Joanna Ridgeway, ACA

Joanna Ridgeway is an ACA counsellor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, relationship strain, low self-esteem and depression. She offers calm, straightforward support for those who feel stuck or overwhelmed. Joanna meets people where they are and focuses on small, practical steps that can make day-to-day life easier.

She uses a gentle, open style so clients feel heard and understood. Sessions are a place to talk through difficult feelings without judgement and to try new ways of coping. Joanna works with individuals to set clear, achievable goals and to notice small changes over time.

Her approach draws on attachment-based ideas and client-centred principles to build stronger emotional awareness. She also integrates cognitive behavioural techniques to help reframe unhelpful thoughts and to test out new behaviours. Emotionally-Focused Therapy and elements of the Gottman Method guide her work with relationship concerns.

Joanna has 14 years of experience in clinical and counselling settings across Australia. That background includes supporting people after trauma and abuse, and helping those coping with chronic illness, caregiver stress, cancer, and ageing-related concerns. She also works with issues such as abandonment, communication problems and blended family transitions.

People who choose Joanna often want a clear plan and a supportive listener. She encourages practical experiments between sessions and reviews progress together. To begin, she asks people to describe what matters most so they can shape therapy to their real-life needs.

Therapeutic approaches and how they translate online

Attachment-based work focuses on how early relationships shape current patterns. Online sessions can help people notice attachment responses and practise new ways of connecting in daily life. Client-centred therapy emphasises being heard and understood; the therapist follows the client's lead and helps clarify values and goals. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and introduces simple exercises to test new thinking and behaviour.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Joanna will discuss the options with each person and decide together which ideas to try first. That way therapy reflects the client’s goals, preferences and the issues they bring to sessions.

Confirm current session options before booking as formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life - for example shorter check-ins during a lunch break, fewer travel demands, or sessions when someone cannot be in the same room as a counsellor. It also lets people use visual tools, written worksheets and between-session experiments that link directly to everyday routines. The focus is on practical strategies that can be used off-session and reviewed together with the counsellor.