About me.

My name is Renee Hughes. I am the owner of The Mind at Heart counselling & co-working space.

I have over 20 years counselling experience in Australia and London working in acute hospital settings with adults, infants and children, child protection, fostering and adoption and Child and Adolescent Mental Health services.

My work in private practice includes working with adults who experience mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, trauma, perinatal issues, grief and loss, relationship difficulties, family violence, workplace issues, eating disorders and supporting LGBTIQA+ clients.

I have been employed as a Family Consultant in the Federal Circuit Court (Family Court) of Australia where I gave evidence in relation to risk issues and parenting arrangements for children. I am highly experienced at preparing Family reports (62G) and I have a keen interest in managing risk in relation to children and family violence.

Using my Family Court lens I can provide parenting co-ordination to separated parents in order to develop a healthy co-parenting relationship that prioritises the children’s wellbeing. I have also been trained in Child Inclusive Mediation and can represent the voice of the child in mediation sessions to assist in reaching child centered parenting arrangements.

I am also a qualified Parent Infant Mental Health specialist with extensive experience working with pregnant women and supporting the parent infant relationship. I am a registered Circle of Security Parenting facilitator. During my work at the Royal Womens and Royal Children’s Hospitals, I have also worked extensively with perinatal loss, premature infants in NICU and supporting parents regarding medical issues for their children.

I have a special interest in providing clinical supervision to other mental health practitioners and supporting clinicians in the field.