Cherrie Adams

Mrs Havachat Counselling

In 2010 I retired from my lifelong job as a Travel Agent and began to volunteer for Lifeline as a phone support worker. I did that for 2 years and then another 3years phone support for FDS a support organisation for families with loved ones suffering with addiction.

This work led me to career change. In 2013 I began a 2.5 year Advance Diploma of Counselling. My final task was to find 130 hours of placement and then submit my final assignment in December of 2015. I was on track to graduate in early 2016.

January of 2015 began with devastating news however.  Our then 25 year old son, Christopher, (but called Critter), was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. His world was shattered and those of us around him could only wonder at his determination and courage to stare down this insidious and unwanted intruder.

His prognosis was perhaps for 3 to 5 years and we were optimistic that we would find a trial for him to enter and buy him more time, or dare we hope, a cure!

I wanted to abandon my studies but the words of the mother can come back at you from the mouths of the children!

One night I told Critter I was going to throw in my course so I could focus on him and his wellbeing. He looked at me with his gorgeous blue/green eyes and said:

“Mum, you don’t get to use my Cancer as an excuse to not finish. You're a ‘Gunna,’ and you are NOT gunna bail on this. You are too close. Get the bloody thing done!”

And there it was. My future career was locked in.

Our dear Critter only survived 11 months from diagnosis. He died on 19th November 2015, but his impact on us and all who knew and loved him was profound.

I did graduate in early 2016 and in 2017 with the love and guidance of my family and friends, opened my own business….MRS HAVACHAT COUNSELLING.

It is a privilege to hold space for my clients in their most testing times and to be trusted with their vulnerability is a gift that I do not take lightly.

So how do I work?

I prefer to see my role as the conduit to reconnect you with yourself. Many issues arise from living a life that is not congruent with your truth. We become a version of ourselves based on others needs. We get caught in the “shoulds”. Always looking at the needs and will of others imposed upon us by family of origin, school, work, societal demands, all of which may result in the loss of self.

It’s hard to comprehend that self care and self love does not equate to being selfish. So many problems in relationships arise from the loss of self. We can feel unseen, unheard, unworthy.

In my sessions I work with you to seek that reconnection with self. It’s such a joy to watch a client work through the fog and begin to see the sunlight.

When dealing with grief, there can be survivor guilt, the loss of a loved one, but also of the life planned, or the life taken too soon. We gently explore your story and hopefully find a place for you to lay down your pain for a time.

The opportunity to work with Peace of Mind is a treasure that I hold dear.

Through all of this I am reminded that:

You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it

Love and light

Cherrie