Saijal Bhageerutty

Counsellor

Saijal (she/her) is a migrant woman of colour from Mauritius. Living and working in both Australia and Mauritius has allowed her to gain an understanding of how power and privilege operate in countries, highlighting the diverse experiences of marginalisation and oppression of community.

She uses mindfulness meditation, trauma-informed and polyvagal-informed practice to tackle the impacts of living within a society that has not been created for individuals with marginalised identities. She is passionate about the ongoing learning and sharing of how to live with trauma and tap into the body’s inner wisdom for embodied healing.

Saijal works within feminist and intersectional frameworks which allows her to see the whole person (in all their parts) within context to their environment and the wider society. This is crucial to her practice as it acknowledges the impacts of colonisation and intergenerational trauma.

She also incorporates a person-centred, strength-based approach and can use modalities such as cognitive behavioural therapy and sensorimotor art therapy. Saijal believes in decolonizing therapy and has experience providing single support sessions for clients who have identified that this would suit them best. This unique approach allows for goal orientated work, to tackle specific issues in single sessions, following a collaborative assessment with the client.

Saijal has experience working with adults and adolescents, specialising in family violence and sexual assault. She works with clients from diverse backgrounds, and the LGBTQIA+ community. She speaks English, French, Mauritian Creole in a native/bilingual capacity, and Hindi in a limited working proficiency.