About Zohar Berchik

Zohar Berchik is the principle therapist at Equilibrium. She is a Senior Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Professional Supervisor (to Counsellors).

Zohar has over 20 years of experience working individually and in groups with a broad range of client concerns. She has worked with clients who have experienced life from a diverse and sometimes complex range of contexts, cultures, identities, and backgrounds.

Her work is trauma informed and always places the person and the relationship (not the problem) at the centre of what she does. Her deep knowledge of a wide range of approaches is drawn upon as needed in service of this and problems tend to shift or transform as a result. Her work tends to be somatic, psychodynamic, person centred and emotion focused.  She draws on many tools for this including internal family systems therapy and Voice Dialogue – which are great approaches to help us get to know the various conflicting parts of ourselves better, find greater inner peace, healing, and access to a broadened range of inner resources. More on these approaches here.

Zohar currently holds the position of Course Coordinator for the postgraduate suite of programs in Counselling and Psychotherapy at The Cairnmillar Institute and teaches into the program. She lectured at La Trobe University and at the University of New England’s School of Health in the Graduate Diploma and Master of Counselling degrees and in the Joint Medical Program. She has substantially contributed to the development of curriculum in counselling and psychotherapy at each of these appointments.

Zohar has a passion for working with groups and leading meaningful and transformative group processes which you can hear about in this podcast. She is also an experienced group leader and facilitator, and has designed and led large experiential training intensives with her team that have been well received and is the recipient of two excellence in teaching awards, in recognition of “sustained excellence in teaching and outstanding commitment to education” (2013) and of her “Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire lifelong learning” (2018). 

Zohar is the founder and former Director of The Australian Centre for Voice Dialogue and is the principal therapist at Equilibrium counselling and psychotherapy.

Counselling, psychotherapy and Voice Dialogue

Zohar is a counsellor, psychotherapist and Voice Dialogue facilitator, who brings heart-centred presence and a broad breadth of experience to her work.

She is passionate about facilitating groups and individuals in engaging in genuine reflection, with the goal of accessing fresh perspectives, improved relationships, meaningful change and enhanced wellbeing.

Organisational analysis and consulting

Workplaces are changing and skilled leadership is required perhaps more than ever before. Zohar’s combined therapeutic and group work expertise and experience provide her with the powers of observation and insight required to effectively support leaders in leveraging their roles to cultivate organisational wellbeing. She draws on experience gained in her former life as an IT executive, as well as on her comprehensive experience and training as a psychotherapist and group leader, to facilitate better interpersonal and systemic outcomes in the workplace.

Zohar holds a Master of Counselling degree from La Trobe University, specialising in Emotion Focused Therapy and Mindfulness, and a Graduate Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling. She has trained in the United States with Hal & Sidra Stone – founders of the Voice Dialogue approach and has undertaken Counselling Supervision training with Michael Carroll. She has also trained in psychodynamic and interpersonal psychotherapy at the Cairnmillar Institute and undertaken various professional developments, including at the Gestalt Institute of Australia.

Zohar has delivered training programmes in Australia and abroad and has presented at national and international conferences. Her research paper on the lived experience of Voice Dialogue was published in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Zohar is registered with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA – currently on leave) . She is a member of Australian College of Counselling and Psychotherapy Educators (ACCAPE) and the Australian Counselling Association College of Supervisors.