Virginia Pulker (BScOT)
Therapist
Virginia’s books are closed and she is not currently taking on new clients.
Phone:
0476 674 094
Email:
alfredcove.wellmind@gmail.com
Rooms:
571B Canning Highway, Alfred Cove
Individual Therapy for Adults and Adolescents.
Virginia is a therapist with over 25 years’ experience working in mental health both in Australia and the UK. She has extensive experience providing both individual and group psychotherapy to people with complex mental health issues. Over the last decade she has specialised in working with people with borderline personality disorder and complex trauma. Her other clinical areas of interest are autism, ADHD and neurodivergent burnout.
Virginia is a somatic embodied OT and uses Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy/parts work and attachment-informed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in combination with somatic approaches to healing and recovery. She is trained in the use of psycho-sensory interventions for both neurodivergence and trauma. Virginia’s style of therapy focuses on helping people to develop a greater
understanding of themselves, to build self-compassion and learn new skills as necessary to make changes in their life. As an occupational therapist, Virginia believes in the importance of connecting with activities, relationships and roles that give us a sense of meaning and purpose. Based in Alfred Cove, Virginia provides a warm, validating and respectful environment where people can come to make sense of their experiences and get skilled support on their recovery journey. When she’s not at work she loves being in nature, spending time with family and friends, being a mum and geeking out on interpersonal neurobiology. She is a long-term student of meditation and Buddhism, and these approaches inform her practice.
Non-clinical Work
Virginia enjoys training and supervising other mental health professionals and has worked as a lecturer in mental health. She is an accredited trainer through the National BPD training strategy and is passionate about training other professionals to work more effectively and compassionately with people with BPD and their families. Virginia has also been actively involved in the Hearing Voices movement here and in the UK and in training others to work creatively with psychosis. She supervises other mental health occupational therapists, including those working towards mental health endorsement through OT Australia.
Her OT background has contributed to her passion for working with neurodivergent clients. She co-chairs the WA Young Adult and Adult ADHD Mental Health Professional’s Network.
Training and Professional Development
In addition to her primary degree Virginia has trained in the following areas:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, including Enhanced CBT for eating disorders.
- Mindfulness approaches including Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, including ACT and Mindfulness for Trauma.
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) for adults and adolescents and DBT for loss of control of eating.
- Schema Therapy for individuals and couples and neurodivergent affirming schema therapy.
- Psycho-sensory approaches to trauma and neurodivergence.
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy
- Advanced Attachment-Informed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and neurodivergent affirming EMDR.
- Advanced parts work and resourcing.
- Somatic Embodied Occupational Therapy and somatic resourcing.
- Dual Diagnosis Training and addiction models.
- Working with Voices and creative psychosis work.
Medicare Rebates Apply
Private Health Rebates Available
Professional Memberships:
Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency
Occupational Therapy Australia
Additional Memberships:
Perth Complex Trauma Network (MHPN)
Australian BPD Foundation
Complex Trauma WA Inc
WA Adult and Young Adult ADHD MHPN
To contact Virginia:
Phone: 0476 674 094