Serife Erten , ACA, PACFA

Serife Erten is a credentialed mental health professional in Australia with 28 years of clinical experience. Over the course of her career she has worked in private practice, community mental health, education, and trauma-focused services, bringing a broad understanding of how different settings shape well being. Serife adopts a compassionate and respectful style that is tailored to each person's goals, while attending to the connections between mind, body, and emotion.

She has supported individuals and couples with a wide range of concerns, including stress and anxiety, relationship and family difficulties, low self-esteem, grief and loss, depression, parenting challenges, and trauma and abuse. Her practice also encompasses work with career issues, ADHD, chronic pain and illness, first responder issues, hoarding, obsessions and compulsions, phobias, post-traumatic stress, social anxiety, workplace difficulties, and young adult concerns.

Her clinical approach draws on evidence-informed methods such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy to help clients build insight, practical coping strategies, and sustainable change. Sessions are client-centred and collaborative, paced to individual readiness and values. Serife communicates in English and Turkish and holds ACA and PACFA credentials - ACA refers to the Australian Counselling Association and PACFA refers to the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.

Serife believes people carry inner resources that therapy can help uncover and strengthen. While she brings experience and a holistic perspective to her work, she emphasizes partnership with clients as they navigate life transitions and seek more balance and meaning. She is not currently accepting new clients.

Evidence-Informed Approaches for Online Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people live in line with their values while learning to accept difficult thoughts and feelings. It is useful for managing anxiety, depression, and life transitions by building psychological flexibility.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors through practical strategies and skill building. CBT is often used for anxiety, depression, stress, and many everyday coping challenges.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness skills. It can be particularly helpful for intense emotions, relationship conflict, and problems with emotional reactivity.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Serife works with clients to clarify goals, assess what is most helpful, and adapt techniques to individual needs and preferences. Together they choose methods that fit the client’s situation, pace, and values.

Online therapy across video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging offers flexibility and accessibility for people balancing work, family, health, or mobility needs. These options let clients engage from home or other convenient locations, schedule sessions around daily life, and use modes of communication that feel most comfortable while still working with licensed professionals and therapists trained in evidence-informed approaches.