I know the cycle of searching for ways to feel better and to do better, and then guilt or shame creeps in, when it doesn’t last.
Maybe you have tried to problem-solve your way through anxiety, overthinking, or exhaustion.
You are not alone in feeling this way. I have been there too.
Hello, I am Smitha
She/Her
I’m a trauma therapist based in Shepparton, offering online counseling across Australia using EMDR and somatic approaches.
My Therapy Journey
Ten years ago, some days looked like this for me: rushed mornings with two young kids, yelling and guilt heavy in the car as I drove to work. At the hospital I slipped into my professional gown as a social worker and carried other people’s struggles.
Evenings ended with emotional leftovers, exhaustion, a screen to zone out, and a list of what I hadn’t done.
Therapy helped for a while, but old cycles returned. When the shame hit, it carried a second layer: the thought that I could not even do therapy properly.
Then I met a somatic therapist who invited me to go beyond words, to connect safely with my body and its wisdom. Breath and body anchored me, the whirlpool of thoughts cleared and problem solving became easier.
Later I studied EMDR and experienced it as a client. Relational Integrative EMDR gave me more expansion inside and opened space for spirituality.
I began to feel connected again with myself, my family, my friends, and nature.
My Becoming
Now, when overthinking arrives, I notice and respond rather than being hijacked. I listen to my body, let myself rest, and adjust plans based on what I need. It keeps getting easier.
Professional & Personal Roots
I am an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and EMDR therapist.
My career spans hospital, community, and private practice. I offer trauma therapy, somatic therapy, and spirituality-inclusive sessions online and in Shepparton.
I am a South Indian migrant woman of colour, fat, cisgender, heterosexual, and a parent of teenagers.
My lived experience includes trauma, chronic pain, postnatal depression, and migration—as well as privileges like stable housing, education, and middle-class income.
These shape how I see the world and how I show up in sessions with you.
My Philosophy & Approach
Therapy isn’t a quick fix or a single path. The relationship is the real catalyst for change, and needs are ongoing.
Modalities shift, and what helps can change over time. What works for you can change, and that’s okay.
Healing happens in the space between therapist and client—beyond protocols and modalities, in connection and intuition.
Nothing you’ve tried is wasted. Every practice and attempt has its place. I believe you already hold pieces of the puzzle.
Our bodies, nervous systems, and intuition hold wisdom that helps us reconnect and heal.
If you’re feeling exhaustion, overthinking, or shame, we can make sense of it together.
I honour your courage. The hardest step is often the first, and you’ve already taken it by being here.
Let's take the next step together, at your pace.
Book a Session or Free Q & A Call below.
My qualifications & professional memberships
Master of Social Work
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker
Certified TIST Therapist
Full Member of EMDR Association of Australia
Registered NDIS Provider for Therapeutic Supports
Registered Medicare Provider for mental health support (Focused Psychological Strategies)
Crisis & 24/7 Mental Health Support
If you are in crisis or at risk, please contact (Australia):
Emergency: 000
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Your local Mental Health Triage
If you are in the Goulburn Valley region, support is also available via Mental Health Triage:1300 369 005
(All above numbers are 24/7)
If you are seeking support but not in crisis (Australia):
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 (24/7 support)
Griefline: 1300 845 745 (8am–8pm, 7 days/week)
Parent Line (Victoria) :13 22 89 (8am–midnight, 7 days/week)
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 (24/7 support for ages 5–25)
Safe Steps (Family Violence): 1800 015 188 (24/7 family violence response)
1800 RESPECT (Sexual Assault/DV) : 1800 737 732 (24/7 national sexual assault/domestic violence)
I, as a South Indian woman, owner and practitioner of Serenity Counselling and Consulting Services acknowledges the Yorta Yorta people as the Traditional Custodians of the unceded land, waters and community where I live and work. I acknowledge the tribes of Aboriginal people who lost their connection to the land, waters and community during colonisation.
I extend my respect to the Ancestral wisdom, as well as Elders past, present and emerging. I also pay my respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people visiting this website and accessing service via Serenity Counselling and Consulting Services.
I strive to provide a space that is inclusive of your disability, neurodivergence, diverse bodies, participants from LGBTIQASBP+ communities , race, skin colour, and ethnicity where your lived experience is valued, your voice is heard and respected. I am committed to offer a space where your strengths and expertise is celebrated. I am committed to continue my process of unlearning of internalised -isms and learning from lived experience voices.
I am dedicated to offer a space that is evolving with listening and reflecting of experiences of participants that I have a the honour of working with, colleagues that generously shares their wisdom as well as the teachers I have the privilege of learning from.
Serenity Counselling & Consulting Services
A lit lantern space for the weary, inviting you back to yourself.
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