Lee Beaton
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist (EFT Specialist)
I am an experienced Gestalt psychotherapist specialising in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with individuals and couples. Since 2017, I have supported couples to move beyond conflict, disconnection, and distress, helping them create stronger emotional bonds, greater intimacy, and lasting relationship security.
Emotionally Focused Therapy is a compassionate, non-judgemental, and evidence-based approach grounded in attachment theory and contemporary neuroscience. Research demonstrates that EFT can significantly improve relationship satisfaction, with many couples maintaining these gains over time. I offer a warm and collaborative space where couples can understand the attachment patterns and protective strategies that shape their relationship.
By slowing things down and exploring the deeper vulnerable emotions beneath conflict, I help partners feel seen, heard, and understood. This creates the foundation for rebuilding trust, emotional safety, and connection. I see couples therapy not as a last resort, but as an investment in the health and resilience of your relationship.
I support couples navigating a range of relationship challenges, including communication difficulties, recurring conflict patterns, emotional disconnection, attachment injuries, and recovery after an affair or betrayal. Using an attachment-focused EFT approach, I help partners process painful ruptures and work towards rebuilding trust and connection.
I also support individuals using Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), helping clients heal attachment wounds, process trauma, and develop greater emotional resilience and self-compassion. My Gestalt training complements EFT by bringing an embodied, present-centred awareness to the therapeutic process.
My personal experiences of becoming a parent later in life, living in a neurodiverse marriage, and undertaking couples therapy myself have deepened my empathy and continue to shape the way I work. As a late-diagnosed neurodivergent therapist, I bring both lived and professional understanding to supporting neurodivergent individuals and couples.
I have a particular interest in intimacy and sexuality within relationships, recognising how these areas can be shaped by attachment, shame, past experiences, and cultural expectations.
With more than 20 years’ experience across mental health and community settings, I also draw on somatic practices in my clinical work and daily life, including yoga, meditation, and dance. These practices inform my understanding that healing involves the whole person — mind, body, emotions, and relationships.
Based in Naarm (Melbourne), I work with individuals and couples of all cultures, genders, and sexualities, offering a collaborative space where healing, connection, and meaningful change can flourish.
Supporting Diversity
I welcome individuals and couples of all cultures, genders, and sexualities, including:
Same-sex relationships
LGBTQIA+ relationships
Relationships navigating unique family, cultural, or identity experiences
Neurodivergent individuals and couples navigating differences in communication, connection, and emotional regulation
Areas of focus
Couples
Couples therapy and relationship repair
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples
Conflict, communication difficulties, and recurring relationship patterns
Emotional disconnection, attachment injuries, and rebuilding trust
Recovery after an affair or betrayal
Intimacy, sexuality, desire, and sexual difficulties in long-term relationships
Discernment counselling for couples unsure whether to stay together
Rebuilding after separation or divorce
Parenthood, family pressures, blended families, and life-stage transitions
Healing the impact of past trauma within relationships
Individuals
Self-discovery, personal growth, and deeper relational awareness
Life transitions, identity, and meaning
Embodied awareness and emotional regulation
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) for attachment healing and trauma recovery
Neurodivergence, including late-diagnosed AuDHD and ADHD
Intimacy, sexuality, and relationship concerns
Contact
You can start a conversation with Lee directly using these contact details: