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is your teenager thriving or surviving?
Feeling stuck?
Lonely, Anxious, isolated and directionless?
As a parent, you want to provide your child with the best support possible. When life brings challenging transitions like school changes, family conflicts, or puberty, child and teen counselling services are an invaluable resource.
Lukas Winward works with teens, young adults and their families.
In my experience, making Counselling less intimidating and more approachable is going to give me the best opportunity to connect and connection is the biggest predictor for positive change. Counselling does not have to happen in an office. It also does not have to be an arduous task, using humour, engaging activities and different environments can keep people engaged in the process.
Lukas Winward Counselling works with teenager boys and teenage girls in Melbourne Bayside area (Hampton, Beaumaris, Blackrock, Highett) and City of Kingston (Cheltenham, Mentone, Parkdale, Mordialloc, Aspendale) dealing with a range of issues including:
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Addiction (gaming, phones/devices, drugs and alcohol, smoking, pornography, gambling and more)
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Anxiety
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Suicide Ideation
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Self Harm
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Grief & Loss
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School Refusal
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Parental issues
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Capacity building
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Pathways and Career Counselling
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Depression
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Failure to Launch
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Friendships
HOW I WORK
Behavioural Issues:
Behavioural Issues can be very challenging to deal with and understand, often our behaviour showcases our underlying issues. Makes sense, right? When we feel out of control, our behaviour naturally shifts and changes. There are countless reasons for these changes—environmental factors, diet, social conditions, lack of coping strategies, mental health diagnoses, or trauma and complex experiences, to name a few.
Understanding this, it’s clear to me that therapy needs to be tailored to address the root cause. My goal is to make accessing therapy easier, not harder. This is why I come to you, where you are comfortable. For some, a calm office setting where they can talk things through works perfectly. But for others, especially those who find it hard to sit still or feel uneasy in traditional therapy settings—such as individuals with ADHD—a more active approach can make all the difference.
Coping Strategies:
Being out in the real world provides the best opportunity to develop and practice coping strategies. So often there is something that makes us anxious or stressed, why not work on that in real time with someone on your team, someone you feel safe with and who you know has your back? This is where an active counselling approach shines.
Building Capacity:
Addressing behavioural issues and building coping strategies is naturally building your capacity at the same time. There are so many opportunities to push, challenge, learn and grow and focusing on behaviour and coping strategies allows us to address those underlying issues that can create the behaviour that may be holding us back. Is it Anxiety, Stress, Languishing (a general sense of blah, not anxiety, not depression, very apathetic, no motivation), Depression, Loneliness, ADHD, ASD, Addiction?
Loneliness/Social Isolation:
Are you or someone you know experiencing Loneliness? There is an epidemic of loneliness in our society. This has been exacerbated by covid and the effects are lingering. So who does this affect? 25% of 15-24 yr olds are experiencing social isolation with 17% experiencing loneliness. This is not ok. Our young people are not flourishing, they are suffering and they are suffering on their own. Feeling like they cannot call anyone for help, feeling a sense of loss of hope. Where does this lead?
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Mental Illness
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Emotional Distress
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Suicide Ideation
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Self-Harm
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Poor health choices/ Alcohol, Drugs, Porn, Diabetes, Obesity.
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Premature death
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Lack of motivation/discipline
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Worse job outcomes/opportunities
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Compromised immune systems
ABOUT
Lukas
Lukas is a qualified counsellor registered with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) level 4 who has extensive experience working with young people and adults.
He has worked with teenagers in schools, TAFE (VCAL), Apprentices, NDIS (capacity building), ChildFIRST, Tuning into Kids facilitation, crisis supporter (phone support line) and victims of crime.
our approach
In my experience, making Counselling less intimidating and more approachable is going to give me the best opportunity to connect and connection is the biggest predictor for positive change. Counselling does not have to happen in an office. It also does not have to be an arduous task, using humour, engaging activities and different environments can keep people engaged in the process.
Counselling is
gym for the mind
People generally don’t think twice about accessing a gym or talking about different gym routines or exercises. However, this cannot be said with regards to accessing therapy or talking about mental health. It seems that talking about our physical health is not so stigmatising as talking about our psychological health.
Counselling doesn’t have to be done in a chair in an office. Lukas Winward Counselling uses an active approach and finds that physical activity like walking and talking, shooting a basketball, kicking a footy can be very effective. The body naturally releases endorphins when you are moving and physical activity is an important step to create positive change particularly with young people.
mobile counselling
Lukas Winward delivers professional, empathetic Counselling services right to your door step, ensuring you recieve the support that you need in the environment where you feel most at ease.
COUNSELLING
TELEHEALTH
Tele-health uses video conferencing, audio conferencing or your phone to connect.
An advantage to online therapy is it's highly accessible. It eliminates the need for travel time, which can make a significant difference for a wide range of people juggling various challenges or commitments in their daily lives.
PATHWAYS and career plan
Over 2 sessions Lukas will work with you to plan, set and achieve your educational and career goals.
He can provide support tailored specifically to each individual, based on their own personal strengths and unique skillset. With our help, you can learn about what makes you unique and how that fits into the workforce.
how it works
We’ll start with an initial 15 min FREE consultation, so that we can get to know each other and get a feel for whether we would make a good team. If we both feel it's a good match we'll schedule in your first session where we’ll talk about the challenges you are facing now in your life and your objectives.
The big issues young People are facing
The Golfing Counsellor
Lukas Winward is also the founder of The Golfing Counsellor, an innovative therapy experience that combines the therapeutic benefits of counselling with the tranquility of golf. This unique approach allows clients to engage in their counselling sessions amidst the calming backdrop of a golf course, promoting mental well-being through physical activity and nature.
For more information or to schedule a session, please visit
Featured in:
Convenient At-Home counselling Sessions
In Lukas' experience, attending an office to see a Counsellor can be very intimidating and can be a barrier for some people seeking support. This is the reason he offers outreach. He prefers to meet people where they are comfortable, on their turf whether it is at your house, a basketball court, going for a walk and talk, a café, whatever environment suits you best. If you have a child at school, he can work with that school and (if the school agrees) can see them at their school.
This also helps Lukas link in with other support people at the school, build relationships, be on the ground where the issues may be occurring. He offers outreach for City of Kingston and Bayside area of Melbourne and is open to discussion if you are outside these zones.
Pathways and careers
As a parent, you want the best for your children, but sometimes it can be difficult to know the best guidance and support to provide, especially when trying to navigate apprenticeships, higher education and VCE/VCAL requirements.
That's where Lukas Winward Counselling comes in; he is dedicated to helping young people plan, set and achieve their educational and career goals. In fact, it's his favourite conversations to have, it is all about hope, dreams and goals.
During his time working with secondary students/ apprentices and adults, he has supported hundreds of people to get into the course/career that they are interested in. He offers CV/ key selection criteria writing as well as interview skills.
Across two sessions Lukas will help you create a tailored plan specifically to each individual, based on their own personal strengths and unique skillset. With our help, they can learn about what makes them unique and how that fits into the workforce.
Young people
Being a young person has always had its challenges, adolescence can be a very challenging time and knowing how to best support your child can be difficult.
The recent lockdowns have had a significant impact on us all but especially teenagers who thrive on their personal relationships, who want to build their independence and it has left a lot of them feeling a new term, “Languishing” defined as a general sense of blah, not happy, not sad, just meh.
Our young people are also managing the normal things we experienced, hormonal changes, peer pressure, heartache etc with the added complexity of social media, access to porn, access to more information than the world has ever seen, pandemics and war.
To say there is a lot going on here is an understatement, so how best to support your child? If you are seeing any warning signs, your gut is telling you something is off, just not right, contact Lukas for a free chat and we will take it from there.
OUR SERVICES
Our Services
15 min
Free
Read MoreA 60min session at a place where you are most comfortable. That might be at a park or at home.
1 hr
180 Australian dollars
1 hr
165 Australian dollars
Read More2 x 60min sessions for $250 to map how to get to the career you want. Book your 1st session today!
1 hr
250 Australian dollars
2 hr
$180/hour + golf fee
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Do you offer after hours service?Yes he does! Lukas is available until 8pm on certain days and has sessions on weekends. Head to the bookings page to see his availability or send him an email to discuss if you want to meet before school.
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What is outreach and why don’t you have an office?Outreach means that Lukas will come to you. Through his years of experience working with teens and families, Lukas believes that the issues in your life are not in an office (which can be intimidating), they may be at home, school or work and when you are in your environment people tend to feel more relaxed and in charge.
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Why do you operate in the Bayside area and City of Kingston?Lukas and his family moved into the area in 2022 and he is passionate about supporting young people and families in his local area. This focus also allows Lukas to link in with local services, sporting clubs and other businesses in the area.
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I think I’m ok, do I need to see a counsellor?The best time to work with someone is when they are feeling good. Just like going to the gym, if you want strong muscles you need to practice. Being mentally strong requires the same effort and focus.
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Why don’t you offer Medicare rebates?Counsellors are not covered by the Medicare scheme at this time. Medicare covers Psychologists and Social Workers for a set number of sessions, you then pay the gap fee before seeking another referral. Lukas can provide ongoing support without the need for GP referrals.
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Do you work with adults as well?Absolutely. Lukas is happy to support anyone of any age. Lukas can meet you at home, café/park near work, wherever you feel comfortable.
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Is my information confidential?Yes. Lukas is a member of the Australian Counselling Association and as such works under the ethical guidelines laid out on their website https://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA-Code-of-Ethics-and-Practice-Ver16.pdf Lukas keep case notes, they are your information and you can look at them at any time of your choosing. As part of Lukas’ membership he is required to do 10 supervision sessions annually with another counsellor who oversees his practice and challenges him on his ideas and professional practice. Lukas will discuss clients with his supervisor (de-identified) to ensure he is providing the best support possible.
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What do I talk about?It is up to you. Lukas uses Person Centred Counselling which means that the sessions are client led. If you feel uncomfortable at any stage, talk it out with Lukas, it is part of the process.
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Do I need a referral or Mental Health Care plan?The short answer is No, you do not. Just shoot Lukas an email, inquire through the website or give him a call for a free consultation.
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What do I need to do before the initial session?The first session can feel a little weird, talking to someone you do now know about deep personal issues. You only talk about what you want to talk about. It can be a good idea to write down some key points so that you do not forget.
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I’ve never seen a counsellor before; how does it work?Once you make contact, Lukas will make a time and call you for an initial consultation to see if you are a good match. So much of the counselling process is dependent on a good relationship being formed. You need to feel comfortable and have a connection.
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Are you qualified?Yes, Lukas studied a Diploma and Bachelor of Counselling. Being a member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Lukas is required to complete 10 hrs of supervision and 25 points of professional development annually to retain his level 4 status (more than 100 hrs supervision and 1000 client hrs). For more info about his professional development click here https://www.lukaswinwardcounselling.com.au/professional-development