About

Cath Leith

Certified IFS Therapist (level 3 trained), IFS Trainer, IFS Approved Clinical Consultant & Video Reviewer

Approach

It's important to find the right counsellor for you.

My approach to counselling focuses on:

Engaging with warmth, curiosity, appreciation, genuine connection

Creating a space where you feel safe, supported, valued and accepted

Respecting your experience, knowledge and what feels right for you

Striving towards real transformation that creates positive, meaningful and lasting change (rather than stock-standard approaches and band-aid solutions)

Emotional safety is also really important. I respect people’s needs for pacing and direction, welcome and respond to immediate feedback and focus on safety when exploring difficult or traumatic material.

I really enjoy the experiential process of people discovering, sometimes for the first time, great joy and delight, warmth and safety, in their inner world. It is a real honour to witness.

Experience and Professional Qualifications

Cath Leith

I have been providing psychotherapy and counselling services for 4 years in private practice and also,16 years in both NGO and government settings in the areas of family relationships, personal development, mental health and trauma and in the provision of clinical supervision.

I am a Certified IFS therapist (level 3 trained), an IFS Trainer, and an IFS Approved Clinical Consultant and Video Reviewer. I am undertaking ongoing IFS individual and group supervision, continuing education and practice development. While I now solely practice IFS, I have a background with experience in a diverse range of therapies.

I have a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Monash University. I am an accredited member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and I am committed to and bound by their code of ethics and practice standards.

Professional development

Recent IFS training and professional development includes:

Level 3 IFS (#2) with Ann Sinko and Mariel Pastor, IFSI 2025
IFSI Lead Trainer Program 2024-2025 Cohort
Mentee Trainer: Emma Diamond Level 1 Australia 2025
Legacy Burdens, Gifts & Inheritances - Kay Gardener, 2025
Designated an IFSI Video Reviewer 10 December 2024
Lead Program Assistant: Emma Diamond and Loranie Leas Level 1 New Zealand 2024-2025
Presented at the 2024 IFSI Annual Conference - 'Exploring unseen disability and difference with our clients'
Lead Program Assistant: Emma Diamond and Loranie Leas Level 1 Australia 2024
Level 3 IFS (#1) with Einat Bronstein, Internal Family Systems Australia and New Zealand 2024
Program Assistant for Level 2 trainings: Cece Sykes 2023; Einat Bronstein 2024
Program Assistant for Level 1 IFS trainings: Einat Bronstein 2022 & 2023; Emma Diamond and Olivia Lester 2023-4
Trauma, dissociation, parts - Joanne Twombly 2024
Program Assistant for Introduction to IFS: Simon d'Orsogna 2024
Presenter for IFS ANZ Community Call Meeting 2024
Designated as an IFSI Approved Clinical Consultant, 11 Apr 2024
Certification as a Certified IFS Therapist, IFS Institute, awarded 27 Dec 2022
IFS Continuity program, IFS Institute 2021-25
IFS Annual Conference, IFS Institute 2021-23
Direct Access - An essential IFS skill, Fran Booth, Life Architect 2022
Healing the trauma that surrounds medical syndromes, Dr Lissa Rankin and Dr Richard Schwartz 2022
Listening to the body's stories - Somatic IFS and chronic illness, Susan McConnell 2022
Level 2 IFS with Einat Bronstein and Osnat Arbel, The Path Center 2021
The Integrated Therapist with Dr Bessel van der Kolk, Dr Richard Schwartz, & Dr Frank Anderson 2021
Level 1 IFS with Einat Bronstein and Simon d'Orsonga, Internal Family Systems Australia 2020.
Introduction to IFS with Simon d'Orsonga, Internal Family Systems Australia 2020.

Other training includes:

Extensive training and seminars in the field of trauma with Dr Bessel van der Kolk, Dr Janina Fisher, Dr Bruce Perry, Barbette Rothschild and the Australian Childhood Foundation.

Training in a diverse range of areas: mental health, vicarious trauma, workplace bullying, grief and loss, suicide and self harm, family violence, alcohol and drugs, Indigenous, CALD, refugee and LGBTI issues, ASD, ADHD and learning disorders.

Also training in:

EMDR with the EMDR Institute (Australia) and the Attachment Trauma Centre Institute of Nebraska.
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (attachment-focused therapy) with Dr Dan Hughes and Pam McCloskey
Narrative therapy with Chris Wever and seminar with Michael White
Creative therapies with Jenny Hill, Melbourne Institute for Experiential & Creative Arts Therapy (MIECAT)