Grace Penman, ACA

Grace Penman is credentialed in Australia and brings four years of professional experience as a counsellor and psychotherapist. She works with mixed-culture adults and immigrants, including people in the LGBTQIA+ community, supporting them as they navigate questions of identity, belonging, and the practical challenges of adulthood in a cross-cultural context.

Grace often works with people who feel torn between family expectations and their own values, who are trying to make choices that feel authentic while honouring their background. That inner conflict can present as anxiety, guilt, confusion, or a persistent sense of not being enough as someone seeks a clearer sense of direction.

Her practice includes people who are studying or working abroad, raising young children while balancing two cultural frameworks, or negotiating relationships where partners come from different upbringings. These life transitions commonly prompt identity questions, feelings of isolation, and uncertainty about where to belong.

Grace integrates several therapeutic approaches - including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Narrative Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-informed somatic psychotherapy - to gently address cultural, relational, and intergenerational trauma that can be held in the body. She holds the ACA credential, a professional counselling qualification, and applies these methods to help clients explore their stories and strengths.

When expectations feel overwhelming or a sense of self has become unclear, Grace offers a collaborative space to reclaim one’s voice, honour the many parts of identity beyond others' demands, and reconnect with what matters most to the individual.