About Oliver
“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.” - Rumi
Oliver Brooke
Oliver identifies as an Australian man (He/Him). He is married to his wife and they have two young sons. Oliver shares his life with his wife, two sons a cute Aussie SheapherdX named Daisy, and three quirky Alpacas on the land of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation in Sawyers Valley, Western Australia (WA). His home is nestled between the state forest and rural farming land and is shared with the local flock of Karraks’ (Red-tailed Black Cockatoos).
Oliver comes from a cray-fishing family, with an English mother and an Australian dad. He grew up on the WA coast between the Abrolhos Islands and Dongara. Oliver completed his high school and university education in Perth, WA. He has spent considerable time traveling, volunteering, and working in Britain, Europe, and Asia. Oliver is a citizen of both Australia and The United Kingdom.
Oliver has worked in human services for over a decade. He cut his teeth in human service work in the rural WA towns of Karratha and Northam mentoring Aboriginal youth with the Clontarf Foundation. He has been a member, volunteer, fundraiser, sponsor, and past committee member of Borderless Friendship Foundation for over a decade, and in 2016, he started his charitable fund The Ladybird Fund which has raised over $50,000 to support women suffering from breast cancer. Before exclusively running this private practice, Oliver worked for Relationships Australia WA as an adult, child, couple, and family therapist, group facilitator, and educator for five and a half years. He regularly practices yoga asana and checks in with his parts through meditation, journalling and ecstatic dance.
Therapeutic Approach
Oliver is a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist, Registered Professional Counsellor, and Recognised Clinical Supervisor. His psychotherapy and supervision approach leans towards pure IFS Therapy, drawing on his humanistic training in person-centered counselling and education in Trauma-informed practice.
Embracing the principles of IFS therapy, Oliver takes a non-judgemental and non-pathologising approach to his clinical work, going at the pace of the client. Oliver trusts the creativity and wisdom of his client’s systems, allowing their experience to unfold as it needs to. Oliver weaves together his years of experience as a relationship therapist, group facilitator, and educator for Relationships Australia WA with his education in psychology, counselling, and IFS to work towards the best outcomes for his clients.
Oliver is a calm, compassionate, and centered individual, able to hold space for complex stories and powerful emotional expressions such as fear, depression, anxiety, anger, grief, terror, and sadness.
Oliver is deeply committed to furthering himself as an IFS therapist, regularly attending IFS training and workshops with Lead Trainers from the IFS Institute (IFS-I). Oliver completed IFS Level 1 training with Paul Ginter and Einat Bronstein and IFS Level 2 (Compassion for addictive processes and eating disorders) training with Cece Sykes. Oliver has also completed online IFS workshops led by Dr. Richard Schwartz, Dr. Frank Anderson, Mike Elkin, Robert Falconer, and Cece Sykes. Oliver attends regular IFS supervision individually with IFS-I Lead Trainer Kirsten Lunderberg and in an advanced consulting group with IFS Teacher and author Robert Falconer. Most importantly, Oliver commits to frequent IFS therapy as a client, with Certified IFS Therapist Sonia Milohanic.
Professional intentions
1. To provide Internal Family Systems Therapy to people living in Australia, who hold a deep desire to build deep relationships with their internal system.
2. To address some of the growing demand for IFS teachings in Western Australia. By facilitating IFS workshops for therapists seeking to learn or deepen their knowledge of Internal Family Systems Therapy in WA.
3. To provide clinical supervision for therapists who are integrating the IFS model in their clinical work.
4 To regularly show up for my parts with compassion and do the same for my clients, supervisees and participants.
Professional Qualifications
Master of Counselling
Bachelor of Science (Psychology)
Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist
ACA Registered Counsellor
Member Australian Counselling Association (Level 4)
ACA Recognised Supervisor
Certificate of Attainment in Individual & Group Supervision
Graduate of IFS Level 1 & 2 training
Are you seeking Support for?
Emotional distress
Depressive or anxious feelings
Limiting beliefs or feeling stuck
Relationship issues
Spirituality
Trauma
Family of origin issues
Personal or professional dilemmas
Survived violence
Fears
Anger management
Perpetrated violence
Sexual or sexuality issues
Disability
Problematic behaviours - eating, pornography, gaming, drinking, smoking, drug-taking, etc.
Academia
Oliver aspires to be an exceptional therapist and academic. He is well regarded by his colleagues and peers as a consistently effective and approachable therapist. Oliver was awarded two national postgraduate awards for his academic achievement in the Master of Counselling:
Australian Counselling Association Academic Achievement Award
For the highest academic achieving student in a Master of Counselling program.
Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia Outstanding Student Paper Award
For the most outstanding student paper by a postgraduate counselling or psychotherapy student in Australia.
Peer-reviewed Publications
Brooke., O. & Cope., V. (2017) Internet pornography’s effect on sexual attitudes and behaviours: a structured literature review revealing gender difference. Counselling Australia 17(4).
Brooke., O. & Williams., N. (2018) Problematic internet pornography use, can it be an addiction? a narrative literature review. Counselling Australia 18(4).
Brooke., O. & Williams., N. (2021) ‘Porn is acting; it’s not real sex.’ Psychotherapists’ perspectives of problematic internet pornography use: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Oliver’s IFS journey
“I was a sensitive, creative, and emotional child, full of wonder. My young parts sought out connection, creativity, and play in early childhood. Sadly it wasn’t long before I experienced my first dark night of the soul, my mother was diagnosed with stage three cancer when I was 16 and died the year I turned 25. By the age of 25, I had lived experiences of relational trauma, grief, depression, which led to social anxiety, and substance and behavioral addictions.
As a young adult and therapist, I sought to understand, witness, feel, and heal my childhood trauma, grief, depression, and anxiety and overcome my addictions. I sought profound emotional and spiritual connections to the land, animals, people, and myself. I hoped to heal my wounds and recover from my experiences.
For many years my seeking led me to travel and explore spirituality, psychology, and healing states of consciousness. My first experience of psychotherapy as a client was at 16. Since then I have experienced many different types of psychotherapy as a client (CBT, Narrative, EFT, Drama Therapy, EFT couples therapy, Gottman, and Psychodynamic). I have also explored different spiritual practices including Buddhism, Wim Hof Method, mindfulness meditation, Breathwork, Holotropic Breathwork, Psychedelic ceremonies, Yoga Asana, and Pranayama.
All of these therapies and practices have helped me understand my trauma, process my grief, integrate my experiences and pain, and discover who makes up my psyche. However, IFS has been the most profound of all the teachings and approaches I've had the privilege to experience and explore. To me IFS has been the most compassionate, revealing, and healing method as a person recovering from trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, and addiction. It is also the most accurate and effective model of the personality and human psyche I have come across.
IFS enables me to map out my psyche, build a healthy relationship with all my parts, understand and release my internal constraints and burdens, heal the parts of me who were traumatised, and recover those who were exiled. IFS has become a spiritual practice for me, deepening my spiritual knowledge and understanding through direct experience of spiritual phenomena in my psyche (ancestors, guides, spiritual presences, animal spirits, and unattached burdens).
The practice of IFS has connected me to my true Self and allowed me to experience something greater than myself. My life is richer, has a deeper meaning and I understand and love more of myself and others. I believe like a mountain guide in the external world, I can only guide my clients safely and effectively through their inner worlds if I have been there in my own, so I regularly see my own IFS therapist and continue deepening my connection and healing with my parts through IFS, Yoga, meditation, journaling, ecstatic dance and breathwork.
My ongoing IFS journey to mental well-being and recovery from trauma has also reunited me with my sensitive, creative, and emotional child-like parts which were exiled in my youth. I have become a more playful, confident, and compassionate person and therapist. I hope my deep compassion and love for the many parts of myself and others and my willingness and courage to be vulnerable, shines through in my therapy.”
Oliver - February, 2022
