Psychotherapy

Dr Patricia Ortiz is an AHPRA-registered Osteopath and PACFA-registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist with advanced training and extensive experience in childhood trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD.

She takes an integrative approach to mental health, combining her expertise in both physical and psychological therapies to provide holistic, neuroscience-informed, and personalised care. By addressing the mind, body, and nervous system together, she supports deeper and longer-lasting healing.

Dr Ortiz offers both online and in-person sessions, making therapy accessible and flexible to suit individual needs.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy provides a safe, compassionate, and non-pathologising space for clients to explore mental health and emotional challenges with the support of a trained professional. Rather than viewing difficulties as signs of “something wrong”, psychotherapy recognises them as understandable responses to life experiences.

It is a collaborative process, where therapist and client work together to uncover patterns shaped by both past and present circumstances. Through this process, clients are supported to understand themselves more deeply, develop practical strategies for managing difficult emotions and triggers, and strengthen their capacity to cope with life’s challenges.

Psychotherapy is not only about addressing difficulties — it is also about building on each client’s inherent strengths, fostering resilience, and creating lasting positive change in how they relate to themselves, others, and the world around them.

Integrative psychotherapy can help with:

  • Support with trauma: including PTSD, complex PTSD, childhood and developmental trauma, sexual trauma or assault, flashbacks, panic attacks, and phobias.

  • Emotional challenges: anxiety, depression, grief and loss, low self-esteem, anger, and unresolved shame or guilt.

  • Body–mind issues: chronic pain, pain linked to traumatic events, and the physical effects of stress and trauma.

  • Behavioural and relational difficulties: addictions, ADHD, relationship difficulties, and challenges with trust or intimacy.

  • Belief and identity patterns: struggles with self-worth, feelings of not being good enough, self-criticism or self-loathing, and limiting beliefs that hold you back.

  • Blocks to progress and achievement: procrastination, difficulty reaching goals, challenges with motivation, and struggles in creating or sustaining financial stability or success.

  • And more: psychotherapy can be tailored to address a wide range of mental health and emotional concerns.

Some approaches and Therapies I Draw Upon:

Trauma-Focused Psychotherapies

  • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

  • Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)

  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)

  • Brainspotting

  • Havening Technique

  • Attachment-Based Therapies

  • Parts Work (including inner child and sub-personality work)

Body- and Somatic-Based Approaches

  • Body Psychotherapy

  • Craniosacral Therapy

  • Gestalt Therapy (body-oriented methods)

Functional & Integrative Health

  • Functional Medicine

  • Chinese Medicine concepts

Cognitive and Integrative Models

  • CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

  • Schema Therapy

  • NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)

  • Strength-Based Approaches

  • Process Work

Neuroscience and Regulation

  • Applied Neuroscience

  • Polyvagal Theory

Hypnosis and Related Approaches

  • Clinical Hypnosis / Ericksonian Hypnosis

If you are unsure if this approach is suitable for you, please get in touch with me here.

Why an Integrative Approach?

Because no single approach has all the answers, I work within an integrative framework. This means I do not rigidly adhere to one method — instead, I draw from a wide range of evidence-based therapies to create a process that truly fits you.

Every person’s history and needs are unique, and so is their therapy. By blending techniques and perspectives, I can adapt to what best supports you at each stage of your journey. This flexibility ensures your therapy is personalised, responsive, and effective — helping you move towards healing in a way that feels authentic and sustainable for you.

My Approach

With over 30 years of experience across health, mental health, and the corporate sector, I have developed a unique and practical approach that brings together the most effective elements from diverse therapeutic traditions. My work is neuroscience-informed and grounded in the latest research on how trauma affects the nervous system, the body, and the mind.

I don’t believe therapy needs to take years. My focus is on being objective, efficient, and results-oriented, while still deeply compassionate. I move beyond traditional talk therapy by integrating brain-based, body-based, and functional medicine approaches. This allows me to address trauma on multiple levels — the mind, the nervous system, and the biochemistry — offering a truly holistic path to healing.

Because no single method has all the answers, I draw from a wide range of evidence-based modalities. Some of the most influential in my work include Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), EMDR, somatic and body-based therapies, functional medicine, the Biobalance Protocol, applied neuroscience, and attachment- and polyvagal-informed approaches.

My role is not only to listen with care and respect, but to work alongside you in an active, collaborative way:

  • Gently challenging unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that keep you stuck.

  • Helping you process trauma and its effects on your body, brain, and emotions — while exploring the opportunities for healing and growth that change makes possible.

  • Supporting you to rewire your brain and shift behaviours that have developed from past trauma.

  • Encouraging responsibility and accountability where it empowers transformation.

  • Bringing awareness to your posture, pain, and tension, and what they reveal about stored trauma — while guiding you towards greater ease and balance.

  • Helping you reconnect with meaning and purpose, so that healing becomes a journey not just of recovery, but also of fulfilment.

This integrative, compassionate, and practical approach ensures that therapy is not a passive process, but a collaborative journey tailored to your individuality — always with the aim of achieving real, lasting change.

What to Expect in an Psychotherapy Session

First Session – A few days before your first session, you will complete a comprehensive intake form. I will review your medical history, past traumas and significant life events, and any relevant blood tests. This allows me to map out how we will structure your sessions together.

During the first appointment, we will discuss your goals, clarify what to expect, and outline the therapeutic process. If time permits, we will also begin with safety and stabilisation techniques to prepare you for deeper processing in future sessions.

Session Length – Your first session is 90 minutes, allowing plenty of time to explore your history, concerns, and goals in depth. Follow-up sessions are usually 60 or 90 minutes, giving us the space to talk, reflect, and work through experiences at a pace that feels unhurried and supportive.

A safe, supportive space – you set the pace. You will never be asked to share more than you feel comfortable with, and sessions are always guided by your needs. If you prefer not to go into details about what happened, that is absolutely fine. Sometimes it may be helpful to briefly acknowledge the nature of an event — for example, “I was abused by my uncle” or “I was attacked by my ex-husband” — but you are never required to describe the details unless you choose to.

Our focus will be on how the experience has affected you: how you feel about it, how the trauma lives in your body, the impact it has had on your life, and the beliefs you may hold about yourself as a result. In therapy, repeatedly revisiting the details of the past is not necessary — in fact, it can sometimes be retraumatising. Instead, our work together will centre on gently processing the trauma, helping your body and mind find resolution, and supporting you to move forward with greater safety and strength.

Collaborative planning - a team approach – Together, we will create a personalised plan for your healing journey, which may also include education and practical strategies to support you between sessions. Therapy works best as a partnership: I am fully committed to your wellbeing, and your active participation is just as important. This may involve journalling or note-taking, practising brief exercises, improving sleep hygiene, or, where appropriate, taking supplements such as vitamins. These small steps outside of sessions help strengthen and deepen the progress we make together.

Psychotherapy Fees

Initial session – $350
This includes a comprehensive new patient intake completed prior to your appointment, review of any relevant blood tests, and a 90-minute first session to begin our work together.

Follow-up sessions
• 60 minutes – $195
• 90 minutes – $290

If you are unsure if this approach is suitable for you, please get in touch with me here.