Better Pride Team

Helen Hunt has worked in the industry for over 15 years. She has been at Better Place Australia for the past 10 years primarily as a child and adolescent counsellor.

As Family Therapist, Helen has extensive experience is working with families. She comes from a systems approach, she is also qualified in Parent and Adolescent work. Her specialties include grief and loss, trauma and anxiety issues.

Helen’s passion is giving the most vulnerable in the community a voice. She has lived experience in the LGBTIQ+ community and strongly believes in justice and equality for all. She believes everyone has a right to be and feel safe.

Helen is open minded and works with her clients to give them practical skills to apply to their life. She values collaboration, authenticity, respect and empathy in her practice.

Helen is a member of the Australian Association of Family Therapists (AAFT) as well as the Australian Counsellors Association (ACA) and comes from an affirmative psychotherapy base. She is trained in family- based therapies, including Narrative Therapy.

Yogita Medhi is a registered psychologist and works with people from diverse backgrounds in both public and private settings.

Yogita provides counselling support in a respectful and non-judgemental manner and encourages people to identify their strengths and values as personal resources. She likes to work collaboratively with people to develop their treatments plans that are best suited to their individual needs.

Yogita draws from various evidence-based interventions and focuses on offering practical strategies to people so that they can improve their own psychological well-being.

Yogita also speaks Hindi and Marathi.

Yogita an ally to the LGBTIQ+ community and provides an inclusive, open and non-judgemental space for clients to best support their mental health needs.

Megan Bird is a Counsellor/Therapist working with clients from diverse backgrounds, of all ages, with a wide range of experiences. She has worked in both private practice and community health settings. Megan brings her own unique lived experiences and life learning to deliver authentic, non judgemental evidenced based therapy. Megan has studied both Psychology and Counselling to ensure effective practice across varied clientele, individuals, couples or families, for over two decades. She considers herself a proud ally to the LGBTQI+ community and openly applies her skills in a genuine framework of acceptance and support to ensure every client feels respected, safe and empowered.

Elisabeth Weisser has been a Counselling practitioner for over 30 years. She has a background in Residential care for adolescents, some of whom were rejected by their families for their LGBTIQA+ identity, AOD, Forensic and general Mental Health, working with both victim survivors and perpetrators of Family Violence, and Couples and Family counselling.

Elisabeth works from a basis of unconditional positive regard, and client centered collaboration. She assists clients to uncover their expertise around themselves, and to feel empowered around their choices and actions. She uses a variety of therapeutic models, such as Family Systems, Internal Family Systems, and trauma informed practice.

Elisabeth’s LGBTIQA+ experience is within the social, professional, and family context. She has qualifications in Criminology, Social Work, AOD, Couples Counselling and Family therapy.
Elisabeth is a registered Mental Health Social Worker. She sees clients with Mental Health Care plans within the Private Counselling Program, and individuals, families and couples within the Family and Relationship Services (FARS) program.

Elisabeth joined Better Place Australia in 2014.

Deanne King is a child and youth counsellor with experience working with children and young people aged 5 to 25. She holds a master’s in counselling from Murdoch University in Western Australia, completing a now published thesis on Racial Microaggressions and the impact on International Students Wellbeing. She has completed placements onsite at Murdoch University and headspace and is a current member of the Australian Counselling Association and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia. She currently works in Better Place Australia’s Supporting Children After Separation Program, working with children aged 5-18 and families who have previously or are currently going through separation.

Deanne is passionate about supporting young people of all backgrounds and identities to feel heard, seen and understood while also supporting their families to create safe spaces to further support young people. She continues to listen to and learn from the LGBTIQA+ community on how to better support their mental health and advocate for their needs and experiences.

Rob is a certified practicing counsellor with several years experience working across community, forensic and private settings in various roles including NDIS mental health outreach, counselling, group work, therapeutic residential care and family services.

Rob provides a warm, empathetic and non-judgemental space to ensure people feel safe to open up and explore the challenges they are facing. He uses an integrative counselling approach, whereby interventions are chosen from a variety of modalities to match each person’s specific needs. Rob has a special interest in working with trauma, loss and grief, and family/relationship issues.

As a member of the LGBTIQ+ community, Rob is passionate about supporting all members of the community to feel a sense of safety, belonging and connection.

Verona D’Arcangeli Rojas has over 6 years of experience as a Counsellor, the last 4 years working primarily as a relationship counsellor at Better Place Australia. She is a member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), and has additional training in couples and family counselling therapies and individual existential therapy.

Verona works with adults, couples and families in a wide variety of issues that include relationship issues, perinatal matters, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, trauma and anger management. She provides counselling in a non-judgemental and empathic manner, a warm and calm disposition, with the ability to develop a trusting therapeutic relationship with her clients, and has a personal passion and motivation for her work.

Verona uses several evidence-based approaches to individuals, couples and family counselling that allows clients to identify their goals, to gain insight and awareness of their strengths, and develop skills and strategies to reach positive therapeutic outcomes.

Verona also has a passion for social issues and enjoys working with diverse communities, having a especial interest in working cross-culturally and with LGBTIQ+ clients. She has the strong belief that the more open and accepting of each other we are, the better is our individual and collective level of wellbeing and relational harmony.

Susan has been with Better Place Australia since 2022 and is a child counsellor and parenting expert. Holding a Bachelor of Psychology and Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy, her work with young people is varied and extensive.

Susan has a special interest in adolescent anxiety, but also provides therapy for a wide range of concerns including grief and loss, trauma, school refusal, and behavioural challenges.

Susan employs a multi-modal approach to therapy, tailoring treatment to the child using evidence-based practices. Susan draws largely from play and creative therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy, and internal family systems work.

As an LGBTIQA+ ally, Susan views diversity as an asset and uses a strengths-based approach to help young people navigate their gender and sexual identities in a safe and supportive environment.

Susan believes in a systemic approach to child wellbeing and works closely with parents, carers, and schools to achieve the best outcome for her clients.

Samantha is a registered ACA counsellor and believes that connecting with people is key to safe and effective change, particularly during vulnerable and often painful times in their lives. Understanding the importance of a trusting therapeutic relationship, she provides a person-centred, solution-focused, mental health-informed space that is compassionate, nonjudgmental and safe.

Experienced working with normative and non-normative relationships within the hetero and queer community, Sam works within a trauma-informed framework, practising CBT, Somatic, IFS, Gottman therapy and Mindfulness. Additionally, understanding the effects of transgenerational trauma and the impacts on attachment and mental health allows for effective results in gaining a healthy relationship with both self and others.

Sam works with couples and individuals living with childhood trauma, attachment trauma and relational trauma. General mental health, anxiety and depression.