About Your Counsellor
About Leisa Petri
Leisa Petri is a qualified counsellor with more than ten years of experience in mental health and community services. Her professional background includes therapeutic intervention work and education in family and support settings — shaping a strong understanding of how relationships, life experiences and context can influence the way people think, feel and respond.
Leisa offers a calm, grounded and practical way of working. Sessions are thoughtful and reflective, but also focused on helping you find ways forward that feel realistic and supportive.
Accepting new clients — online + in-person
Qualifications
Leisa holds postgraduate qualifications in counselling alongside undergraduate training in behavioural science, and maintains active professional membership with the Australian Counselling Association.
Master of Counselling
Bachelor of Social Science
ACA Level 2 Member
Background and experience
Leisa’s professional background spans more than ten years in mental health and community services, including therapeutic intervention work and education in family and support settings. This has shaped a nuanced understanding of how lived experience, relationships and social context influence emotional wellbeing.
Working within complex systems — where the context around a person matters as much as what the person presents with — has given Leisa a strong foundation for understanding the patterns people bring to counselling, not just the surface-level symptoms.
That experience informs every aspect of how Leisa works: carefully, without assumptions, and with genuine attention to the whole person.
Approach
Leisa’s approach to counselling is trauma-informed, person-centred and integrative. In practice, that means she works in a way that is calm, respectful and responsive to the person in front of her — rather than applying a one-size-fits-all process.
Trauma-informed
Sessions acknowledge the impact of life experience and create a space that feels genuinely safe — not clinical or pressured.
Person-centred
The work is shaped around your needs, pace and goals — not a fixed script or predetermined process.
Integrative
Drawing on multiple evidence-informed approaches to support what works best for you and what you are working through.
Integrative Methods
Leisa draws on a variety of evidence-informed approaches to support what works best for you and what you are working through. Here are some of the methods she uses:
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Helps you understand and work through emotions safely. Often helpful for relationship difficulties, unresolved hurt, grief, and strong emotions.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Helps you notice patterns between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Useful for anxiety, low mood, and stress.
Humanistic Therapy
Centred on empathy and acceptance. Helpful for building self-esteem and strengthening your sense of self.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Supports you to respond differently to difficult thoughts and focus on what matters to you.
Narrative Therapy
Explores how you see yourself and your life, helping you step back from problems and see new possibilities.
Mindfulness and Body-Based Practices
Helps you become more aware of physical and emotional responses. Useful for stress and feeling overwhelmed.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Focuses on strengths and small practical steps. Helpful for goals, life changes, and building confidence.
What clients can expect
Working with Leisa is not about being told what to do or pushed toward a particular outcome. It is a collaborative process shaped by what matters most to you.
Care and curiosity, not pressure
You will be met where you are. There is no expectation to have things figured out or to present in a particular way.
Clarity on what is happening
The aim is to help you make sense of your experience — understanding patterns more clearly, not just naming symptoms.
A manageable way forward
Sessions are focused on finding responses that feel realistic and supportive, not abstract goals you cannot act on.
A consistent, grounded presence
Leisa brings the same calm, thoughtful approach to every session — steady support you can rely on across time.
Leisa engages in ongoing professional development and regular clinical supervision in line with the standards of the Australian Counselling Association.
In-person sessions in Deception Bay, QLD
For clients in the Deception Bay area (north of Brisbane), in-person sessions are also available by appointment. The same approach and the same rates apply.
How Leisa can help
Leisa Petri offers individual and couples support via secure video telehealth Australia-wide, plus in-person sessions in Deception Bay, QLD by appointment.
Individual Counselling
One-to-one support for stress, emotional overwhelm and difficult life experiences.
Couples Counselling
Support for communication, conflict, trust strain and relationship disconnection.
Relationship Counselling
Focused support for relationship patterns, conflict and navigating a difficult season.
Ready to take the next step?
If you are looking for a calm, grounded space to talk, online counselling is available across Australia.
Need urgent help?
This is not a crisis service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. You can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.