You love your work.
You just can’t keep doing it like this.
A six-month program for therapists and clinicians who want to do meaningful clinical work without sacrificing themselves in the process.
You became a clinician because you care deeply...
You want to help people, ease suffering, make a difference. But right now, that care is costing you more than you ever imagined.
You're asking yourself: How do I stay in the work I love without losing myself in it?
The training and cultures we work within taught us to assess, respond, document, and hold emotional complexity. To stay present and attuned to the pain in front of us, session after session.
What most of us were never taught is how to notice what the work leaves behind, or what to do with it.
You know the theory. You know the signs and could write the self-care list in your sleep. That is, if you weren't awake at 2am, scrolling, feeling like you are failing a little bit at everything.
The issue is not a lack of resilience. It is that clinicians were rarely taught how to work with the impact of the work itself.
Current research identifies vicarious trauma, moral distress, and compassion fatigue not as personal vulnerabilities but as occupational hazards of sustained relational work.
Clinicians are trying to sustain deeply relational, psychologically demanding work using models designed for throughput, professionalism, and individual coping.
Over time, the impact of the work tends to accumulate in three distinct ways:
in the nervous system, as physiological activation the body has not had a chance to process;
in the mind, as the inner critic, imposter loops, and clinical rumination that will not settle; and
in meaning, as moral distress, grief, and the slow erosion of why you entered this work.
Most professional supports address only one of these layers.
Flourish integrates all three.
For many clinicians, it sounds something like this...
"I just want to sleep through the night."
"I've got nothing left to give."
"I want to be present for my kids, not just my clients."
Or maybe it's showing up as brain fog, burnout, self-doubt, or a creeping sense of isolation in work that used to feel meaningful.
If you're nodding, you're not alone.
This isn't a reflection of your resilience or commitment.
Health systems are struggling, and the cumulative toll on clinicians is real.
You are not the problem - and you don't need to harden, detach, or leave the profession to survive it.
There is another way to do this work. One that doesn't ask you to choose between caring deeply and looking after yourself.
Not just surviving, but genuinely flourishing in it.
Introducing...
FLOURISH
Flourish is a six-month program that helps clinicians understand and work consciously with what happens inside them during the work - not as a self-care strategy, but as a professional practice.
Through neuroscience-informed teaching, facilitated group reflection, and creative and embodied process, it addresses the three layers where clinical work leaves its mark: the body, the mind, and the meaning-making self.
This kind of shift doesn't happen through insight alone. It develops over time, through structured reflection, creative process, and shared thinking with others who understand the realities of clinical practice. That is what Flourish is built around.
The program is CPD-eligible and includes structured reflective dialogue that may contribute toward supervision requirements, depending on your professional guidelines.
How is Flourish different?
Flourish is not personal therapy, and it’s not traditional line supervision. It’s also more than a standard professional development course.
It's a structured, facilitated space designed to strengthen both the depth of your clinical work and your capacity to sustain it, by developing a different relationship to the work itself, not by adding another layer of strategies on top of it.
Flourish supports clinicians to move from carrying the work to working with it.
We begin in May.
Beyond talking - the value of creative and embodied process
So much of what this work does to us does not live in the thinking brain.
It lives in the body, in felt sense, in the images and sounds that linger after a hard session - precisely where thinking and talking, on its own, cannot reach.
Creative and embodied approaches offer a way to go underneath thinking to meet our experience where it is. Rhythm, image, movement and sound can access and shift what words sometimes cannot.
They regulate the nervous system and offer opportunities for restoration, self-regulation and containment. And in a group, co-regulation and shared witnessing deepen that further.
In Flourish, art, music and somatics are used for connection, expression, clarity and process, not performance.
No creative background required. All you need is curiosity.
As a Registered Music Therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience, I bring this not as an add-on, but as the spine of the program. It is what I know, and it is what I have seen move people when nothing else could.
'Minky was able to clearly put words to how I was feeling and explain the systemic challenges we face. I see that the work I do will take a toll on me, that this is an expected part of my work, and that I need to structure in counterbalances to this. It was so worthwhile I would recommend self funding the course, however it was approved for Continuing Medical Education'
Tori (Paediatrician)
This is what flourishing actually looks like...
It's walking out of a tough session with clarity instead of self-doubt. Falling asleep without the 2am spiral. Being fully present with your family, because you know how to leave work at the door. Trusting your instincts rather than second-guessing every decision. Picking up that book, taking that hike, having that nap. Without guilt.
It's feeling like yourself again, both inside the work and beyond it.
What's included in Flourish?
01
Live group coaching
Monthly 90-minute live group coaching sessions
02
Masterclasses
Monthly bite-sized teachings: rich, evidence-based & paced for you
03
Connection
Access to a supportive group of peers & monthly Friday 'Coffee Chat' online
04
Weekly resources
Weekly, practical creative, somatic resources to your personal roadmap
05
Email support
For urgent questions in between group coaching sessions
06
Accountability
Keep moving forwards with a supportive community
Participants may be able to claim CPD hours through their professional body.
What we'll cover
Across six months, we move through a developmental arc - each month building on the last, each deepening your capacity to sustain the work.
Who you are in this work
An honest, embodied look at where you are right now. We explore the internal and external barriers that make prioritising yourself so difficult: the inner critic, the perfectionist, the imposter. We identify and nurture your internal allies and resources to build a supportive foundation to begin the work together.
What the work does to your body
We bring nervous system science to life through felt experience rather than lecture. Polyvagal theory, the stress response, and what sustained empathic presence actually costs physiologically. Body mapping helps you locate where the work lands in you, creating a personal, embodied picture of what the work is doing inside you
Compassion that doesn't cost you everything
We explore empathy and compassion through an embodied lens, including what happens when care becomes absorption rather than attunement. Fierce self-compassion and limits that come from values rather than depletion. This is not about doing less. It is about caring differently.
The costs and the gifts of the work
Helping work carries both difficulty and deep reward. We explore the full vicarious impact spectrum: vicarious trauma, burnout, moral distress, and empathic strain alongside compassion satisfaction, vicarious resilience, moral courage, and empathic growth. Holding both honestly is where sustainability lives.
We can't do this alone
Sustainability is not a solo project. This month we explore collective care as a structural necessity, not self-care rebranded, but the actual architecture of sustainable practice. We look at self-leadership, the ethics of solidarity, and what it really takes to build a way of working that holds you over time.
Flourish Forward
We return to your personal map, reflect on what has shifted across the six months, and consolidate a genuine picture of what sustainable practice looks like for you, in your context, with your work. Not an ending. A new starting point.
'Since participating in the program, I have felt grounded in my personal and professional life. In times of overwhelming stress, I have been able to anchor myself. I highly recommend this program - Minky's knowledge, group facilitation and supportive presence have helped me to thrive'
Pip (Therapist & Educational Consultant)
I help therapists and clinicians stay in the work they love without losing themselves in it.
I'm Minky van der Walt, a Registered Music Therapist (RMT), clinical supervisor and clinical member of PACFA, with over 25 years of clinical experience across hospitals, community services, and private practice.
I've witnessed first-hand the cumulative toll of exhaustion, perfectionism, and self-doubt, and how broken systems can leave even the most dedicated clinicians running on empty.
I've also been through it myself. I know what it takes to move from that place of depletion and doubt to something that feels sustainable and meaningful again.
My own clinical work is relational and depth-oriented, which means I understand from the inside what it asks of you.
What I bring to Flourish is not just clinical knowledge but lived experience. My work draws on neuroscience, somatic practice, EMDR, and creative approaches, alongside more than 20 years of clinical supervision. Not as theory, but as practical tools you can actually use.
As a RMT, I have spent over 25 years working with the therapeutic and regulatory properties of creative process. In Flourish, that training is not incidental. It is the methodology. Music, imagery, movement, and creative reflection are used with clinical intentionality to access and process what conversation alone often cannot
Because I believe that with the right support, community, and tools, it is possible to flourish again.
Community + Containment
Flourish groups are intentionally small (limited to six clinicians) so that real depth and trust can develop over time.
The group is not a support mechanism. It is the intervention.
Much of the moral and existential weight of clinical work cannot be metabolised individually. It needs shared reflection, collective meaning-making, and the genuine solidarity of others who understand the realities of the work. That is what the Flourish group provides.
Each group is professionally facilitated, creating a contained space for reflective dialogue that goes beyond typical peer support. The program is eligible for Continuing Professional Development, and the structured reflective process may be recognised as supervision in line with your profession's requirements.
Flourish
For therapists and clinicians who want to do meaningful clinical work without sacrificing themselves in the process.
Flourish is about more than surviving your career. It’s about creating practices and connections that carry you forward.
It's about committing to your wellbeing, your growth, and the impact you want to make: so you can flourish in a career and life that can truly sustain you.
6 x live group coaching
6 x Masterclasses
Supportive group of peers
Monthly 'Coffee, Connect & Chat' online
Weekly, practical, creative & somatic resources direct to your inbox
An accountability buddy to keep you moving forwards
Email support
Many participants claim CPD hours through their professional association.
'Doing this program was one of the best choices I made'
B. (Social Worker)
Investment
Flourish is intentionally designed as a six-month support so that change is integrated rather than squeezed-in.
The fee reflects the depth of facilitation, small group size, structured curriculum, and ongoing reflective support across that time.
Payment can be made upfront or via structured instalments across the duration of the program.
If you are considering joining, I recommend booking a conversation first so we can ensure the program is the right fit for you at this time.
Early Bird available until April 2!
Access your 10% discount now (Discount coupon: "EARLY10").
$250 $225 + GST /month
$1500 $1350 +GST
Is Flourish right for me?
This is perfect for you if
You are a mid-career clinician who is good at what you do, and aware that something is brewing that you can't quite fix.
You've read the books and know the theory. But knowing hasn't been enough.
You've tried the self-care approaches and found them insufficient for the depth of what this work asks.
You want to understand what's actually happening inside you during the work - not just manage the symptoms of it.
You're drawn to working somatically, creatively, or reflectively, or you're open to discovering what that might offer.
You're ready for something developmental -a genuine shift in how you relate to the work, not another set of strategies.
You value the idea of processing the work in community with other clinicians who understand it from the inside.
This is not for you if
You are a current therapy client of Tempo.
You’re experiencing significant mental health challenges (please reach out to your GP or services like Lifeline, Hand-n-Hand Peer Support, Black Dog Institute, or Beyond Blue).
You're looking for individual therapy or traditional clinical supervision as this is neither of those things.
You aren’t able to show up to the live calls.
You're not looking to be challenged (even kindly!) or to look inward right now ... and that's okay.
You're looking for a quick fix rather than a lasting change in how you practise.
Thank you so much for normalising the experience of all of these challenges that come with caring work, and for reminding me of the joy that I also feel.
Michelle (Psychologist)
FAQS
Is this only for 'health' professionals?
This program is specifically designed for therapists, clinicians and service providers in any caring role.
Whether you work in a large health organisation, in a community service or private practice, this program is for you.
How is this different from therapy or supervision?
Flourish is a structured professional development program that addresses the occupational impact of relational work - something clinical training rarely prepares clinicians for. It is not therapy, which focuses on personal healing, and it is not supervision, which offers clinical guidance and case reflection. Flourish addresses what the work leaves behind in the clinician, and how to work with that consciously over time.
Why does Flourish use creative and embodied approaches?
Because some of what this work does to us cannot be reached through talking and thinking alone. The nervous system does not respond to insight the way it responds to rhythm, movement, or sensory engagement.
Difficult clinical material is sometimes more processable through image or symbol than through direct reflection. And meaning is often restored through shared creative witnessing in a way that individual reflection cannot replicate.
Minky's background as a Registered Music Therapist means the creative process in Flourish is used with clinical precision. Not as an add-on, but as the primary methodology.
No creative skills or background are required. All processes are explained and scaffolded. What you bring is curiosity. The process does the rest.
How much time should I dedicate to the program?
You can take this program at your own pace.
If you'd like to get the most out of the program you'll need around 1 hour a week to get the most out of the program.
What can I expect in the monthly live group sessions?
Each month you’ll join a 90-minute live session to integrate the material, explore practical support and connect with a community of like-minded peers.
Who will be in my live group session?
These small, closed group sessions typically hold a mix of leaders, therapists, clinicians and service providers. You will meet with the same group of clinicians each month to build trust, connection and support.
Is Flourish available for teams or organisations?
Yes. If you're in a leadership role, Flourish can be made available for your team, with signifiant ripple effects. Clinicians who participate become more present with clients, calmer under pressure, and more able to end the day feeling satisfied rather than depleted. That translates directly into fewer sick days, stronger morale, and better retention of experienced staff. Flourish supports organisations to strengthen psychological safety and uphold quality of care. If you're curious, I'd love to talk through what this could look like.
Are you ready to flourish?
Prefer to talk first? Book a conversation with Minky here.
(Photo credits: Annie Spratt, getty-images-1zOFAnyyiho, Alex Jones, Jelle van Leest; Annie Spratt, Adam Gibson, Annie Spratt, Adam Gibson)