Beginning therapy can take courage. Whether you are navigating anxiety, relationship challenges, life transitions, or the lasting effects of stress or trauma, reaching out for support can feel vulnerable.
About
"By integrating EMDR, TIST-informed parts work and Hypnotherapy, I help clients create change at conscious, subconscious and nervous-system levels - supporting deeper and more lasting transformation than insight alone."
About Me
Over the years, I have come to believe something quite simple:
People make sense.
Even the patterns that cause the most distress—anxiety, self-criticism, emotional overwhelm, people-pleasing, shutdown, unwanted habits or feeling stuck—often began as intelligent attempts to cope, adapt or survive.
When we understand our struggles through this lens, shame begins to soften. What once felt like evidence that something is wrong with us can start to make sense as part of our story.
This understanding sits at the heart of my work.
I am an accredited clinical counsellor, psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist based in Far North Queensland, offering therapy in Cairns, Kuranda and online throughout Australia.
Before moving into private practice, I spent many years working in frontline crisis support, education and school guidance counselling. These experiences taught me something that continues to inspire my work today: people are often far more resilient than they realise, particularly when they feel genuinely seen, understood and supported.
My approach is grounded in contemporary neuroscience and the growing understanding that healing involves more than simply talking about our experiences. While insight is important, many of the patterns we struggle with are held not only in conscious awareness, but also within the nervous system, the body and the subconscious mind.
We now know that experiences can leave lasting imprints on how we think, feel, relate and respond to the world around us. The good news is that the brain remains capable of change throughout life. Healing is possible.
This is why I integrate several complementary approaches, including EMDR, Trauma-Informed Stabilisation Treatment (TIST) and RTT Clinical Hypnotherapy.
Together, these approaches allow us to work with healing from multiple directions.
EMDR helps the brain process experiences that may still be carrying emotional charge.
TIST helps us understand and relate differently to the protective parts of ourselves that may be working hard to keep us safe.
RTT Clinical Hypnotherapy helps access the deeper subconscious beliefs, emotional learnings and automatic patterns that often operate outside conscious awareness.
Combined with nervous system-informed and somatic approaches, this creates a unique therapeutic process that works not only with what you know, but also with what your mind and body have learned through experience.
Many clients tell me that before therapy they spent years understanding their difficulties intellectually, yet still found themselves repeating the same patterns. This is often because insight alone doesn't always reach the deeper systems where those patterns were first established.
My aim is to help bridge that gap.
Whether you are navigating trauma, anxiety, grief, burnout, relationship difficulties, low self-worth, unwanted habits or simply a sense that life could feel easier than it currently does, therapy offers an opportunity to move beyond survival and toward greater freedom, connection and choice.
I don't believe people need fixing.
I believe people need understanding.
And when understanding is combined with safety, compassion and the right therapeutic approach, remarkable change can occur.
Qualifications & Professional Memberships
Tristan A. Henderson, BA (Lit), BEd, MEd (Guid & Couns), Cert. Clin. Hyp., MACA (Level 4), ARCAP Reg., MEMDRAA, RegTe.
Master of Guidance and Counselling
Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Arts (Literature)
Certified RTT Clinical Hypnotherapy
Certified Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Practitioner
Certified in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Trained by Janina Fisher in Trauma-Informed Stabilisation Treatment (TIST) Level 1
Level 1 & 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy
Trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Accredited Mental Health First Aid
Certificate in Research-Based Emotional Freedom Technique (RBEFT)
Member EMDR Association of Australia (MEMDRAA)
Member, Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (ARCAP)
Member, Australian Counselling Association (ACA) - Level 4
Registered Member, Queensland College of Teachers
I adhere to professional ethical standards and engage in regular supervision to ensure safe, responsible and evidence-based care.
Therapeutic Philosophy
Many of the patterns that bring people to therapy were once adaptive responses to stress or adversity. I work from a non-pathologising perspective, recognising the intelligence of the nervous system and the resilience inherent in each person.
I believe strongly in the human capacity for change - neuroplasticity has shown that our brains remain adaptable throughout life, and with the right support, its’s possible to shift long-standing patterns and responses.
Therapy becomes a process of expanding choice - gently, thoughtfully and at a pace that supports lasting wellbeing.
My understanding of trauma is not only academic. I have lived experience of significant trauma and of serious illness that affected my capacity to function. Recovery required more than intellectual insight. It involved gradual nervous system repair, careful pacing, and a holistic approach that integrated mind and body.
That experience informs my work in a grounded and measured way. It reinforces my belief that the body can hold the imprint of stress and that, with the right support, it can also relearn safety and stability.
Healing does not need to be dramatic to be real. It can be steady, structured, and deeply restorative.
Modalities Within an Integrated Framework
Depending on your goals and history, therapy may draw on:
Integrative counselling and psychotherapy
EMDR for reprocessing unresolved memory networks
Clinical hypnotherapy (RTT®) for belief-level restructuring
Nervous system regulation and parts-informed approaches, including somatic and sensorimotor techniques, skills-based stabilisation, mindfulness and practical strategies to support emotional regulation
These approaches are not competing methods, but complementary tools within a coherent, trauma-informed framework tailored to your needs.
Research indicates that counselling and both EMDR and clinical hypnotherapy can be delivered effectively via secure Telehealth, making online sessions a viable and structured option where in-person attendance is not possible.Practice Context
In Cairns, I practise face-to-face within the Shine Strong Psychology environment, a collaborative and trauma-informed setting centrally located near Cairns Central Shopping Centre. I also offer sessions in Kuranda and online for those seeking flexibility or a quieter location.
If you are thinking about therapy, you do not need to have everything articulated before we begin - only a willingness to take the next step.
Invitation
If you are considering moving forward, the next step is to make contact via the Contact page.
From there, you may request a phone call to explore whether we are a suitable fit and which approach may be most appropriate for your circumstances.
The call is a brief, focused conversation designed to answer initial questions and clarify direction. It is not a therapy session, but an opportunity to ensure alignment before beginning.
You may also choose to proceed directly to booking a full session if you prefer.
You do not need to have everything clearly defined before reaching out.
"The question isn't 'What's wrong with you?' but 'What happened to you, and how did you learn to survive it?'"