Pamela Varas, ACA

Pamela Varas is an ACA counsellor who began practising after finishing a Bachelor of Counselling at the Australian College of Applied Professions in 2022. She has built a client-facing practice called Rebuild Together Counselling and has also worked in roles providing support to carers and people living with dementia.

Pamela describes herself as warm and compassionate. She focuses on building trust quickly so people can talk about hard things. Her work has included supporting women who experienced domestic violence and offering brief solution-focused support to carers at Dementia Australia.

She brings more than 911 client contact hours and nearly 75 hours of clinic supervision, both individual and group. Pamela is completing further study toward a Master of Psychotherapy and Counselling and continues supervised learning alongside practice.

Pamela mainly helps people who are dealing with depression, anxiety and the effects of childhood trauma. She also supports those coping with grief, relationship difficulties, stress, compassion fatigue and ADHD-related concerns. Pamela works with people on issues such as abandonment, caregiver stress, isolation, immigration worries, guilt and shame, and questions about life purpose.

Her approach combines person-centred skills with practical techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy, plus solution-focused strategies and elements of the Gottman Method for relationship work. Pamela aims to make sessions collaborative and down-to-earth. She invites people to start at a pace that feels manageable and to bring specific goals to the first sessions.

Approaches that translate to online therapy

Client-centred therapy focuses on listening, empathy and helping people find their own solutions; it suits people who need a trusting space to talk and to work through difficult feelings. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) emphasises practical steps and skills to change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours, commonly used for anxiety, depression and sleeping difficulties. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) offers skills in emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness, which can help with intense emotions and relationship challenges.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Pamela will work with each person to decide which methods suit their needs and goals, and she makes adjustments as therapy progresses. The first sessions often focus on identifying priorities and testing what feels helpful.

The biography does not list specific online session formats, so please confirm the available options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into work breaks, reduce travel time and enable shorter check-ins when needed. It also allows consistent contact for people juggling caring responsibilities or remote schedules. An appropriately qualified counsellor can adapt these approaches to work well at a distance, tailoring exercises, homework and pacing to everyday life.