Fiona Price, Sydney Counsellor

14/10/2026

The Value of Counselling
1. A place to be heard without an agenda
Most conversations have a purpose — advice, problem-solving, reassurance. Counselling is rare because it has no agenda except you. For 60 minutes, someone is trained to listen not to reply, but to understand. That alone regulates the nervous system.

2. It makes sense of things, not just manages them
We don’t just ask how do we reduce the symptoms. We ask what makes sense about this response, given what you’ve lived through. When we understand anxiety, shutdown or perfectionism as intelligent ways you learned to stay safe, you get choice back.

3. It repairs through relationship
Many wounds happen in relationship, and they heal in relationship. A steady, boundaried, non-judgemental counselling relationship is a place to practice something new — saying the unsaid, setting a boundary, trusting again.

4. It is prevention, not just intervention
Counselling can work earlier — through grief, burnout, relationship breakdown, identity shifts — before they become crisis. That early relational care keeps people at work, in their families and in their communities.

5. It restores agency
I believe that good counselling doesn’t tell you what to do. You remain the expert on your life. My role is to bring the skills and the space so you can make decisions that fit your values.

6. It has community value
When one person gets support, the ripple is wide. A parent who can regulate supports a child who can learn. A partner who can communicate changes a household.

At its simplest, the value of counselling is this: it gives people a place to become more themselves, so they can live more fully with others.

It is not about being fixed. It is about being met.

Counselling is Allied Health. The relational part of healthcare.



AI assisted in writing this after I entered my ideas and values on counselling. It formatted and expanded those ideas.

14/10/2026

Family estrangement is more common than we talk about — and more painful than most realise.

38% of US adults are currently estranged from at least one family member (YouGov 2025) — 24% from a sibling, 16% from a parent, 10% from a child. found similar: ∼27% estranged from a relative. It’s 1 in 4 families.

I have lived experience of estrangement in my own family. I know what it’s like to say “We’re not close.”

Why it hurts has a name.

AMBIGUOUS LOSS (Pauline Boss) — loss without closure. The person is physically alive but psychologically absent. The door won’t latch. It swings open at birthdays and holidays.

DISENFRANCHISED GRIEF (Kenneth Doka) — grief that isn’t openly acknowledged. No funeral for a living family member. No card. You grieve alone.

It can feel like exhaustion, shame, relief + guilt in the same 5 minutes, and secondary losses — traditions, identity, community.

WHAT HELPS TO SAY

- Thank you for trusting me with that
- You made the best decision you could with what you had
- Grief doesn’t need a death to be real
- I’m here, no agenda to fix it

WHAT DOESN’T HELP

- “But they’re family!”
- “You’ll regret it when they’re gone”
- “He will come back” / “She’ll come around”
- “You have to forgive and forget”
- “What did YOU do?”
- Pushing reconciliation or a timeline

As a counsellor + MHFA Instructor, I don’t see estrangement as a moral failure. Often it’s a boundary after years of conflict, betrayal, or growing apart. Relief and grief can coexist.

What has helped you feel supported talking about estrangement?

MHFA

Lived experience, not clinical advice.
Drafted with AI support, my own words.

Support: Relationships Australia 1300 364 277 | Lifeline 13 11 14
Info: standalone.org.uk

14/10/2026

It’s called “cancer ghosting” — when friends or relatives pull away after a diagnosis.

It’s painful when it happens. Sometimes it’s fear, awkwardness, not wanting to say the wrong thing, so people say nothing at all.

In 2022 I had my own cancer scare. The big “C” word was hard to fathom.

Cancer Council estimates almost 1 in 2 Australians will be diagnosed by 85. Almost all of us will love someone who goes through it.

As a counsellor + MHFA Instructor, people ask what to actually SAY. I point to Cancer Council’s guidance:

WHAT HELPS
- Really listen
- “Sometimes bad things happen to good people”
- Keep inviting them, let them say no last minute
- Small practical care — text, meal, help with jobs
- Treat them the same
- Talk about other things too, not just cancer

WHAT DOESN’T
- “Everything will be okay” / “How long do you have?”
- “I know exactly how you feel”
- Unsolicited advice, “stay positive”, prognosis questions, comparing stories

From my 7 weeks of waiting:
Core needle biopsy → 1 week wait → 4 weeks wait for op → 1 week for results.

My brain did not work. Locked keys in the house. Wrote “xx” on a work email. Couldn’t think straight.

What helped was practical support and people validating that testing itself is scary.

Saying “But it might not be cancer” — even well-meaning — didn’t feel supportive.

A positive: I faced my mortality and felt gratitude. Neither our life nor body parts are permanent.

Will I get summer swimming or be sick with chemo?

Once I sat with the fear and impermanence, my stress lowered.

It’s like being a counsellor. We don’t have to fix and cheer people up. It’s okay not to be okay.

What has helped you know what to say when someone you care about goes through this?



Lived experience, not medical advice.
cancer.org.au

12/10/2026

Free mental health resources + course dates READ HERE: https://lnkd.in/g2Sk4kYm

10/10/2026

Correction At Strathfield

06/10/2026

https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/nurse-diagnosed-with-anorexia-made-final-plea-for-better-treatment-of-eating-disorders-before-her-death/

05/10/2026

01/10/2026

Sydney & Online Mental Health First Aid courses BOOK HERE: https://fpmht.net