Hello! I am Loz, I was born in NZ and moved to Australia in 1995. I am now an Australian citizen. I am in my late 50's as I type this and married for the last 21 years. My children are all in their 30s and I have grandchildren aged from infant to 18 yrs. I moved to Queensland in 2019 after living in Victoria for 24 years.

I lost my father when I was 7, I am a survivor of a violent and abusive childhood, was in foster care twice and group residential care by the time I was 13. Asked to leave school 3 weeks before I turned 16, a mother by the time I was 17 and getting paid by the government, didn't set me on the easy path. I spent the next 13 years learning about adult life and its judging & unforgiving ways. I have been in two DV relationships and I've been so broke I had to get food parcels. By the time I was 30 I had three kids and I was single - again... Due to my history I have a strong belief that just because we start off at the back of the race track - doesn't mean we stay there. One of my personal sayings is "I am here now IN SPITE of my beginnings"

Mental Health

I've experienced clinical depression twice in my life, the last time I was suicidal I was 40. I have had extensive counselling that took approximately 5 years and now I recognise my good days from my bad days which are unpredictable and random. I have certain self care strategies that I put in place and some days I'm not that clever and I suffer. However, I get it, it is part of who I am today and I'm ok with that. I am a big advocate for counselling as I have learnt that sometimes we don't know what we do wrong until we can find someone who is on our side and can help us to walk through the situation with an unbiased and caring sense of support without any hidden agendas. Friends and family normally have best intentions however a caring and knowledgeable counsellor or psychologist has no personal connection and will keep our rawest and darkest worries in confidence without judgment.

Career

I spent the next 20 years building my career from a machine operator in a biscuit factory to middle management as an international buyer for commercial products. I started a fragrance carrier business from scratch and six years later sold it in four weeks. I then decided to move into the community sector with a strong feeling to give back and use my life experience to help others.

In 2013 I studied Cert IV in Youth Work and Alcohol & Drugs. I followed that up with diploma at RMIT in Melbourne. Working in residential care then moving on to ReGens adult AOD detox unit. During my studies in Youth Work, I volunteered in Melbourne city at night feeding and supporting homeless youth for three years. From working with residential care kids, my own life experience and then seeing a TV program from Four Corners called Growing up Poor based in Claymore NSW, I decided to build the Independent Living Program. (see under the "Services" tab) . To be able to present the program properly I studied more and became certified in Training and Assessment, knowing my client base may have challenges through the course I wanted to know what made a good counsellor so I could offer these types of counsellors to the students of the program. In April 2020 I finished my Bachelor Degree in Counselling and have met some amazing counsellors. Though my passion is with the ILP, based on client feedback from my counselling services, I have now opened my own private practice for counselling as part of Trafmor Group, and I provide counselling to my clients while also creating and managing a variety of workshops to support Mental Health for both youth and adults, such as online workshops for finding your best partner (individual), groups for Grief & Loss, managing staff with Mental Health issues, the Independent Living Program and the 7 Years Presentation.

In summary

Who is Loz? good question, I think I am someone who has lived many lives or life experiences during my time and learnt so much about people, the whys the why nots and I have also learnt I am not everyone's cup of Tea...that's ok. It really is...

I am strong, and weak as piss (can I say that?) I am honest and have high integrity, and I think, a great sense of humour to the point I can laugh at myself just as much as anyone else and I can be a drama queen. I am emotional and clear thinking I am loving and I can be dismissive. I am loyal and blind as a bat so I can miss the point with ease but all in all - I am human just like you.

Cheers, Loz