I was born in Israel in 1964 and grew up in Bat Yam, aworking-class satellite suburb south of Tel Aviv. I went tohigh school at Ort Yad Singalowsky in Yad Eliahu where Ispecialised in mechanical drafting.

After finishing high school in 1982 I served my compulsorytwo years in the Israeli army, where I first trained as aplatoon commander and later worked as a draftsperson in thearmy's central headquarters in Tel Aviv. I finished withthe rank of Staff Sergeant. My army experience has turned meinto a pacifist.

I studied two years at Bar Ilan University in the combinedprogram in the social sciences. This program combined majorsin sociology, political science and economics. I chose Bar Ilanbecause it required students to take units in Jewish studies inaddition to their major subjects. I did this because I wantedto know and understand more about my culture and history.Growing up in a secular family meant that I knew very littleabout Jewish religion and law.

I left Israel at the end of 1991 and migrated to Australia.I finished my Bachelor of Arts with a major in politics atMacquarie University in Sydney. I went on to do honours inComparative Genocide Studies under the supervision of ProfessorColin Tatz. I wrote my thesis on the reactions of theAustralian press to the Reichskristallnacht (the ‘night ofbroken glass’ in November 1938).

In 1997 I started a Graduate Diploma in IndividualPsychotherapy and Relationship Therapy at the Jansen-NewmanInstitute in Sydney. In my second year there I had to do amajor project called the ‘Differentiation of Self’under the supervision of Dr David Jansen. David believes thattherapists must be committed to their own personal workand must achieve substantial emotional maturity(differentiation) before they are qualified to work withclients. This project was a major turning point on my personaljourney and a very difficult emotional challenge. As part ofthe research for it, I travelled back to Israel and also toRomania to visit my family. I received the class prize for mywork on this project.

During 1999 I completed a Certificate in Gestalt Counsellingat the Illawarra Gestalt Centre under the direction of BrianO'Neil.

After moving to Canberra in 1999 I felt ready to work withclients and in July 1999 I opened my own private practice, FullyHuman Psychotherapy and Counselling Services which has beenrunning successfully ever since.

In 2000-2001 I was the Secretary of the Australian NationalNetwork of Counsellors Inc. (ANNC), and in 2002 I was thePresident. In 2002 I was also a member of the Liaison Committeeand the Management Committee of the Psychotherapy andCounselling Federation of Australia Inc (PACFA). I presented a paperon therapy and politics at the Second Gestalt Australia NewZealand (GANZ) Conference in Brisbane in 2000.

I consider myself a humanist and have been greatly inspiredby the works of M. Scott Peck, Herman Hesse, Rainer Maria Rilke,Ursula K. Le Guin, Erich Fromm, Viktor Frankl, John Berger,Martin Buber, Robert A. Johnson, Henrik Ibsen and Neale DonaldWalsch. The two areas that concern me the most at the momentare my field of psychotherapy and what I see as a gradual returnto 19th century values in mental health; and the situation inthe Middle East. I am also concerned about the treatment ofrefugees in Australia and interested in the role that myprofession has to play in politics.

I am the Canberra director of Deir Yassin Remembered.

I live in Canberra with my husband Ian Barnes, whocurrently teaches software engineering at the AustralianNational University, my step-daughter Libby, and two very badlybehaved cats.

Qualifications and Memberships

  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Macquarie University, 1995.

  • Graduate Diploma in Individual Psychotherapy and Relationship Therapy, Jansen-Newman Institute, 1999.

  • Certificate in Gestalt Counselling, Illawarra Gestalt Centre, 2000.

  • Full member of the Australian National Network of Counsellors Inc. (ANNC) (Member Number 219)

  • Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) Register, number 020122


Page content last modified: 21 March 2005