Welcome

Hi and welcome, 

I am Gena, the founder and an ACA Registered Counsellor here at Round House.  I have been working in the Human Services sector for almost 15 years now, and prior to that I spent 10 years in business management, with side hustles in youth sports coaching/mentoring. 

It was through my side hustles working with youth, 25 years ago (ahh reality check moment right there!), that I grew a passion for helping youth make sense of the challenges they were facing, by providing non-judgemental spaces for them to feel seen and heard.  I commenced formal studies into Counselling and Child Youth and Family Intervention at that point, with a vision to eventually turn my side hustles into my career, which I was fortunate enough to do. 

For the past 15 years in a professional space, I have been blessed to share the highs and help navigate the lows for countless young people and families, and that passion has never dulled. 

Like a lot of  professionals in helping sectors, my entry into the field came from a place of personal experiences, and wanting to be able to provide for people, the things I needed in my lowest, toughest and darkest times.  What we learn in the sector is that you have to do a lot of SELF-WORK....ALL...THE...TIME... to ensure longevity, and that you are providing emotional safety for the people we are fortunate enough to have share their most vulnerable selves with. 

Whilst my passion never dulled, I did hit burnout over 7 years ago, and needed to re-evaluate my future in Counselling and working with our communities most vulnerable.  I knew that my passion for making space for youth and families was still very much my purpose in life, so I needed to learn how to not only recover from burnout, but also manage my own wellness to ensure that I didn't experience this again.  

It was during recovery that I expanded on my formal qualifications and completed additional studies in Clinical Nutrition for mental health, expressive Art Therapy and spiritual studies in Buddhist and Shamanic principles.  Essentially I  had created a Wellness Plan for my own recovery purposes, and have been able to transfer that same process over to the clients I work with and team members I have had the pleasure to supervise.  

Ensuring that Mental, Physical and Spiritual practices are in balance is so important in fostering our WELLNESS and ability to navigate and deal with the highs and lows that this unpredictable world dishes out to us. 

Something I live by and say to many who have faced hardships and challenges, is "It is not what you are dealt, but how you deal with it, that will define who you are as a person...so who do you want to be? Then let's make a plan to be that person and have that life."