About Monica
Welcome, I'm glad you're here.
I'm Monica — somatic psychotherapist, nervous system guide, registered nurse, and mother. If you've found your way here, there's a good chance something in you is ready for a different kind of support. Not another strategy to manage yourself. Not another framework to understand yourself. But a way back to yourself — to the truth of who you are beneath the years of over-giving, over-adapting, and carrying too much.
That's what this work is about.
And it's what brought me here too.
A Holistic Practitioner of Somatic Informed Psychotherapy
As a mental health nurse I spent years supporting people carrying the weight of unresolved stress and trauma, struggling to heal despite talk therapy and medication. These traditional methods, though well-intentioned, often left people feeling disempowered and with little understanding of the root cause of their issues. I knew there had to be more.
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This led me to train in trauma-informed modalities, including under Dr. Gabor Maté, one of the world's leading experts in addiction and trauma and Deb Dana, translator of our current compass to understanding the nervous system - Polyvagal Theory.
My work is grounded in Biomedical Science and trauma-informed practice — but it is equally guided by intuition. By a capacity, developed through my own lived experience, to sense what is needed in the room before it is spoken. It is this combination of clinical knowledge and inner knowing that shapes how I work with each person. Together, these create the conditions for something that goes beyond technique — a space where real and lasting change becomes possible.
My Why
Six years ago, I hit a breaking point.
Overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck in cycles of emotional reactivity, I was burnt out from over 20 years in mental health nursing. Carrying vicarious trauma from witnessing deep suffering and being in a high risk environment, I also struggled with imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the moral conflict of working in a system that stabilized but didn’t truly heal.
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Then came the panic attacks—a wake-up call. I knew I needed more than talk therapy or medication from witnessing little change in those who were accessing these—people who often felt stuck in the same cycles, struggling with the same pain, despite years in the system. Self-care - regular yoga, exercise, a healthy diet, a supportive network - wasn't cutting it either. I still felt like I was running uphill. I needed something deeper, something that addressed the root of my symptoms, not just managed them.
I couldn’t even imagine a life free from stress and self-doubt, constantly questioning what was wrong with me. I longed to feel strong, resilient, and in control. I also dreamed of starting a family, but I didn’t feel emotionally ready to raise a child.
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So, I sought not just the most effective methods I could find, but what I found to be approaches on the cutting edge of transforming what we understand about health and wellness.
What I found changed everything. But it was motherhood that showed me just how much.
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When my daughter arrived, I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks. Despite everything I knew — all the training, all the awareness, all the genuine desire to do things differently — I found myself responding to her in ways I knew weren't serving her. Patterns I could see clearly. Patterns I understood intellectually. Patterns I had vowed, more than once, not to repeat.
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And yet there they were.
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That was the moment everything I had been learning about the nervous system became deeply, personally real. I began to understand that what I was witnessing — in myself, and in her — wasn't a failure of will or knowledge. It was a nervous system still running on old programming. Still trying to keep me safe using strategies that no longer fitted the life I was living.
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When I began working directly with my nervous system — and understanding hers — the shifts were unlike anything I had experienced before. Not just in how I felt, but in how she responded. In the space between us. In the emotional atmosphere of our home.
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I could write a whole book on what unfolded from there. What I know is this: that work did not just change me. It changed what my daughter is growing up inside of.
That is why I do this.
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY
BECOMING A MOTHER
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Becoming a mother is just that...a becoming.
It's not easy, with such conflicting advice out there on parenting we can get so disconnected from the one thing we can rely on - our intuition. What's for sure is my love for her.
I see the whole universe inside of her.
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She is my motivation for seeking the most effective approaches to healing so that the beliefs that have limited me are not passed down to her...and her children's children...and that her light doesn't get diminished by my habitual and conditioned reactions.
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I have learned why despite my 'intention' to be a calm and playful parent that this is not always possible. Nor are we supposed to be calm all the time. I have learned that what she needs me to be is authentic and present. But our unconscious processes can hinder this.
Our stored issues cloud our ability to see our children for who they truly are, leading to their own stored issues further down the track.
Learning how to be truly present has been a gift, allowing me to enjoy my time with her before she grows up (far) too quickly before my eyes and the time is gone.
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It is a goal of mine to share what I have learned with other parents. I believe this work is among the most important we can do — for our children, and for the generations that follow.
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Some things I really care about...
Qualifications and Experience
With 20+ years’ experience in the mental health space as a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Therapist, I am committed to ongoing learning as well as my own personal practice of healing and expansion so that I may guide and empower others with the belief of what is possible.
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Compassionate Inquiry Professional graduate-level training (Gabor Maté)
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Compassionate Inquiry Short Course
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Master of Mental Health Nursing
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BSc Mental Health Nursing
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BSc Biomedical Science
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Developer of STAR - a trauma-informed, recovery-oriented alternative to traditional aggression management for NSW Health.
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The Richards Trauma Process Practitioner Program (Certified)
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Internal Family Systems introductory workshops 1&2
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Trauma Informed Coaching Certificate
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Clinical Supervision Training
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Solution Focussed Therapy​
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Current enrolment in Compassionate Inquiry Mentorship Training.
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"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
Albert Einstein
Publications
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Molloy, L., Wilson, V., O’Connor, M., Merrick, T.T., Guha, M., Eason, M. et al. (2024) Exploring safety culture within inpatient mental health units: The results from participant observation across three mental health services. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 00, 1–9. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13312​
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Guha, M. D., Cutler, N. A., Heffernan, T., & Davis, M. (2022). Developing a Trauma-Informed and Recovery-Oriented Alternative to “Aggression Management” Training for a Metropolitan and Rural Mental Health Service. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 1–7.
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Molloy, L., Guha, M.D., Scott, M.P., Beckett, P., Merrick, T.T., & Patton, D (2021) Mental health nursing practice and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: an integrative review. Contemporary Nurse
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Molloy, L., Beckett, P., Chidarikire, S., Scott, M. P., Guha, M. D., Merrick, T. T., & Patton, D. (2021). ‘First tonight, the contentious new code telling nurses to say, “sorry for being white”: Mental health nurses’ beliefs about their Code of Conduct and cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.
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Molloy, L.., Beckett, P., Chidarikire, S., Merrick, T. T., Guha, M., & Patton, D. (2020). Culture, the stigma of mental illness, and young people. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 58(11), 15-18.
My core values
At the core of everything I do is to empower, advocate and educate so that you are left with a better understanding of who you truly are, and recognise your value, importance, and crucial role to play in the world.
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I do this via my therapy practice as well as academic and education pathways, which are underpinned by a strong focus on Recovery-oriented, Trauma-informed, Culturally safe, and Compassionate care.
