'hang in there' and develop new ways of being in the world. -
For me, the great gift of therapy has been forgiveness. I am now much better at forgiving myself for my imperfections and empathising with others, which means I am able to love more fully than I could before.
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being a therapist gives me regular opportunities to honour other people and their struggles. It serves as a constant reminder that we're all in this together.
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Literally: not really. I don't have much hair to speak of.
Figuratively: of course. Everyone does. -
Disconnection. It can be so hard to remember and honour our essential interconnectedness with each other, with the planet, with the past, with the present and with the future. E.M. Forster's dictum, 'Only connect,' is one I come back to all the time.
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I remember watching a performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto and thinking, "This piece of music must be one of the high points of human existence."