About Leo Martyn

Leo Martyn is an insightful and highly skilled counsellor with extensive professional experience. He is a member of both the Australian Counselling Association and the AASW. Leo has a substantial background in private practice and the creative, technology and education sectors. Leo specialises in providing effective therapeutic support to individual adults and couples. 

Leo is compassionate and outcome-focused in his counselling approach: he is strongly committed to providing his clients with practical personal strategies that increase their capacity to meet life’s challenges. Leo provides a non-judgmental, confidential space where his clients may speak freely of their concerns and explore possibly pathways forward in their inner and external lives. He has extensive expertise helping clients resolve a broad range of personal and interpersonal issues and stressors related to anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship and other concerns. Leo is dedicated to helping his clients develop the courage, insight and confidence needed to make lasting positive changes in their lives and beyond.

Leo’s practice is centred on a range of humanistic, body-oriented and evidence-based counselling approaches, tailoring sessions to meet each client where they are in the here and now. Therapeutic techniques and approaches Leo uses include: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Somatic approaches and Gestalt Therapy along with Evidence based approaches such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Solution Focused Therapy. Counselling with Leo is a respectful, dynamic and client-centred experience, which seeks to catalyse opportunities for authentic, lasting personal growth and change.

  • Qualifications

    2009 - 2012
    Master of Social Work (Professional Qualifying)

    Recipient: 2011 Dean's Award for Academic Excellence, graduated with Distinction
    Charles Sturt University - Australia

    2007 to 2008
    Graduate Diploma of Psychotherapy and Counselling

    Jansen Newman Institute - Sydney, Australia

    1994 to 1997
    Bachelor of Arts (Visual Art)

    The University of Newcastle - Australia

    2013
    Certificate IV (Training and Assessment)

    MVT Management Institute of Australia

    2008
    Diploma of Educational Studies

    The University of London College of Teachers - London, UK

    1996 to 1997
    "Diploma" Computer Art (Datorkonst)

    Hogskolan i Skovde - Sweden

    2008
    Basic Certificate of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)(Buddhist Chaplaincy)

    Rozelle College of CPE - Sydney, Australia

  • Accreditation

    Australian Association of Social Workers

    Accredited Social Worker

    Australian Counselling Association

    Clinical Member (Level 4)

    Life Supports

    Affliliated for client referrals

    RingWell

    Affiliated for referrals and online consultations

    Professional Indemnity

    Insured for the practice of counselling, psychotherapy and social work

  • Professional biography

    Leo Martyn has been a fully qualified counsellor and psychotherapist since 2008 on the completion of his Graduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling at the Jansen Newman Institute (JNI) in Sydney.

    Around graduation Leo realised that he wanted to have a broader and more widely recognised qualification that would ultimately lead to greater expertise and professional opportunities. From 2009 to 2012 Leo completed a Master of Social Work (Qualifying) with Charles Sturt University (CSU).

    During training Leo was fortunate to experience some rich and diverse practicum environments which included:

    • AOD (Alcohol & Other Drugs), generalist and homelessness counselling with the St Vincent de Paul Society in Western Sydney
    • 490 hours of research into Family and Domestic Violence (FV & DV) and homicide and how Victims of Crime (VoC) and their families access and utilise the counselling provisions at Victims Services (NSW Department of Justice & Attorney General.
    • 490 of group facilitation & other roles at a major Sydney private psychiatric hospital including the anxiety, mood disorders, personality disorders, aged mental health and AoD units

    During his studies at CSU, Leo began to set up private practice at Osteo Plus in St Leonards early 2009 and from 2014 moved next door to the Natural Medicine Centre. He has now completed 2000 direct client contact hours and 150 hours of personal supervision. In this he also worked for Blue Knot Foundationfor over a year as a complex trauma telephone counsellor in relation to supporting survivors and those connecting with the Royal Commission. Leo maintained Distinction grade averages throughout his studies and Graduated with Distinction from CSU and received a Dean's Award for Academic Excellence in 2011.

    Leo meets annually AASW and ACA requirements for Ongoing Professional Development (OPD) and professional supervision. In addition to these, Leo has other qualifications which include: a Bachelor of Arts - Visual Art (The University of Newcastle); Diploma of Computer Art (Hogskolan i Skovde, Sweden); Diploma of Educational Studies (University of London College of Teachers); Certificate IV in Training & Assessment (TAE40110); Basic Certificate in Clinical Pastoral Education (Buddhist Chaplaincy).

    Leo has a background and earlier career in 3d animation and visual effects production in the film and television industries and has lived and worked in six countries. International roles included TV-Broadcast, short films, theme parks, games, commercials and ride-simulation films. .

    In addition to private practice, Leo continues to work as a tertiary Sessional Lecturer and digital media freelancer designing and hosting websites and completing short tasks also in 3d and video production. Leo lectures on the Bachelor of Design (Animation) at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and at Torrens University Australia - Billy Blue College of Design. He has further extensive experience in curriculum development for these institutions in both face to face and online modes of delivery.

    Leo currently donates his time voluntarily or via work trade to providing all online and sound technology solutions to Diamond Approach Australia and has previously worked for six years on the committee of Pointing Out Australia who bring Harvard Psychology Professor and Tibetan Mahamudra and Dzogchen teacher Daniel P Brown to Australia and also 5 years on the committee of Sydney Insight Meditators.

    With much industry emphasis on professional development, Leo believes a further focus on personal growth and development is long overdue in professional practice amongst healthcare practitioners. Leo has done extensive work on himself around body, spirit and mind which includes numerous meditation retreats and professional development workshops attended. Leo has now been an ongoing student of the Diamond Approach - Ridhwan School of A.H. Almaas for over 13 years and has attended around 50 retreats averaging 5 days. Leo has also attended numerous other workshops and Insight Buddhist meditation retreats and is an ongoing practitioner of Kundalini Yoga.

    In practice, Leo is interested in assisting and facilitating human change, insight and helping his clients attaintheir fullest life potential. While working across a spectrum of modalities from evidence based to humanistic, Leo is most interested in approaches that explore a body-based and spiritual approach to wellness and self-realisation.

    Leo believes strongly that his client's experiences and choices made toward the unfolding of deeply personal aspects of their lives should be their own. Therefore, a major personal focus in practice is in supporting his clients toward attaining their own unique sense of empowerment, direction and change in alignment with their own unfolding. And all this said, he looks forward to welcoming you to his practice.