Healing together is a boutique practice that offers  therapeutic, coaching and anti-racist consulting services 

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Our approach is...

Culturally Informed

This means, we understand the role that all cultures play in shaping our worldviews and human experiences

Relational

This practice is underpinned by Afrocentric principles of Ubuntu. This means, "I am because you are, and because you are, therefore I am".

Accessible

We provide our services online and also after hours. As a full-time parent, student or professional, you can still access therapeutic support within the comfort of your own space.

Trauma informed

Our work considers how adverse and unsafe experiences, impact our life patterns, relationships and decision making.

Affordable

Our practice offers affordable therapeutic for our community. We charge the difference between the full cost of therapy (approx $250 and what Medicare rebates cover (Approx $80).

Areas of Expertise

We work with people who are struggling with racial trauma, workplace trauma, migrant trauma and childhood trauma. In the family context, we work with couples in interracial relationships, those parenting mixed raced children and parents who are raising Black children in Australia. In professional contexts, we support Black people and POC experiencing microaggressions that make the workplace racially or culturally unsafe. In personal contexts, we work with those dealing with dynamics of low self esteem, low self worth and compromised dignity.  The goal of this practice is to support Black People, their families and relationships to heal from the assaults of trauma and to provide culturally affirming professional support that will enhance their well-being in both personal and professional contexts.

Racial Trauma

Racism has profound impacts on Black people and people of colour. In this area of practice, I work with those most impacted and traumatised by the violence of racism through a critical race perspective to support their journey of reclaiming and redeveloping their racial dignity.

Workplace Trauma

The workplace can be a site of growth and joy but it can also be a place rife with violence, harassment, and racial microagressions for many Black people and people of colour. I work closely with those impacted by this racial burden in the workplace, offering healthy tools and mechanisms with which to utilise in the workplace.

Childhood Trauma

Working with my clients is often a journey into their childhood. Understanding our childhood narratives helps us to understand our life blueprints. Here, we safely investigate how childhood needs were responded/reacted to. This is a significant predictor to how we learn to regulate our emotional arousal in adulthood within the context of our most intimate relationships and friendships.

Relationships

We are all wired to seek connection and belonging. Yet the majority of people’s original traumas occur within the context of a relationship. It is also mostly within other relationships that the original trauma or new traumas are either recreated or re-experienced. I work with clients to identify patterns of self-sabotage, addictive tendencies to toxic behaviours (red flags) and support them to develop good boundaries, emotional awareness, and healing within the context of a relationship (green flags)

Interracial Relationships/ Parenting

Racial tensions and challenges in interracial relationships can emerge when one partner experiences racial trauma and the other one doesn’t. Similarly, parenting mixed raced children can be challenging. If healthy racial identities of a child are not carefully nurtured, this can lead to longer term self identity issues in adulthood. I work with couples and parents to facilitate healthy, safe and intimate dialogues about race as well as strategies for developing racial safety in interracial families.

Culturally Informed Practice Supervision

If you are a practitioner (e.g. psychologist, social worker, counsellor) working predominantly with Black people and/or people of colour, it’s important that you are supported appropriately to develop culturally safe practices, language, and guidelines with which to work with.

Training & Consulting

As an award winning researcher, highly experienced educator, strategist and consultant with significant knowledge and understanding of both workplace & social policies, I work closely with organizations to develop practice guidelines, train and foster conversations on cultural and racial safety.

One-on-one sessions: Therapeutic-Informed Coaching

In her therapeutic coaching work, Dr. Gatwiri utilises her extensive research knowledge in trauma work and the politics of “assigned difference,” as well as her unique specialised expertise in psychotherapy working with clients from racially and culturally minoritized backgrounds in interpersonal relationships

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Couples' work: Therapeutic Coaching and support

Dr Gatwiri works primarily with interracial couples to navigate conversations about race, gender, betrayal, control, power, sex, money, intimacy and safety through;

  • Narrative approaches
  • Trauma informed approaches
  • Relational approaches
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EAP counselling

This is paid for by your organisation to support your mental health wellbeing. It is limited to 6-10 sessions a year depending on your organisation. Discuss with your employer first.  

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Supervision of Practitioners

A service to support practitioners (e.g. psychologists, social workers, counsellors) to develop culturally safe practices, language, and guidelines for practice.

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Organisational Consult

This is a consulting session where I support organisations to navigate  and develop strategies on:

  • antiracist organisational practices
  • racial safety
  • organisational practices of wellbeing
  • inclusive leadership 
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About our Director

My name is Dr Kathomi Gatwiri. Thank you for stopping by. If you are here, you are probably in search of some personal or professional support. It’s wonderful that you are here. I started this service for you- after many years, struggling to find a therapeutic service that “saw” me in all my racial and cultural complexities. As a Black person living in Australia, I have had numerous attempts working with practitioners who denied, erased or incapable of “seeing” my racialised experiences and the impact they had on my wellbeing. We know from research that despite the increasing mental health needs in the Black and Brown communities, the available services do not meet the unique needs for these communities.

Healing Together is a service that seeks to bridge that gap by providing therapeutic, supervision and consulting services that “see”, affirm, and respond to the unique experiences of living in a racialised body.

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Testimonials from clients

I will forever be indebted to Dr Kathomi for how she gently guided me through my worst nightmare at work. I came to her wanting to talk about racial microagressions at work, and a year on, we have explored many other aspects of life, including my relationships, boundary setting, my patterns of coping with pain and many more. After our first session, I called all my girlfriends and said, “my mind is literally blown by the depth of our conversations.
Anonymous
Kathomi, You are funny but deeply knowledgeable, kind but you also tell me the hard truths when I need to hear them. You know when to push and when to “just have a chat” so I am not overwhelmed by our sessions. I was able to leave a relationship that had really worn me down and establish firmer boundaries in my professional life.
Anonymous
I found Dr Kathomi Gatwiri on Pola Psychology’s directory of culturally responsive clinicians. From our first session, I knew she was the one who could help me. It has been a powerful experience seeing her regularly for over a year, and I feel increasingly confident to navigate life’s challenges as a black woman living and working in spaces that don’t accommodate people who look like me. I feel more empowered to honour my boundaries and not accept less than I deserve. Going to therapy is the best investment I could have made and my only regret is not becoming a client sooner
Anonymous
Thank you Kathomi for the year; sessions with you have been an integral part of me setting myself free for change that I never imagined possible. I hope you find the rest you need and everything delicious you can reach and revel in. Thank you so very, very much.
Anonymous
I really love my sessions together with you Dr. kathomi.
Anonymous
I am a 57-year-old woman of colour who migrated to Australia 22 years ago. I stumbled across Dr. Kathomi Gatwiri's website late last year. I was desperately searching for a BIPOC therapist. I was emotionally exhausted after 22 years of living and working in White Australia. During my very first interaction with Dr. Kathomi I experienced a striking difference in her approach to therapy. In that she was not there to fix my problem. She did not see my pain (or trauma as we often call it) as a problem, or illness to nurse/cure. True to the name of her consultancy – “Healing together”, I sensed Kathomi was befriending my pain. The trust and respect that Kathomi has shown to my racial wounds has helped me to do the same.
Anonymous
Kathomi gently brings in her perspective informed by her own lived experience, skills and expertise. I see Kathomi as a healer who holds the capacity (intellectual and relational) to invite racial wounds into her circle of genuine trust and respect. In that circle a healing together starts to happen. As for me, I am gradually learning to let go of self - destructive patterns of behaviour - self doubt, self gaslighting, shame and guilt driven actions. I am able to move through the anger that resides inside me in a generative way. Slowly I am building the stamina to acknowledge, accept, trust and respect my identity as a woman of colour and relate with white Australia in my own terms
Anonymous
Sessions with Dr Kathomi Gatwiri have changed my life. I am more confident and grounded in myself than I was two years ago. When life gets difficult, I'm more equipped with the tools to weather the hard times. Healing Together Therapy has been nourishing for me— though hard work, it's brilliant and even hilarious sometimes. To be seen in my entirety as a black woman is priceless. I'm so grateful!
AnonymousNurse Practioner, Melb
Kathomi's approach to supervision is gentle, supportive, and with a lens of critical thinking and curiosity. It has been so helpful to learn where my edges are so that I can more easily identify the type of clients I have the capacity to support. Her view on sitting outside of my clients experience and being curious to work to find answers collaboratively has greatly influenced my approach to counselling. My only complaint is that I always want to talk to her for hours longer as she is so engaging! I highly recommend Dr. Kathomi to practitioners who are working in this space.
Emerging therapistMelbourne
Kathomi is an extraordinary therapist and resource. As my practice supervisor, I find her depth of knowledge remarkable, and I am honored to be able to learn from her. I find reading academic textbooks and journals quite challenging, so having Kathomi verbally articulate and convey complex ideas in such an easy to understand way has helped me learn quickly and better support my clients - particularly when working in the space of racism and identity. I have also started to better understand my own experiences as a black woman, in a personal capacity, by applying her knowledge and wisdom to my own life.
AnonymousTherapist, Melbourne
What a woman, what a resource for Black people in this country. My first session with Dr. Kathomi, I called all my girlfriends and said "listen, you need a session." I look forward to our sessions so much, because we laugh, just as much as we do "the work".
AnonymousLawyer, Sydney
As Black woman, I just LOVE that there is a space for me to show up as I AM. I show up to our sessions with my bonnet, sometimes detangling my hair, other times braiding my hair or in my pyjamas because I know that this wouldn't be interpreted as disrespect to another Black woman and I don't have to pretend. I've never experienced this in all my years of seeking any service.
Anonymousmedical Doctor
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In the last few weeks, fears of #AfricanGangs have resurfaced in popular media with the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying that there is “a real concern about Sudanese

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Why I changed my name

According to my mother, when I was born my paternal grandmother named me Gatwiri. In my mother tongue, Kimeru, Gutwira literally translates to “cutting grass

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Have a inquiry? Email kathomi@healingtogethertherapy.com

© 2022 Healing Together. All Rights Reserved

*Before making a booking, please note*

I am taking a break from offering therapy sessions except for EAP clients from partner organisations. If you are booking a session, please know that you will be booking for a coaching session, which will incorporate my psychotherapy training as well as my academic research knowledge to support you.
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Credentials and experience

I have an interdisciplinary PhD in Social Work & Cultural Studies awarded by Flinders University of (Adelaide), a Masters degree in Counselling & Psychotherapy from Cairnmillar Institute (Melbourne) and a Bachelor of Social Work with First class honours. I am currently a registered Psychotherapist, with the Psychotherapists and Counsellors Federation of Australia and a senior academic at an Australian University.

I am an award-winning researcher with an established reputation for distinctive contribution in research in the field of race, identity and trauma. I am one of the leading African-Australian academic experts on the topics of race, racial trauma, racial fatigue, racial microagressions and African migranthood in Australia.  

As a therapist, I deploy Afrocentric and decolonised approaches to therapy which utilise story telling as a way of identifying patterns of maladaptive coping mechanisms and trauma imprints. I don’t provide clinical diagnostic frameworks, rather, I am guided by principles of Afrocentricity, Ubuntu and trauma informed approaches, to dig safely into the stories my clients embody and support them to re-re-develop heathier and more dignified narratives for and about themselves. My practice is supervised by two clinicians. Both have over 40 years of practice experience combined.

*Before making a book, please note

I am taking a break from doing therapy sessions except for EAP sessions with clients from partner organisations. If you are booking a session, please know that you will be booking for a coaching session, which will incorporate my psychotherapy training as well as my academic research knowledge to support you.
Book here