About DIVE Healing®
Trauma-informed, meaning-centred care for women who are thoughtful, capable, and quietly exhausted
About DIVE Healing®
You may be a woman who has spent years caring for others, thinking deeply about your life, and trying every healing tool you can find - yet still feels like something is unresolved, heavy, or displaced beneath it all.
If you’ve read, learned, reflected, and tried to “fix” the patterns in your life - but your body, nervous system or sense of self still feels unsettled - this isn’t evidence that something is wrong with you. It is evidence that something meaningful is trying to be understood.
At DIVE Healing® (Deep Inner Virtue Exploration), we hold that symptoms are meaningful signals, not problems to be eradicated. Your nervous system organised itself intelligently to protect you - and healing begins with understanding those patterns, not fighting them.
Who we are
DIVE Healing® is a women-centred, trauma-informed, psychologist-led model of care based in Australia. We combine evidence-based psychological science with embodied, non-verbal approaches to support deep healing that is contextual, relational, and life-giving.
Our work is grounded in the understanding that:
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your nervous system learns adaptive patterns in response to lived conditions
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healing is about remembering capacities — not erasing experiences
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safety, slowness, and readiness are clinical interventions
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integration of body and mind supports lasting change
We work with anxiety, trauma, burnout, relational triggers and somatic patterns through an integrative lens that respects your unique history, your capacity for insight, and your desire for connection and meaning.
Our Ethos - what guides us
We are guided by the recognition that everything is interconnected - not as a slogan, but as lived, embodied experience.
Our approach is rooted in:
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Self-acceptance and present-moment awareness.
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Healing unfolds when you can meet your experience without judgment or haste.
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Meaning over elimination.
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Your emotional and somatic responses are intelligible patterns, not deficits.
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Embodied, relational care.
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We integrate reflection, sensation, and nervous system regulation as partners in understanding.
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Clinical grounding with warmth.
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Insight without safety is not enough; safety without insight is not enough. Both matter.
Our goal is to support you in reconnecting with your quiet inner wisdom - the voice beneath survival shapes, the intelligence beneath tension, and the sense of self that preceded survival mode.
About Arissa Brunelli
Founder & Director of DIVE Healing ®
Registered Psychologist | Integrative Sound Medicine Practitioner | Yoga Teacher
"I’m deeply committed to trauma-informed care and to bridging science and spirituality through holistic healthcare. Drawing on both evidence-based psychology and ancient wisdom traditions, my work honours the innate healing potential within us all.
At DIVE Healing®, I offer psychology sessions integrated with Sound Medicine and insights from Yogic and Buddhist teachings. The DIVE Healing® (Deep Inner Virtue Exploration) approach goes beyond symptom reduction, supporting self-compassion, embodied awareness, and a deeper understanding of what it means to live a fulfilling life."
MORE ABOUT ARISSA
My work is grounded in the belief that true healing happens when we connect both the verbal and nonverbal aspects of ourselves. I support clients in addressing the roots of emotional trauma, attachment wounds, and developmental challenges. By integrating body-based and psychological modalities, I offer a cohesive therapeutic experience - one that goes beyond the limits of talk therapy or somatic work alone - and creates space for deep integration and post-traumatic growth.
My journey began with an immersion in classical music (piano, achieving AmusA), classical ballet, biology, and art (painting and sculpture). I later trained as a rhythmic gymnast, competing internationally, which sparked a deep fascination with the human mind and body. This inspired me to pursue the study of Psychology, completing my undergraduate studies at Monash University and RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, in 2005, and later earning my postgraduate degrees while teaching yoga and working as a research assistant.
Since then, I have worked as a mental health practitioner in diverse industries - corporate, educational, forensic, community health, and private practice. I’ve collaborated with leading researchers in headache and migraine treatment and am known for my work in suicide prevention and workplace mental health.
With years of extensive training, I integrate modern trauma-informed psychological approaches with somatic-based techniques to facilitate the body’s natural healing process - what I call ‘internal alchemy.’
I’m passionate about fostering collaboration among health practitioners, valuing each individual's contribution in the shared goal of helping others seek healing, health, and happiness in their lives.
If something here resonated with you, I invite you to take that next step. You don't have to have a clear plan or diagnosis. Begin where you are.
Whether you prefer the warmth of an in-person session or the convenience of online video consultations, I'm here to support you on your journey.
How we help
Healing with DIVE Healing® is not about quick fixes.
We support women to:
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understand how patterns became organised as survival strategies
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regain a steady sense of internal safety
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reconnect with intuition and lived presence
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embody emotional awareness without suppression
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strengthen relational boundaries and self-trust
We integrate a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches - including EMDR, somatic therapies, IFS-informed work, ACT, and mindfulness-based methods - alongside embodied and sound-based modalities when clinically appropriate.
This integrated process supports you to:
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learn how your system learned
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negotiate old patterns with curiosity rather than force
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reclaim meaning and agency
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live with greater coherence and self-presence
Why we do this work
Your time on this earth is precious, and your presence matters.
We are deeply committed to supporting women in doing what they truly love - without carrying unnecessary internal burden or exhaustion. Life does not need to be a constant struggle.
Here, healing is not a performance. It is a gentle return to your innate capacities for freedom, connection, and wisdom.