Thinking Healthy - John Julian

Thinking Healthy

Counselling • Relationship Therapy • Mindfulness

"Helping people find steadiness, clarity and wellbeing in a changing world."

Supporting individuals and couples through a biopsychosocial, relational approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Now Accepting New Clients

Contact: Mobile: 0439 901795      ll      Email: john.julian56@gmail.com

Appointments are currently available for individual counselling, relationship counselling and group programs. Sessions are offered in person from a confidential consulting room in Alexandra, Victoria, and online via Telehealth throughout Australia.

Fees are kept as affordable as possible, and referrals are welcome from individuals, general practitioners and other health professionals.

Location

Thinking Healthy is based in Alexandra, Victoria, providing counselling and relationship therapy for people living in Alexandra and the surrounding districts, together with Telehealth appointments across Australia.

Understanding the Whole Person

Life's difficulties rarely arise from a single cause. Anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, relationship difficulties and many other challenges usually develop through the interaction of our biology, our thoughts and emotions, our relationships and the wider social world in which we live.

At Thinking Healthy, counselling is guided by a biopsychosocial, relational approach. Rather than focusing only on symptoms or diagnoses, we seek to understand the whole person and the circumstances that have shaped their life. This provides a broader and more compassionate understanding of emotional wellbeing while guiding therapy that is practical, collaborative and tailored to each individual.

Biology

Our bodies and nervous systems profoundly influence how we think, feel and respond to life's challenges. Sleep, physical health, nutrition, movement, medication, hormones and the body's stress response all contribute to emotional wellbeing. Modern neuroscience increasingly recognises that healing involves both mind and body.

Psychology

Our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, memories and habits shape the way we experience ourselves and the world. Some of these patterns support wellbeing, while others may once have helped us cope but no longer serve us well. Therapy helps develop greater emotional flexibility, resilience, self-understanding and self-compassion.

Relationships

Human beings develop through relationships. From infancy onwards our brains, emotions and sense of self are shaped through our interactions with parents, partners, families, friends and communities. Supportive relationships help us regulate emotions, build confidence and experience a sense of emotional safeness. The therapeutic relationship itself provides a respectful, collaborative environment in which healing and personal growth can occur.

Social Context

Our wellbeing is also influenced by the wider circumstances of our lives. Family, work, education, financial pressures, community, culture and significant life events all affect mental health. Understanding these broader influences often helps people make sense of their experiences and identify practical ways of moving towards a healthier and more meaningful life.

Every person's circumstances are unique. Therapy is therefore never about fitting people into a predetermined model. Instead, we work together to understand the whole person and develop an approach that best supports their wellbeing and the life they wish to build.

How We Work

Therapy at Thinking Healthy is informed by contemporary research together with extensive clinical experience.

Rather than relying on a single therapeutic model, different approaches are thoughtfully integrated according to each person's needs and circumstances.

Compassion Focused Therapy

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) provides the overarching framework for much of this work. As a biopsychosocial, relational approach, it draws on evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, affective neuroscience and contemporary understandings of emotion regulation. It helps people understand why distress develops and how compassion can strengthen resilience, emotional regulation and lasting wellbeing.

Interpersonal Neurobiology

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) helps explain how the brain, body and relationships continually influence one another throughout life. It provides a scientific understanding of how emotional wellbeing develops and why healthy relationships are central to resilience.

Relational Practice

Relationships influence every stage of human development. Whether working with individuals or couples, therapy recognises that lasting wellbeing is often supported through healthier relationships, improved communication, emotional safeness and a greater sense of connection and belonging.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) provides practical strategies for recognising and changing unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour. Within this practice it is integrated with Compassion Focused Therapy and other evidence-based approaches.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness develops greater awareness of thoughts, emotions and bodily experience. Drawing on MBSR and MBCT, mindfulness strengthens emotional regulation, reduces stress and supports everyday wellbeing.

Attachment and Trauma-Informed Practice

Early relationships and difficult life experiences can profoundly influence emotional wellbeing. Therapy provides a safe and respectful environment in which these experiences can be understood and integrated.

Gottman Method Relationship Therapy

For couples, John also draws on the Gottman Method, one of the world's leading research-based approaches to relationship counselling. It provides practical strategies for strengthening friendship, communication and conflict management within the broader relational philosophy that guides the practice.

Services

Individual Counselling

Support for anxiety, depression, stress, grief, trauma, emotional regulation, self-criticism, life transitions and personal growth.

Relationship Counselling

Helping couples strengthen communication, deepen friendship, resolve conflict and build healthier relationships.

Mindfulness and Compassion

Developing practical skills for emotional regulation, resilience, self-compassion and everyday wellbeing.

Group Programs

Educational and experiential programs in mindfulness, compassion, relationship education and emotional wellbeing are offered throughout the year.

Working Together

Every person's story is unique.

Therapy is therefore collaborative, practical and tailored to your individual circumstances rather than following a predetermined program.

Our work commonly unfolds in three stages.

Finding Steadiness

Reducing distress, understanding what is happening and strengthening emotional regulation.

Understanding the Underlying Difficulties

Working together to understand the biological, psychological, relational and social factors contributing to present difficulties.

Building Lasting Wellbeing

Strengthening resilience, relationships, emotional flexibility and the capacity to live a meaningful and fulfilling life.

A simple way to begin is:

"Let's meet for a few sessions and see what happens. Together we'll decide whether this feels useful and whether we're the right fit."

Appointments

Appointments are available for individuals, couples and groups.

Consultations are offered in person in Alexandra and online via Telehealth throughout Australia.

Contact

John Julian

Email: john.julian56@gmail.com

Mobile: 0439 901 795

Joanna Walz

Email: jo.stressreduction@gmail.com

Mobile: 0439 069 190