Annabel Igoe

My name is Annabel (she/her) and I’m an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (BSW, MSW), psychotherapist and yoga teacher of Irish descent who lives and practices on Gadigal land. I bring over ten years of professional experience working with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances. I’m proud to offer a comfortable healing space for anyone experiencing challenges with managing their mental health, mood/emotions, relationships, grief, memories, drug/alcohol use, finding direction or belonging in life and more. I endeavour to gently guide people to find and move towards whatever intentions they might have for their life in any realm including identity, mental, emotional, social, career, and/or spiritual. 

I have a Masters degree in counselling and draw from my education in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), internal family systems therapy (IFS), narrative therapy and polyvagal theory/nervous system-informed therapy. My work is also inspired by 17 years of personal yoga and meditation practice. I believe that somatic (body-based) practices are a powerful and important component of healing. 

I have worked in culturally and linguistically diverse communities both in Australia and in South Asia. I specialise in working with people experiencing the impacts of trauma and/or navigating the complexities of an unpredictable world. I also enjoy working with people interested in well-rounded personal development. I work from a healing-focussed, client-centred perspective, honouring at all times the wisdom people have about their own lives and what is of value to them. I’m committed to ongoing learning and evolving as a therapist and as a human.

Some things that I consider important in therapy are:

• having a safe, private, non-threatening space where change happens at your own pace;
• feeling heard and understood by the therapist;
• understanding how the body and mind responds to stress and learning to apply that wisdom in daily life;
• approaching thoughts, feelings and behaviours with curiosity and compassion;
• setting flexible and realistic goals, while making time to dream big too;
• creating space to deeply reflect and look for knowledge within yourself;
• gently opening up to new ways of being in the world.