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Trauma and Relationship Supports-catering specifically for the unique needs of those with heightened sensitivity, empathy, anxiety- who may also identify as 'neurodiverse'

Perhaps you’ve spent what feels like a lifetime feeling everything more deeply than those around you. Where you notice every shift in tone, the longer pauses in conversation, the micro expressions and changes in body language, and every unspoken tension in the room. You’re the one who holds it all together – at work, at home, in relationships often even when it feels like your world is quietly crumbling underneath.

If you’re highly sensitive, deeply empathic or neurodivergent (ADHD, Level 2 autism), and you’re exhausted from masking, managing everyone else’s emotions, or using addictions and coping behaviours to get through the day "hello. I see you".

Welcome to a space where you don’t have to “tone it down”, "Hold it together" or be “easier” for anyone.

Does this feel familiar?

You might notice yourself in some of the following:

You feel overstimulated or “wired” much of the time – by noise, expectations, conflict, crowds, bright lights, or simply needing to be “game-on or charged” all day.
You’re the one people often lean on, but very few truly see how much you’re carrying – and how long you’ve been carrying the load for.
Growing up, you were called “too sensitive”, “dramatic” or “overreactive”, so you learned to swallow your feelings and pretend things didn’t hurt as much as they perhaps did.
You’ve experienced emotional neglect, inconsistency, turbulent relationships, or had partners where you were left questioning your own reality and worth.
You’ve leaned on addictions or other coping behaviours – alcohol, food, over-working, people-pleasing, sex, screens, online shopping – anything to try to alleviate the discomfort in being in your own skin or numb over-stimulation.
You’ve maybe wondered whether you might have ADHD or ASD (Level 2) traits or behaviours, where masking has become so automatic you barely know who you are without it.
On the outside you look “fine” – competent, capable, organised – but inside you feel raw, tired, and constantly close to burnout and overwhelm.

If you recognise yourself in even a few of these, you are far from alone. Sessions with me can offer a grounded, non-judgemental space to finally 'put the mask down' and gently make sense of why life has felt the way it has and how to reduce the some of the heaviness you are carrying.

About me

My name is Maree Eisma. I’m a Medicare-accredited Mental Health Social Worker/ Counsellor and the founder of Change of Course, a private practice in The Patch, in the Dandenong Ranges.

I’ve been walking alongside people as they navigate all kinds of challenges and adversity for over 25 years. I’m also a deeply feeling (and thinking), pattern recognizing person myself, which means I am intentionally gentle with nervous systems that are already carrying a lot. I work mainly with women 25+ who are:

Highly sensitive and/or highly empathic
Neurodivergent (diagnosed or self-identified ADHD / Level 2 ASD)
Living with the impact of trauma, past emotional neglect, chaotic or turbulent relationships
Struggling with addictions and other coping behaviours that usually cause additional anguish and frustration or despair.

A different kind of therapy space

Many of my clients find large medical or multi-practitioner clinics overwhelming – the fluorescent lights, overlapping conversations, the waiting room energy, and the constant movement of people in pain or distress.

Change of Course is different by design. It provides supports in-

A purpose-built cottage style studio in The Patch, nestled in the Dandenong Ranges complete with forest views.
A calm, contained environment – no busy GP reception, no crowded waiting room.
A space intentionally created for sensitive, empathic and neurodivergent nervous systems where people can finally exhale. I do also cater for those who feel safer at home or who prefer not to travel , so online sessions via secure telehealth are available..

How I work

I often describe therapy as us sitting together in a quiet corridor, with doors to either side. Each door represents a different way into your healing. You always choose which doors we open, and when. Nothing is dragged into the room before you are ready because

different nervous systems and sensory systems need different doorways. Because of this, I use a mix of talk therapy and experiential, somatic and creative approaches.

Some things we might explore together at your pace- might include-

Mapping how overstimulation, shutdown, freeze and hypervigilance show up in your body and your life and how it impacts you, and perahps those who matter the most to you.
Make sense of the impact of emotional neglect, grief and relationship patterns that have emerged over time and how the impact you now.
Gently untangle addictions and coping strategies, without shaming the parts of you that needed them in order to survive.
Explore the cost of masking, over-giving and people-pleasing, and slowly build ways to exist and take up space in this world as you are.
Create ways of living that respect your sensitivity, neurodivergence and limits, instead of constantly overriding them and ending up more depleted and distressed.

We move slowly and respectfully, listening to your body, not just your thoughts. Your sensitivity, is not a 'problem to be fixed'. You set the pace. Together we honour your nervous system rather than pushing through it. It deserves its own honouring and respect.

I slow things down and prioritise your comfort from the moment you arrive. Sessions with me are relational, warm and deeply respectful – I often sit barefoot or legs crossed up on the couch- inviting you to settle too, as if you were in the comfort of your own loungeroom.

A place to arrive, not perform

Above all, I want this to feel like arriving somewhere.

A place where you don’t have to explain or justify your sensitivity.
Where your story matters.
Where you are remembered between sessions.
Where the parts of you that have been holding everything together can finally rest and exhale – because all of you is totally welcome here.

To book a session- please click here

Change of Course

Trauma and relationship healing for those who experience the world deeply