- Emotionally-Focused Therapy
- Attachment work
- CBT techniques
About Joanna
Joanna Ridgeway is an ACA counsellor with 14 years of experience working in Australia. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or low mood. She also supports people struggling with relationship strain, trauma and abuse, and problems with self esteem.
Joanna uses approaches that focus on emotions and attachment to help people name what is happening inside. She listens and helps clients talk through painful feelings and patterns that repeat in relationships. Conversations are practical and direct, with simple steps to try between sessions.
Her work covers a wide range of related concerns. These include abandonment, attachment issues, communication problems, commitment worries, codependency and blended family stress. Joanna also works with people facing chronic illness, cancer, caregiving strain, ageing concerns, body image and divorce and separation.
Sessions draw on Emotionally-Focused Therapy alongside attachment-based ideas, client-centred ways of working and cognitive behavioural techniques. She may also use elements of the Gottman Method when relationship issues are present. The aim is to clarify emotions, shift unhelpful interaction patterns and build more effective ways of coping.
Joanna welcomes straightforward conversations about what someone wants to change. She will work with each client to set practical goals and try small experiments in how they relate to themselves and others. If someone wants to move forward, she supports clear next steps and ongoing check-ins.
How Joanna uses EFT and related approaches online
Joanna draws on Emotionally-Focused Therapy to help people identify and name difficult feelings, and to change painful interaction patterns. EFT focuses on emotions and how they shape the way people relate to themselves and others, and it is often used when relationships and attachment are central concerns.She also uses attachment-based ideas to look at how early relationships influence current patterns. Attachment perspectives help clarify recurring fears about safety, closeness and abandonment. Joanna combines these with client-centred techniques that focus on what matters most to the person, and cognitive behavioural elements to test practical changes and coping strategies.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the process. Joanna will work collaboratively to decide which methods fit a person's goals and preferences, and will adapt methods as needs change. The focus is on clear goals, short experiments between sessions and regular review of progress.
Session formats are not specified in the biography, so please confirm current options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow check-ins from different locations. Phone sessions can be useful for brief check-ins or when bandwidth is limited, while video sessions allow for more interactive work and visual connection.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
14+ years
Listed in
Australia
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she address?
Joanna works with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma and low self esteem, plus related areas such as abandonment, communication problems and caregiving stress.
What is her therapeutic style?
She uses Emotionally-Focused Therapy alongside attachment-based, client-centred and cognitive behavioural approaches to help people name emotions and change repeating patterns.
How much experience does she have?
Joanna has 14 years of professional experience working in Australia.
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
She is an ACA counsellor and works from Australia.
Which languages are used in sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How much do sessions cost?
Cost varies by location; sessions are billed through a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.
How do I begin therapy with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Profile details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. Credential and registration rules differ between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.