Hello and welcome

Dr Petra Bueskens

Hello and welcome to PPMD Therapy. This is a psychotherapy and counselling service founded and run by Dr Petra Bueskens. I offer psychotherapy and counselling services to individuals, couples, families and children with a background in both psychodynamic therapy and sociology.  Most of my work at present is with couples, though I also work with individuals across a spectrum of issues including depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma, grief and loss as well as more specific concerns around sexuality, identity, the transition to motherhood/parenthood, work, ageing, relationships and more.

Psychodynamic therapy is a style of therapy that considers problems in terms of the ‘whole person’ – that is, your background, experiences in your family of origin, dynamics with self and other, as well as unconscious processes including dreams, fantasies, slips of the tongue and the resonance of anniversaries. Psychodynamic therapy is concerned with the subjective meaning of symptoms, that is with feelings, and with understanding this meaning in the context of your life. The primary focus is on the working relationship between therapist and client.

My educational background is also in sociology – a discipline which considers society or ‘the social’ as the central means to understanding individuals and their behaviour. This means, I take time to consider the social context and meaning of your symptoms.  There are few services that bring these two disciplines – psychotherapy and sociology – together to understand and process your concerns. Read on if you would like more specific details or would like to book an appointment.

Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia vol 4: Psychoanalytic Theories and Therapies

PACJA vol. 4 is now published. As editor I put together this exciting themed edition on psychoanalytic theories and therapies. There are rich contributions by leaders in their fields including Professor Jon Mills, Professor Diana Kenny, Associate Professor Peg Levine, Professor Denis O’Hara. Professor Anthony McCarthy, Anne Manne on narcissism and more. You can read my editorial here, which gives an overview of each article as well as the two literature reviews and books reviews.

“This edition of PACJA promises an eclectic and exciting collection of articles under the broad theme of psychoanalytic theories and therapies. What characterizes these different articles – the first three in particular – is an analysis of analysis or, in Jon Mills’ terms, an internal critique of psychoanalytic theories and therapies. This critique from within is important; it is part of the process of scholarly and clinical reflection and revision and yet, as Mills describes, it is so often fraught.  While critique from outside psychoanalysis is predictably dismissive, faulting psychoanalytic concepts such as the unconscious on their lack of empirical evidence or theories such as infantile sexuality on their apparently preposterous and fantastical qualities, critique from within tends to be fractious and lead to splits within and across schools.” Read on.

Couples therapy

Dr Petra Bueskens

There are new appointments for couples seeking therapy in Melbourne on Monday afternoon and evenings. Please contact here if you would like to make an enquiry or a booking.

Group therapy sessions for single parents

I will be starting group therapy sessions on Wednesdays in Daylesford for single parents starting January 2016. For centrelink recipients, cost will be $15. Please contact Petra via email: petra@ppmdtherapy.com or call 0400 152 412

Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) conference June 2014

Mothers in transition: Changing gender dynamics in the home through strategic absence

Petra Bueskens – presentation PACFA 2014 conference