Penelope Lane is a Mindfulness Practitioner and Clinical Psychologist who has worked in private practice in Melbourne and Perth for 22 years. She had her first experience of mindfulness at the age of 11 and has been  dedicated to the practice of mindfulness for 15 years.

Penelope specialises in mindfulness based cognitive therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness therapy. She also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as well as The Work by Byron Katie. With each of these therapeutic approaches,  she creates a mindful presence when working with her clients allowing for the best opportunities to make deep long-term changes.

She has a mature sense of compassion and understanding of what it means to be human and live in the world we do; an exceptional ability to assess and define clinical problems and the expertise to know which treatment strategy is best suited for each client. Finally, the tenacity to challenge problematic behavioural patterns whilst maintaining a sense of empathy.

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Client Issues

There are a range of issues Penelope is experienced in dealing with including:

• Depression
• Chronic Unhappiness
• Anxiety problems like general anxiety, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety
• Low Self-esteem
• Posttraumatic Stress
• Mid-life unrest
• Parenting troubles
• Relationship concerns
• Eating disorders
• Sexual difficulties
• Bereavement concerns
• Unexplained somatic complaints
• Self-harm

Emotional Well-Being Questionnaire

Following are twenty questions that help define if you could be more emotionally un-well than emotionally well. Your answers to these questions will give you some idea about whether you could be depressed or anxious or experiencing some other emotional issue like low self-esteem. As this test will only give you an indication of your state of emotional well-being, I suggest going to www.beyondblue.org.au and the symptom checklist link. Here you will find other tests that will give you a clearer result and other very useful information.

Please read the following statements and answer with either agree or disagree.

1. I feel down-sad and unhappy most days.
2. If I could I would sleep more than I do or can.
3. I don’t enjoy my favourite activities as much as I used to.
4. My memory, especially for things that have happened recently is worse than it used to be.
5. I get frustrated with things more than I used to.
6. I’m not looking forward to the future much these days.
7. I worry about so much in my life.
8. I get angry more then I used to.
9. This world of ours has become a stressful, frightening place for me.
10. I don’t cope with things as well as I used to.
11. I feel stressed a lot of the time.
12. I often feel like I’m going to get sick.
13. I think about negative things more than I think about positive things.
14. I seem to be getting more emotional and teary for no apparent reason these days.
15. I worry that people are going to find out that I am a bad person.
16. I don’t feel that comfortable or positive about myself.
17. I seem to have little or no confidence these days.
18. I really worry about other people’s opinion of me.
19. I feel so yuck inside but I have to put on a happy, brave face with others.
20. If things don’t improve for me soon, I worry that I might hurt myself.

If you have answered agree to more of these statements than disagree then it is suggested that you look at some of the following things:

1. Look at the beyond blue website - www.beyondblue.org.au
2. See your GP to discuss the answers to these statements and the possibility of a referral to a health professional to assist you.
3. Talk to a loved one or close friend about how you have been feeling.
4. Lastly and most importantly, know and trust that there is help for you in your community, you only need to ask.

Treatment Strategies

Penelope uses a range of therapy techniques including:

• Cognitive-behavioural therapy
• mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
• mindfulness therapy
• meditation / relaxation therapy
• insight psychotherapy
• acceptance and commitment therapy
• Eckhart Tolle inspired life skills
• The Work by Byron Katie