Renate is an accredited Mental Health Social Worker and a Clinical Family Therapist, a Mother and a Carer, who believes in passion, change, empathy, managing conflict well and having fun. She has been providing her unique therapeutic approach people to make changes in their lives since the early 1990’s, both here and overseas. She has run her Evolve Social Work Counselling and Consultancy service in Melbourne since 2000. 

Renate has a background in mental health, child and family work, school counselling, disability, community work and mentoring and supervision. She is currently providing professional, developmental supervision to students in the Masters of Social Work program at Monash University and is an Educator in the award-wining Centre for Compassion at Monash University. Renate also provides mentoring through the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. She finished up with the celebrated Undergraduate Certificate in Mental Health at Monash University on the 31st of December, 2022.

Her therapeutic approach draws on a wide range of bodies of knowledge and interventions. She incorporates elements of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness, Neuropsychology, Expressive and Play Therapies, Attachment theory, Family Systems approaches and trauma understandings. In her couple work she draws on a vast range of approaches, and has a Level 2 accreditation in the Gottman Method. She has training in relationship, pre-marital therapy and support and family therapy.