You can't build from survival mode.
Helping high-functioning parents and long-term couples build the emotional capacity to create extraordinary lives.
At FORMI Therapy Co., we help you understand your patterns keeping you stuck, strengthen your relationships and create long-lasting change so you can feel calmer, more connected and fully present in the life you've worked so hard to build.
Capacity creates expansion.
Services
Individual therapy
You’ve become so good at holding everything together that no one realises you’re running on empty.
You don’t have to be falling apart to benefit from therapy. Many of the people I work with are high-functioning parents and professionals who look like they’re coping on the outside but feel overwhelmed, disconnected or exhausted underneath it all.
Individual therapy gives you the space to slow down, make sense of what’s been weighing you down and reconnect with yourself. Drawing on my experience as both a Registered Counsellor and Behaviour Practitioner, we’ll look beyond the surface-level challenges to understand the patterns driving your thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Understanding your patterns gives you the awareness, confidence and emotional capacity to create meaningful, lasting change.
Together, we’ll build practical strategies that help you navigate life with greater calm, connection and confidence, because when your capacity grows, everything else starts to change
Couples Therapy
Couples therapy is designed for partners who care about their relationship… but feel like something has shifted. From the outside, things might look fine. You’re managing life, work, parenting, and the day-to-day responsibilities. But underneath, there’s distance.
You might feel more like roommates than partners. Conversations turn into tension or shut down completely. Small things escalate, or important things don’t get said at all. You might find yourselves stuck in the same patterns: miscommunication, defensiveness, withdrawal — unsure how to move forward without it turning into another argument. Or maybe there’s been a rupture. A breakdown in trust, a period of disconnection, or a growing sense that you’re no longer on the same team. You don’t have to be at breaking point to seek support. If your relationship feels strained, disconnected, or harder than it used to, that’s reason enough.
Couples therapy gives you a space to slow things down and understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface. Together, we work to shift the patterns keeping you stuck, rebuild trust where it’s been impacted, and strengthen the way you communicate and respond to each other.
So, you can find your way back to each other.
About Sam
Sam is a Registered Therapist, Behaviour Practitioner, and trained Couples' Therapist with over a decade of experience working across child protection, domestic and family violence, homelessness, and behaviour support. She is based in the Hunter Valley and works with individuals and couples, supporting them to navigate overwhelm, strengthen relationships, and better understand behaviour and emotional patterns.
Sam has extensive experience supporting families through complex and high-stress situations, including crisis, burnout, and relational challenges. She is known for creating a space that is grounded, practical, and supportive, where people feel safe to show up as they are, without pressure to have everything figured out.
Her approach is holistic, trauma-informed, and centred around nervous system awareness. Sam works from the belief that people are not broken, they are often overwhelmed, disconnected, and carrying more than they were meant to carry alone. Her work focuses on helping humans regulate their nervous systems, understand behaviour, and shift the patterns that keep them feeling stuck.
Sam supports individuals across a range of areas, including burnout, anxiety, depression, grief, parenting challenges, relationship difficulties, self-esteem and confidence. She has a particular interest in working with high-functioning individuals who appear to be coping on the outside but feel overwhelmed underneath.
She uses a combination of evidence-based approaches, tailored to each person’s needs. Sam draws from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), attachment-based approaches, behaviour support frameworks, and nervous system-informed strategies to create practical and meaningful change.
Outside of her work, Sam is a mum to two teenage girls, a wife, and has been in a long-term relationship for over 20 years. Sam brings a bit of humor into sessions, because sometimes you need a giggle or some dark humor to get you through hard things. She's also walked through her own experiences with grief, parenting and the reality of raising teens - so when she tells you she "gets it", she actually does. Sam values connection, presence, movement, and creating a life that actually feels good - not one build on survival mode.
Qualifications & Professional Memberships:
Registered Level 2 - Australian Counselling Association (ACA)
Registered Positive Behaviour Practitioner (NDIS)
Graduate Certificate in Human Services
Diploma of Counselling
Diploma of Community Services
Bachelor of Social Science - Psychology (3rd year)
Certifications & Training:
Couples Therapy - Gottman Method; Level 1 & 2 (Gottman Institute)
Seasons for Growth, Good Grief (MacKillop)
Building new pathways - Polyvagal theory (Phil Bird Psychology)
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Trauma-Informed Care (Blue Knot Foundation)
Understanding young people’s development (CCWT)
Motivational interviewing (CCWT)
Managing aggressive and violent behaviors (CCWT)
Responding to Domestic and family violence; Education Centre Against Violence (ECAV)
Double Whammy, Co-occurring Mental health and AOD (CCWT)
Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program (WDVCAP)
Seconded Worker training; Legal aid
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Contact Us
FAQ
If I haven’t answered your question below please contact us - hello@formitherapyco.com.au
Please go to the ‘bookings’ tab to make a booking or email hello@formitherapyco.com.au
Hunter Valley, NSW Australia, however all appointments are currently virtual meaning you’re able to book a session regardless of your location. Australia wide.
Unfortunately, although counsellors contribute greatly to the mental health industry, Medicare rebates are not currently available for counselling services.
A minimum of 48 hours' notice to reschedule or cancel an appointment. Appointments that are cancelled or not attended within this time frame will be charged a full session fee.
Payment is required upon booking via credit or debit card.
Professional Registration
