Herath Abeysekara , AASW

Herath Abeysekara is an AASW-accredited social worker with six years of experience working in Queensland, Australia. She focuses on everyday problems like stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, depression and relationship difficulties. Her approach is warm and straightforward, helping people take small, practical steps toward feeling steadier and more confident.

Herath creates a calm, non-judgemental space for people to talk about what matters most to them. She listens for the values and goals behind concerns and helps clients find realistic ways to move forward. Conversations tend to be focused and down-to-earth, not full of jargon.

She uses several evidence-informed methods, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, to help with thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Attachment-based ideas guide work around relationship patterns and trust. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills can be introduced for emotion regulation when needed.

Therapy is collaborative. Herath helps clients pick techniques that suit their life and preferences. Sessions aim to build useful skills that can be practised between meetings so change can happen outside the room.

People often come for support with coping through big life changes, improving communication, or rebuilding self-belief after setbacks. Herath supports clients to set clear, achievable goals and to notice small gains along the way.

How Herath’s Approaches Translate to Online Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages people to notice painful thoughts and feelings while committing to actions that match their values. Online sessions can use ACT exercises to clarify what matters and to plan small, manageable steps toward those values. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing them with practical experiments. Over video or phone, CBT tasks such as behavioural activation or thought records can be set and reviewed between meetings.

Finding the right approach is part of the process and Herath treats this as a team effort. She will talk with clients about their goals and preferences, try techniques, and adjust methods as needed. This collaborative stance helps decide whether ACT, CBT, attachment-based ideas or skills from other methods fit best for the person’s situation.

Online formats offer practical benefits. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when seeing facial cues matters. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging suit quick updates, gradual disclosure or extra support between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy going around work, caregiving or other commitments.