About

Andrea Mills

Mental Health Social Worker

My Approach  

I am gentle in my approach to therapy and my priority is to genuinely hear, see and understand you by providing you with a warm, gentle, and nurturing therapeutic space.

My aim is to be a catalyst for meaningful change in your life.  A counselling session with me will feel natural, conversational, and purposeful. With a focus on supporting you to reflect, process, express and grieve whatever is needed within the safety of our therapeutic relationship, my approach is one of celebrating and fostering your strengths, rather than ’deficits’ or diagnoses. This approach leads to a more empowering, meaningful, and positive therapy experience. 

I believe in the benefits of alternative therapeutic options and offer Equine Assisted Therapy which is a trauma-informed, experiential therapy encouraging connection, belonging and creativity.

As your therapist, I am interested in getting to know you, to understand you and respectfully empower you to anchor your decisions in your own deeply held values. I look forward to meeting and working with you at Healing Herd Therapies.

Before Private Practice

Before moving into private practice, I had a career spanning 14 years within government/health and community sector. My extensive career has predominantly focused on young people, people who have experienced family and domestic violence, complex trauma, mental health, drugs and alcohol addictions, suicide and various situational stressors and systemic abuse. For 10 years I co-facilitated a domestic violence group for women who have experienced family and domestic violence with a local domestic violence service on the Gold Coast. I have worked at the front line of disaster response and provided supervision for social work students through Griffith University.

My Professional and Personal Values

My personal and professional values are very important to me and underpin all the work I do. As a therapist, I value a person-centered approach which is authentic, non-judgmental, and empathetic. As a social worker, I value client self-determination, human rights, and social justice. My personal values include love, compassion, kindness, authenticity, fairness, justice, responsibility, safety, protection and integrity.

My Qualifications

I am a qualified Mental Health Social Worker registered with Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Medicare provider number is: 6304301J. I’m committed to continuing my education, training, and expertise to provide clients with the best professional services available.  Over the past 12 months, I have been fortunate enough to be able to combine my two passions horses and therapy by taking on further training with the Victorian Equine Psychotherapy Institute.  Today, along with my social worker qualifications, I am also a certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapist.  This additional training allows us to harness the wisdom of horses in a facilitated environment, to help people explore aspects of their lives that are causing concern or even distress. I am currently studying Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) through Centre for Trauma & Embodiment at Justice Resource Institute. I believe (re)connection to self and others through the body can provide a pathway to healing.

Who I Work With

I enjoy working with adolescents, adults of all ages across the lifespan. I am open to all individuals who feel I would be a good fit for them as a therapist.  My areas of clinical and therapeutic interest are:

• Domestic and Family Violence
• Sexual assault
• Trauma
• Attachment-related issues
• Anxiety and depression
• Self-harm
• Social skills
• Self-esteem and self-worth
• Boundaries
• Skills development in areas of social-emotional regulation
• System abuse

If your condition of interest is not listed, please contact me to discuss your needs.