Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis Melbourne

My name is Bita Riazati, a psychotherapist based in Melbourne, and I have many years of training, qualified as a consulting psychologist, with practice rooms in Hawthorn, Kew, and Belgrave. People come to sessions with me to talk about what may be troubling them, or about things that are initially very difficult to put into words. These issues can be all sorts of things to do with severe mental health concerns or existential concerns, sexuality, hard feelings, repeating issues, or workplace problems, or even parenting and children. I am very experienced in working across a range of issues and presentations, and I've had extensive training to treat people and their conditions.

My patients come to weekly sessions to speak, and through the act of us talking together — which is a different mode of listening and analysing because of my many years of training — not only may there be relief over time, but also hope for new questions, meanings, and openings.

My work enables what may not be immediately obvious to come into expression in sessions, creating the possibility for something different to be heard as we talk about change — and change is what we always talk together about, to see what can come from this work together next. This is both rewarding, surprising, and difficult to name at times. I work with you to find names for difficult experiences, and part with painful experiences by speaking about them. Each session is containing, and safe to talk about whatever is on your mind.

Some patients experience difficulties that are intertwined with intense feelings and painful thoughts — sometimes involving love or challenges in relating to their partners. The father of psychotherapy, Freud, said that love underpins all of our human interactions. Indeed, science has shown us that love is very much about our beings, serving as the core force in everyday relationships — whether romantic, to do with family, children, or work-related. Yes, for example, how we choose what we love to do, which may be masked by unconscious choices given to us — things we have inherited from society, culture, family — and it also plays a role in therapy when we talk about them, to see what and how these things control your everyday life.

People often speak about difficulties that come with things they hold passionately, which sometimes become too much or even unbearable. Importantly, the way our parents and families loved us during childhood says something about how we react and relate to the things that are dear to us in adult relationships. These issues extend beyond personal bonds and control how we choose our jobs, interests, and even how we feel inside our bodies — bodies we did not choose but, nevertheless, may have meanings. And these meanings unfold in therapy.

Essentially, our thoughts, dreams, and ways of relating — lived outside of conscious awareness — reveal something about our suffering and desires. We listen to these together and see what we want to keep, and what we separate from.