About Ava
Ava Christie is an AASW counsellor based in Australia who supports adults feeling overwhelmed, anxious, grieving, or stuck. She works with people coping with relationship difficulty, trauma and abuse, depression, and times of identity shift. Ava writes plainly and meets clients where they are without pressure to have everything figured out.
She uses a trauma-informed and holistic approach that brings together body-focused work and psychological methods. Somatic approaches are part of her practice and can help people reconnect with bodily signals and calm physical reactions to stress.
Background and approach
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and attachment-informed ideas often shape how she and a client set goals and make sense of patterns in relationships. Ava frames sessions as collaborative and reflective. Conversations aim for clarity and emotional processing rather than quick fixes.
She helps people notice patterns like shame, dissociation, or isolation, and then practises changes that fit everyday life. With ten years of experience, Ava emphasises respect for each person’s culture, identity, and story. She addresses additional themes such as fertility worries, family of origin issues, eating and food-related concerns, and feelings of emptiness or guilt.
Sessions move at a pace chosen by the client. People who choose Ava can expect warm, grounded listening, practical steps drawn from mindfulness and existential ideas, and attention to how the body holds difficult experience. To begin, clients follow the site’s matching and scheduling process to arrange a first appointment.
How somatic and acceptance approaches work online
Ava often blends somatic work with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and attachment-informed ideas. Somatic work focuses on noticing bodily sensations and how they relate to emotions, which can help with tension, panic and dissociation. ACT helps people clarify what matters, practise acceptance of difficult feelings, and take small steps towards a chosen life. Attachment-informed approaches look at how early relationship patterns influence current reactions and communication.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work together with each person to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. That collaboration can include trying different techniques and adjusting them as needed.
The biography does not specify which online formats are used, so confirm the available session options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions around work or family commitments, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It also makes it possible to continue work when living far from Melbourne or when attending from different parts of Australia.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns does she help with?
What is her style of therapy?
How much experience does she have?
What are her credentials and where is she based?
Which languages are supported and can international clients attend?
What session formats are available?
How are fees and payment handled?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Co-morbidity
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Fertility issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English