Looking back to your final year as a student (before starting your counselling career), what are the top three pieces of advice you’d give a new counsellor?

■ Participating in placement and having hands-on experience really enabled me to put theory in to practice. Doing this really taught me the use and importance of micro-skills in counselling and simply being present with the client, actively listening and being nonjudgemental.

■ Learning to trust your own instinct and follow the client’s lead during session.

■ Use as much supervision as you can to assist you both professionally and personally. Having lived experience – I have lived with heart failure my entire life – I feel I can relate to clients in understanding and trusting your own instinct.

■ I feel I can now relate with clients who have experienced some form of trauma in their lives. I am four months postheart transplant; I was on the waiting list for two months. I feel very blessed and grateful to the donor’s family. This has allowed me to continue my dreams to help others in need of mental health support. During my lifetime, I have always lived in the unknown – I learned to trust in the process and faith in myself (self-determination) and others that I will make it through.

■ I experienced what it is like to truly be vulnerable with others in times of need. This has given me more insight into what it could be like as a client. During my return to private practice in the coming months, I will be focusing lots on self-care and awareness.

■ The importance of being your authentic self during sessions with your client, and learning to be vulnerable. If we struggle with this, how can we expect our clients to be open with us?

What inspired you to be a counsellor? Would you change your decision to be one? Why or why not?

From adolescence, I always wanted to help people who were worse off than me. I was lucky enough to have stability growing up, with both parents happily married. During my school years, I often heard stories about other children who would have problems in their home environment, have behavioural problems or turn up late for class. This always interested me, as I knew they were struggling. After I left school, I went to TAFE and completed a Diploma of Community Services, and this was the start of my journey.

Over the following years, I enrolled and completed my Certificate/Diploma of Counselling. Since then, I have completed a Diploma of Child, Youth and Family Interventions. Finally, I graduated with my Master of Counselling in 2022, and started my private practice, Enchanted Treehouse Counselling, in 2023. I love learning in the field of children and young people and I wouldn’t change a thing. I am looking at furthering my studies to become a play therapist.

How do you describe the work you do?

I work with children and young people under 18 years of age and their families. I have a particular interest in using the following therapeutic modalities: sand play and symbol work, play therapy, ther-a-build (using Lego) and expressive therapies. I work with an array of areas depending on the client’s story. I love using a variety of therapeutic tools such as picture cards, story dice, magnetic letters, symbols, puppets, story books and much more. I like that children can come and play in a non-clinical environment that feels safe and fun for them.

Do you love your work? Why?

Children are often influenced by those around them about how they should play and act. Yet, too often in times of crisis or challenging events, we forget about the children and how they need to be guided through in a playful, non-threatening manner. That’s why I love what I do – I enjoy being able to provide psychoeducation to children at a level they can understand, through different modalities. Seeing children build confidence and find themselves over time warms my heart – nothing is better than watching a child exploring the therapy room, feeling comfortable to be themselves, and putting what they learned into practice.

About the counsellor

Jessica Beneke

Masters in Counselling 2021 from University of the Sunshine Coast.

Started private practice 2022, Enchanted Treehouse Counselling.

Hobbies: art and craft, reading, beach.