I'm Emma. My path here was anything but straight — and that turns out to be the whole point.
The Full Story
I started out as an actor and stand-up comedian in Adelaide, then moved to Melbourne to perform and collaborate. Along the way I became a YouTube Sexpert —it started off as lighthearted advice, and became well-researched content about sex, sexuality, dating, and relationships. I loved helping people, and people seemed to be comfortable talking to me about all the tricky stuff. I wanted to help for real. I went back to university, completed an Honours degree in Psychology, then a Master of Social Work. While there, I wrote for publications including Flinders University's Empire Times, Body and Soul and the Adult Match Maker Blog. After graduating I became an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker. The credentials are real and they matter — but they're not why I'm good at this. I'm good at this because I've lived some of it. And I am still learning and living. I'm a late-diagnosed neurodivergent person who has navigated my own health challenges, significant life shifts, and a long stretch of not quite fitting anywhere. I know what it's like to spend years thinking something is fundamentally wrong with you before realising the world was just built for someone else. That's not a footnote to my clinical work. It's the whole foundation of it.
What that means for you
If you've had therapy before and it felt like being assessed, managed, or gently redirected toward being easier to deal with — I get it. That's not what happens here.
This is not a clipboard-and-worksheet practice. I'm not going to pathologise the parts of you that are just inconvenient for other people.
I've also spent years talking frankly about bodies, sexuality, relationships, and the messy bits of being human — so if you think your situation is going to make me uncomfortable, I'd genuinely encourage you to try. If it isn't illegal, it almost certainly won't.
What I will do is pay attention. Take you seriously. Work with what's actually going on, not a tidied-up version of it.
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If you are Nervous About Reaching out
A lot of people searching for counselling have had at least one experience where asking for help didn't go well. Where they felt judged, dismissed, or handed a solution to a problem that wasn't quite the one they brought in.
I'm not going to promise it'll definitely be different this time — I'm human, I make mistakes. But when I do, I want to fix them. What I can promise is that you will be seen and heard, and that together, hopefully, we can get it right.
I also know that going to a new therapist can be intimidating and exhausting. Spending your precious time and money on a session only to realise it's not the right fit — especially when resources are limited — can make it hard to even start.
That's why I offer a free 15-minute introductory session. No obligation. Come and ask me questions, see the room, get a feel for whether working together makes sense. If it doesn't, I'll be in a better position to point you somewhere that might.
You don't have to be in crisis. You don't have to have figured out what's wrong before you reach out.
You just have to be willing to show up.
The Person Behind The Practice
Outside the therapy room I'm a lino print artist — my own work is on the walls in here, which feels right. I garden, I have strong opinions about ponds, and I spend an unreasonable amount of time with my pets.
My background as a writer and performer isn't something I leave at the door. It makes me better at reading a room, finding the unexpected angle, and knowing when a moment of honesty does more than another careful therapeutic reflection.
Credentials
Emma Sachsse — MSW, B Psych (Hons), AMHSW Accredited Mental Health Social Worker Medicare Provider Number: 1644372H Member, Australian Association of Social Workers