Karinna Johnstone , AASW

Karinna Johnstone is an experienced social worker with 18 years of practice supporting people across a wide range of life circumstances. Her career has included work with clients of all ages coping with disabilities, mental health conditions, homelessness, addiction, relationship conflict and parenting challenges. She has particular experience helping people navigate trauma and abuse, grief and loss, depression and anxiety, and the everyday stressors that erode self-esteem and motivation.

Karinna works from the belief that each person is the expert in their own life story and that the therapeutic relationship is a collaborative partnership. She aims to guide clients toward practical skills, healthier patterns of thinking and renewed confidence so they can make meaningful changes. Karinna holds AASW, which indicates membership in the Australian Association of Social Workers and reflects her professional standing in the field.

She encourages those facing difficult transitions or persistent emotional pain to reach out, noting that asking for help is a courageous first step. Karinna focuses on empowering clients to discover strengths they may not have recognized and to apply supports and strategies that improve daily functioning and overall wellbeing.

Therapeutic Approaches and Remote Support with Karinna Johnstone

Karinna draws on Attachment-Based Therapy to explore how early relationships influence current patterns of relating. This approach helps people understand attachment needs and improve connection in close relationships, which can be useful for managing relationship difficulties, abandonment concerns, or parenting challenges.

She also uses Client-Centered Therapy, which places the client's experience at the heart of the work. In this approach Karinna offers empathic listening and collaborative goal-setting so clients can build confidence, clarify values and develop their own solutions to stress, anxiety or life transitions.

Karinna believes finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the process and works collaboratively to identify what fits each person's needs, goals and preferences. She will explore different techniques and adapt the direction of therapy as clients learn which methods help them make progress.

Online therapy with Karinna is offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to provide flexibility for busy schedules, mobility limitations or geographic distance. These options make it easier to maintain continuity of care, access support from home and fit sessions into everyday life while working toward meaningful change with a licensed professional.