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Sage Perspectives

Trauma-informed psychology practice offering EMDR-integrated care in Newcastle and online.
Therapy available in English and Mandarin.

Sage Perspectives | Trauma-Aware EMDR Therapy Online and in Newcastle

Sage Perspectives is a private psychology practice in Newcastle and Online (Telehealth), offering trauma-aware therapy and EMDR for adults navigating difficult life expeirences. It is a safe space for people who have lived through experiences that fractured trust and created ongoing confusion or discord — in their relationships, in themselves, or in how they understand the world — and who are seeking to live in a way that feels more aligned with what matters to them.

Many people arrive here after lives that required ongoing adaptation — to environments, relationships, systems, or expectations that left little room for choice. Experiences such as prolonged stress, relationship breakdown, major life transitions, exposure to violence, abuse or loss, migration or resettlement, or difficult times that required endurance over choice can look very different on the surface. Yet they often share a common thread: the meanings and interpretations people had to form in order to live through them.

Over time, these stories can outgrow their usefulness, creating tension between the person they had to become in order to survive, and aspects of themselves that now feel more aligned with their values, direction, or sense of self

My work is grounded in trauma-aware, evidence-based psychology and informed by cross-cultural and depth-oriented perspectives. I am particularly interested in how people make sense of their lives, how experiences are held in the nervous system, and how change can occur without pathologising or forcing insight. Therapy here is collaborative, paced, and attentive to meaning — a space where complexity can be clarified without being reduced, a space where psychological care remains human and holistic.

This space may be a good fit if you:

felt that adaptation was survival, not choice
have been holding it together for a long time
feel past experiences still shape how you feel, think, or choose
feel caught between who you had to be and what now feels right
want psychological care that honours meaning, identity, and agency
are thoughtful, reflective, and want depth without being analysed
want therapy that respects meaning, culture, and the honours the body

Therapy available in English and Mandarin.

Interest areas

Transpersonal Psychology - exploration and integration of identity, consciousness, and spirituality in personal growth and finding deeper meaning.

Post-Traumatic resilience - the positive psychological transformations after trauma, that leads to higher level of personal meaning and wellbeing.

About Cindy

I’m a bilingual psychologist (English and Mandarin). My work as a psychologist has been shaped by experiences both inside and outside the therapy room, and by living across cultures and systems myself. I am a migrant, and I have worked across government - in international contexts across and diplomacy, defence - in embassies, conflict zones, humanitarian settings, and complex institutional systems. I have also worked with people whose lives have been shaped by abuse, displacement, disability, and prolonged exposure to stress or responsibility.

What these environments often share is a lack of space to process experience while it is happening. People adapt, they function, they carry on — often with unprocessed experiences in their mind, body, and spirit. Then one day, the cost of holding everything together begins to show up - as burnout or exhaustion, crisis, illness, or fracture.

How I work | A trauma-informed and non-pathologising approach

My interest lies less in diagnosis, and more in how people make sense of their lives. As a migrant myself, I am interested in how identity, belonging, and meaning shift over time for us individually. I bring curiosity to how experiences and meaning form, and how attitudes and behaviours that once helped us, can sometimes turn against us. I am fascinated by how we relate to ourselves, each other, and our life in a rapidly changing world.

My lived experiences, both personal and professional, has guided me towards training in EMDR and trauma-informed psychology. I find EMDR to be a helpful and adaptive way to work with experiences and meanings that were formed under threat, constraint, or limited choice. It allows people to revisit these experiences with greater safety and agency, and to update the meanings they formed at the time, by resourcing and calming the nervous system. Alongside EMDR, I draw on other therapy modalities that bring awareness to the body, compassion to the self-critic, and practical and value-aligned approaches to life's challenges.

Therapy here is a space to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with what feels coherent, aligned, and true — in a way that is grounded, thoughtful, and human.

How Therapy Works

Therapy at Sage Perspectives is individual, collaborative, and paced. It’s grounded in the understanding that distress often reflects how experiences were interpreted and held over time — especially where safety, choice, or support were limited. Rather than beginning with diagnostic labels or techniques, our work focuses on how experiences shape meaning, identity, and response. This creates space to revisit experiences with steadiness, allowing new understanding and coherence to emerge without forcing insight or change.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy provides a structured and confidential space to explore experiences that continue to influence how you relate to yourself, others, and the world. Sessions are tailored and collaborative, with attention to readiness, consent, and pacing.

This approach may be helpful for people navigating prolonged stress, identity shifts, relational difficulties, or the after-effects of experiences that required endurance rather than choice.

EMDR Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based psychotherapy informed by research on adaptive information processing and memory reconsolidation. In this practice, EMDR is introduced carefully and collaboratively, and only when appropriate.

EMDR supports the nervous system to reprocess experiences that were encoded under threat, constraint, or prolonged stress, so they no longer need to be held in isolation. When integration occurs, people can access their own adaptive responses and re-evaluate meanings formed at the time — not because they’re instructed to think differently, but because the system is no longer required to remain in a defensive state.

Preparation, consent, and pacing are central to this work.

Group Therapy (EMDR-Informed)

From time to time, I offer small group therapy spaces informed by trauma-aware and EMDR-based principles and standard EMDR group protocols. These groups support stabilisation, reflection, and shared exploration within a contained and structured environment. Activities may draw on resourcing elements such as sound, movement, art, or nature, bilateral stimulation, and guided reflection, while remaining responsive to the needs and readiness of participants. Participation is voluntary and suitability is considered in advance.

Details of upcoming groups are shared separately in the Events page.

Movement-Supported Sessions (Walk-and-Talk)

For some people, gentle movement can support reflection and regulation. Where appropriate and agreed, sessions may take place while walking — for example along the beach or in a bush setting. These sessions follow the same therapeutic structure, ethical standards, and professional boundaries as in-room therapy. Walking is not used as an intervention in itself, but as context that some people find supports ease of conversation and regulation.

Sessions with a Dog or Pet Present

For some people, the presence of an animal can help create a calmer, more natural space for conversation. Where appropriate and agreed in advance, sessions may take place with my dog present, or clients may bring their own pet when this feels suitable and has been discussed beforehand. This is not animal-assisted therapy, but many people find the presence of an animal grounding or less formal, which can make it easier to engage in conversation. Participation is always optional, and the same therapeutic structure, boundaries, and ethical standards are maintained.

An Integrative, Non-Pathologising Approach

Alongside EMDR, therapy may draw on elements such as mindfulness, somatic awareness, and reflective exploration where these are supportive. These are not used as techniques to fix or manage experience, but as ways of increasing awareness, stability, and choice. Therapy is a space to slow down, make sense of what has been carried, and reconnect with ways of living that feel more coherent and aligned.