Counselling · Sydney & online
When saying no at work feels too costly.
Support for the person dealing with the situation.
Counselling around workplace pressure, bullying concerns and difficult relationships with people in authority. Consider the personal effects and practical options alongside employment advice.
Your livelihood and responsibilities belong in the conversation.
When work becomes difficult to question.
You may feel unable to challenge unreasonable demands, seek another perspective or raise a concern without risking your reputation or role. Work may also provide most of your friendships, housing, professional contacts or sense of purpose.
We can examine specific interactions rather than deciding that a whole employer is harmful. Difficult management, legitimate performance feedback and workplace conflict need to be distinguished from patterns of coercion or abuse.
A choice can exist on paper but be hard to act on.
Leaving may affect income, visa arrangements, career prospects, care responsibilities or an important community. Staying may also carry costs. We do not treat those constraints as a lack of confidence or insist that resigning is the goal.
The work can include what happened when concerns were raised, whether the problem could be addressed and which sources of advice or support remain accessible.
What we can work on together.
Understand the personal impact
Attend to fear, self-doubt, anger, exhaustion and relationship strain without treating distress alone as proof of what an employer did.
Find your own position
Clarify priorities, needs and limits alongside professional obligations and practical dependence.
Consider supported options
Explore what remaining, changing arrangements or leaving could require, alongside qualified employment or legal advice.
Counselling does not decide employment disputes.
TEC does not conduct workplace investigations, determine whether bullying meets a legal definition, provide employment law advice or offer an organisational audit through this service. Formal complaints, compensation or legal deadlines require the appropriate adviser.
The Fair Work Ombudsman outlines workplace help routes. Your union, an employment lawyer or the relevant workplace authority may be important alongside personal support.
Common questions.
Can you tell me whether my employer is breaking the law?
No. We can help you consider the personal effects and questions to take to an appropriately qualified adviser. Legal or regulatory conclusions are outside this counselling service.
Do I have to leave my job?
No. We consider what is safe and realistic, including whether conditions can change and what alternatives are genuinely available.
Can my employer commission an assessment of me or the workplace?
That is not this service. Individual counselling and professional consultation have separate agreements; an employer’s request does not make them the client in your counselling.
Further information.
- Fair Work Ombudsman — bullying in the workplace
Information about workplace issues and the bodies that can assist with employment concerns.
Service information from The Exit Clinic. These pages are not an assessment of you, another person or a group. External resources offer other perspectives; they do not establish the facts of your situation.
The Exit Clinic
Founded by JT Kua, Counsellor, and Isabel Pham, Social Worker.