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Meet Giselle Martins 

Qualified Mental Health Therapist

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I’m a qualified therapist with more than 10 years of experience and professional training in Psychology and Counselling, registered with the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). I help people work through past trauma, grief, difficult life experiences, and family or cultural challenges, using techniques that support mind, body and spirit. 

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Also as a certified Taiji and Qigong instructor, in 2014, I launched OMA Wellness, offering workshops to help people move with awareness, reduce stress, and cultivate inner balance. These mindful movement practices combined with my training in Somatic Experiencing Basic Principles directly taught by Peter Levine, are an important part of how I support wellbeing in my therapy work.

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Alongside my therapeutic training, since 2009 I have been studying buddha-dharma through Tantric Vajrayāna Buddhist practice from the Tibetan Drikung Kagyu lineage. I study under my root teacher, Lama Yongdu Chokyi Gyaltsen, and have received transmissions and empowerments from H.E. Drikung Lho Ontul Rinpoche. I weave this contemplative depth into my work, guiding individuals toward inner balance, resilience, and embodied wellbeing.

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Waterfall

My Background

I was born and raised in the heart of Brazil, where I grew up surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of waterfalls, rivers, and dazzling crystals. I have a multiethnic background, my mother's side traces back to migrants from Germany and Poland during World War II, while my father's side has roots in Portugal and potentially the indigenous Krenak people of Brazil.

 

Embracing a global identity, I've spent a significant portion of my life travelling to over 25 countries worldwide. For more than 15 years, I've established my home base in Oceania, particularly in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia, where I now reside.

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My journey into becoming a therapist was deeply motivated by my own path of healing from complex trauma, including grief, intergenerational challenges, struggles with drugs and alcohol, and experiences of domestic, family and sexual abuse.

Working through these challenges led me to a conscious path of recovery and ignited my passion for supporting others toward wellbeing and resilience.

 

I am a highly sensitive person, therefore being with and in nature, practicing embodied movement and listening to soulful music is an integral part to my self-care routine. I love travelling, hiking, scuba diving and contemplating the beauty in the natural world.

My Work Experiences

For more than 10 years, I’ve supported hundreds of clients worldwide through individual therapeutic sessions, both in-person and online. I’ve also worked with Indigenous, migrant, and refugee communities, led wellbeing programs, facilitated workshops and retreats, and contributed to research and teaching in psychology.

 

My approach to therapy doesn’t quite follow the popular/biomedical model. I often work with clients that had past negative experiences in therapy or didn't find it that useful. 

I use a range of modalities, all aimed in supporting in your journey of personal growth.​​​​​

Qualifications

Dip. Counselling/ Completed credits towards MPsych/ B.Soc.Sc. (Psych).
Registered with the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Counselling Association (ACA)

I respectfully acknowledge the Maori people, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa, New Zealand, whom I have lived and learned with for 16 years.

I also honour the indigenous of Brazil, my birth country, especially the Guarani, Huni Kuin and Krenak people who also had impacted and influenced my personal and professional growth. 

I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where I currently reside in the Northern Rivers, NSW - Australia, particularly the Bundjalung Nation. I honor their Elders past, present, and future, and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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