Adam Szmerling - PSYCHOTHERAPIST & FOUNDER OF BAYSIDE PSYCHOTHERAPY
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Adam Szmerling

Location(s): Melbourne, Bayside area, and online

Awards And Recognition

  • Golden Key Member
  • Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW)
  • Registered Clinical Psychotherapist, Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)

Owner and Founder: Bayside Psychotherapy

About Me:

I’m Adam Szmerling, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AASW) and Clinical Psychotherapist (PACFA) in Highett, in Melbourne’s Bayside area. I have more than 20 years of face to face therapy experience and 10 years of providing therapy online, working with individuals and couples through in-depth, insight-oriented talk therapy.

At Bayside Psychotherapy, which I founded, my approach is rooted in psychoanalysis, particularly the Lacanian tradition, and I also draw on schema therapy. Sessions look past surface symptoms to what keeps a problem going, including conflicts and wishes we are not fully aware of, so you can come to understand yourself more deeply.

You can read more about my work, fees and Medicare rebates, and book a session, on my Bayside Psychotherapy profile.

What I Do:

I work with adults and couples who want to understand why a problem keeps coming back. People see me about anxiety, depression, addictions, compulsive lying, porn and sex addiction, binge eating, bulimia, night eating and relationship difficulties. In regular sessions I encourage people to speak freely, so the conflicts underneath a symptom can come into view.

Therapeutic Methods:

  • Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (Lacanian Orientation): This method encourages free association to explore the connections between the conscious and unconscious mind. By listening attentively to your thoughts, fantasies, dreams, and slips of the tongue, I help you uncover and understand your deeper self.
  • Schema Therapy: Schema Therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that combines elements of cognitive therapy, attachment theory and psychodynamic therapy. It is designed to help individuals identify and modify deeply rooted maladaptive schemas: broad, pervasive themes or patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are often formed during childhood and persist into adulthood.

These schemas can negatively impact relationships, self-esteem, and overall mental health. Schema Therapy may be indicated for individuals with chronic psychological issues, personality disorders, and those who have not responded well to other forms of therapy.

Commitment to Professional Development:

I keep learning through ongoing training, particularly in mindfulness-based therapy for complex trauma and major depression, and in Buddhist psychotherapy. I also provide clinical supervision to other psychotherapists.

Online Therapy:

For those who prefer or require remote sessions, I offer secure and private online psychotherapy. Using a user-friendly telehealth platform, my clients can attend sessions from any private location with a stable internet connection, ensuring flexibility and accessibility.

Training and Background:

  • 1997: Clinical hypnotherapy training, Australian Academy of Hypnotic Science. I practised as a clinical hypnotherapist earlier in my career and no longer offer hypnotherapy.
  • 2006: Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Counselling), Australian College of Applied Professions (ACAP)
  • Graduate Diploma of Buddhist Psychotherapy, Sophia College
  • Master of Social Work, Deakin University
  • 2009: Founded Bayside Psychotherapy in Brighton; the practice moved to Highett in 2020.
  • 2021: Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AASW)
  • Certificate of Lacanian Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice
  • Registered Clinical Psychotherapist, PACFA

Media:

I comment on AI and mental health, compulsive lying, porn and sex addiction, compulsive shopping and night eating. Journalists can contact me at adam@baysidepsychotherapy.com.au.

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