Meet Morag Paterson
‘Talking to yourself in a kind and healthy way is the greatest and most powerful gift that you can give yourself.’
— Morag Paterson
General Information
Counselling Psychologist
Days: M
Cost: $250 (Medicare available)
Adult individuals
Counselling and Psychology students
Clinical Supervision
Childhood/ Complex Trauma, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Interpersonal Relationships, Disordered Eating, Work Stress and Burnout, Emotional Distress, Losses, Life Transitions, Personal Development, Self Esteem.
Style of Therapy
Warm, Empathic, Non-judgemental, Trauma-informed, Compassionate, Down to Earth.
Modalities: Schema therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Person-Centred. Morag also draws on Dialectical Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approaches and strategies.
Things You & Morag Might Address:
Overcoming trauma and PTSD symptoms
Processing issues from the past
Changing relationship patterns and improving relationships
Reducing the power of the inner critic voice and developing self-compassion
Managing anxiety (e.g. OCD, social anxiety, panic attacks, and general anxiety)
Overcoming depression
Assertiveness and communication skills
Processing losses and grief
Coping with work stress and burnout
Managing alcohol addiction
Developing better relationships with food and body image
Personal growth and development
Support in achieving goals that enable a more fulfilled life
Counselling Psychologist
Morag is a warm and very experienced counselling psychologist who uses schema therapy, to help you to break away from thoughts, behaviours and relationship patterns that no longer work for you. She helps you to work out what your needs are and how to get those needs met. Morag tailors therapy uniquely to you and works collaboratively to help you achieve the goals that you want to achieve. Morag is enthusiastic and passionate about schema therapy because she has seen the deep and long-lasting impacts it can have on her clients.
Morag uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for specific anxiety presentations (e.g., OCD, panic, social anxiety) as the evidence base shows these can be very effective. She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy approaches and strategies in her work.
She is very caring and considered in her approach and values the importance of the therapy relationship. When journeying with Morag during therapy, she will aim to empower you through support and validation, helping you to heal from issues from the past, developing different perspectives and experimenting with new behaviours. She can help you feel less alone, have a deeper understanding of yourself and your problems and break free from unhelpful patterns that you feel stuck in.
What Morag’s About
Morag really loves her work as a Psychologist, and that’s why she has been doing it for 18 years. She also works as a well-being workshop facilitator because she is a strong believer in preventing mental health difficulties. In the past, she has worked in senior management roles in the psychology field.
She is a proud and previously sun-deprived Scot who has been living in Sydney for 10 years. She is a bit of an anthropologist who loves travelling and learning about cultures and communities. Morag gets her energy from connecting with other people. She has spent many years doing social work with diverse groups and communities, including disadvantaged Polish youths, homeless people in London, people with disabilities, refugees, seniors and the Dutch Emmaus community.
In her spare time, she is a novelty seeker – enjoying exploring new places and having different experiences, from dining in the dark to yoga and health retreats. Music, coffee and chocolate are very important parts of Morag’s life.
Credentials
Masters of Science (MSc) in Counselling Psychology -University of Roehampton, London, UK
Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip) in Psychology - University of Nottingham, UK
Masters of Arts (MA) in Sociology and Social Policy – University of Glasgow, UK
AHPRA – Psychology Board of Austtralia
MAPS- Member of Australian Psychological Society
