
Dianna Cox Mikkelson
Counselling Psychologist
B.S., M.A., M. Psych Counselling, AAPI
Dianna is a Counselling Psychologist and the director of Inscape Psychology. She has over 30 years experience in the field of mental health. Initially trained in the USA, Dianna has worked in psychiatric hospitals, crisis assessment and community mental health. In 2005 she returned to Australia and started seeing clients in private practice.
Dianna believes embodied healing can only take place when we experience a felt sense of safety and so creates a therapeutic space that is grounded, compassionate and collaborative. Whether working with individuals or couples, Dianna addresses the impact of childhood attachment and personal and generational trauma on current functioning. She is deeply curious about how each client has learnt to survive in the world and seeks to understand not only the cognitive narrative but also the “story” of the nervous system. This body story is at the core of many of our dysregulated emotions and behaviours.
Dianna is especially passionate about helping women unravel the barriers that stand in the way of personal empowerment. As a result of living under thousands of years of patriarchy, women carry deeply held conditioning that can stifle verbal, sexual and creative expression. Through increased body awareness, Dianna teaches women how to reclaim their inner freedom.
Dianna has completed the three year training in Somatic Experiencing (SE), a body-oriented therapeutic approach for healing trauma developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D. Using the innate ability humans have to overcome trauma, SE encourages the awareness of sensations in the body to help people re-negotiate and relieve the physical, emotional and physiological effects of trauma. Dianna is also trained in the personality typology of the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a complex understanding of the core motives and drivers of personality. By understanding our innate personality type we can become unstuck from fixated ways of being in the world.
Dianna sees clients in Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula, in Poowong South Gippsland and via telehealth.
* Please note: Somatic therapies are not covered under Medicare
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, Psychology, Northwestern College, USA
- Master of Arts Counselling Psychology, St. Thomas University, USA
- Master of Psychology, Counselling, Monash University, Melbourne
- Member, Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPI)
- Registered psychologist with Psychology Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
You can contact Dianna directly on mobile 0434 101 420