Bilingual Counselling Services | Culturally Sensitive Counselling at Petunia Counselling

Hi, I'm Roula.

I'm a PACFA-registered Clinical Counsellor with over five years of experience and approximately 1,500 individual sessions supporting people through some of life's most painful and complex moments.

I founded Petunia Counselling Services because I believe everyone deserves a space where they feel genuinely heard — not managed, not rushed, not judged. A space where they can finally stop performing and start healing.

I specialise in culturally sensitive counselling focused on boundaries and empowerment, trauma recovery, grief and loss, domestic violence, and problem gambling. I work with individuals and couples facing relationship difficulties, drawing on CBT, ACT, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Solution-Focused approaches — always tailored to you, never a one-size-fits-all formula.

What I bring to the room isn't just clinical training. I've navigated life as an immigrant, built a career from scratch in a new country, raised a family, and maintained a marriage — all while quietly losing myself along the way. I found my way back. And I know what it takes.

I'm fluent in English and Arabic, and I offer bilingual counselling for clients from Arabic-speaking and Middle Eastern backgrounds. You shouldn't have to translate your pain into a language that doesn't quite fit it. I work with clients across Bundoora and Melbourne's northern suburbs, both in person and online.

Qualifications & Credentials

– Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling – Australian College of Applied Psychology (2021)

– PACFA Certified Practising Registrant

– MARAM – Intermediate Risk Assessment & Family Violence

– Core Skills in Family Therapy  

– Specialist training in Boundaries, Trauma, and more