Dragonfly Therapies

Disgraceful.

A judge told a domestic violence survivor he would let her abuser 'fight it out' with her when she raised concerns about her former partner repeatedly breaching parenting orders for her young son. The woman has lodged a formal complaint with the Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The judge described their case as 'he said, she said', made a barking dog hand gesture and told the victim to 'think biblically' about her abuser. The survivor was self-representing in a case against the man who abused. She says the judge refused to look at her evidence and belittled, dismissed and intimidated her. She says she was repeatedly interrupted, spoken over and shut down when raising concerns directly relevant to parenting orders and breaches of orders. “As a victim of family violence, the comment about 'fighting it out' was profoundly inappropriate, minimised the seriousness of the situation and was inconsistent with the trauma-informed approach required in family law matters involving violence,” she says. “My ex-partner, who was legally represented, was able to speak without interruption. "I was repeatedly interrupted, spoken over, and shut down when raising concerns directly relevant to parenting orders and existing breaches. "This created a significant power imbalance and left me feeling intimidated and unable to participate meaningfully in my own case. “I left the courtroom feeling distressed, silenced, and unsupported by the process. "These comments and behaviours caused emotional harm, particularly given my status as a victim-survivor of family violence and a self-represented litigant.” *** ❤️SUPPORT MY WORK❤️ Please support my work and the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to Violence and Australian Femicide Watch. You can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds the Memorial and Australian Femicide Watch. Links in bio or visit australianfemicidewatch.org #femicide #violenceagainstwomen #womenssafety #maleviolence #shematters

Glimmer after glimmer at the International Childhood Trauma Conference 2025. Cathy Malchiodi reframing, reimagining the ‘Window of Tolerance’ as the ‘Circle of Capacity’ in the early 2000s. Hearing once again her participatory, expressive arts based research at the heart of this change warms my heart, inspires me and nourishes my practice.

Creating ‘containers’ for worry, for reminders or for important insights from counselling. This little gem was inspired by, and created for, a social worker, advocate and therapist I admire so much. We agreee- sometimes we just need the idiots to disappear. In a therapeutic kinda way, of course.

What do I show the world? Rich discussions with a 13 year old young woman about what (she believes) the world expects to ‘see’ from them.

Having time and space to reflect on my practice is a precious thing. Sharing thoughts about practice with those whose practice inspires me acts like integration… mind, body and imagination. Thank you to my tribe for being my nourishment ❤️

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This delicate creature has a powerful story: The dragonfly spends its first years of life living in the water. One day, when it is ready to change, the dragonfly climbs up a reed and miraculously begins to breathe air, crawling out from its old skin and unfolding the majestic wings which were there within its body all along. It is now carried by these wings to a new existence; a new plane of reality, which would seem too fantastic to be real to its other tiny friends still living in the pond.
The challenges we face in life will leave us forever changed. As the dragonfly’s story illustrates, we may even appear to vanish to our friends, but we have simply changed forms. A challenging life path can allow us to gather the strength needed to use the inner courage we’re born with. After this difficult transformation, survivors and those who fought gain a new and beautiful kind of power. There are stories of those who believe dragonflies visit us sometimes as messengers from loved ones who have passed on after undergoing this transformative journey, so keep this tale in mind the next time you see a dragonfly.
- Sid Dickens

I am always inspired by the therapeutic wisdom and practice of my sister Cassandra Shea. Cass, a social worker tasked with developing a trauma-informed service from the ground up for the ACT government, has decades of experience in both trauma therapy and management of multidisciplinary teams.

Over the past two years, as our family navigated the final illnesses that led to the passing of our mother, Cass gently reminded me over and over again of acceptance of two seemingly contradictory thoughts or feelings.

Finding this visual representation by Juliet Young, the Creative Clinical Psychologist, was so heart warming. I am a patron member of Juliet and cannot sing her praises highly enough.

I feel the same way about Cass.

Deeply moving

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, I became a Muslim after the Taliban kept me hostage Jibra’il Omar, formerly Timothy Weeks, spent three years in captivity in Afghanistan

Remembering what is really important ✌️

Ready for mandala Sandtray time ✨

Magic happens here.

The Invisible String. A beautiful art-as-parallel-therapy opportunity for a little family 7 years in to their Family Court journey ❤️