Melina JBW
About
At Melina JBW, Our experienced team of counsellors is committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based support tailored to each individual's unique journey.
Melina JBW Director and Founder
Meet Your Counsellors
Life's challenges can leave us feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or disconnected from the person we want to be. My approach combines evidence-based counselling, neuroscience, coaching, and compassionate support to help you understand how your brain and nervous system respond to stress, trauma, and life's experiences. Together, we'll work to build resilience, strengthen emotional wellbeing, and create lasting change—empowering you to move forward with confidence, clarity, and hope.
I am the founder and director of MelinaJBW Counselling Coaching Consulting, and a registered counsellor and Neuro-Counsellor based in Toowoomba. With more than a decade of experience in counselling and a postgraduate qualification in Applied Neuroscience, I am passionate about helping individuals overcome life's challenges and create meaningful, lasting change.
I provide a safe, supportive, and non-judgemental space where clients can explore their experiences, gain insight into their thoughts and emotions, and develop practical strategies to improve their wellbeing. My approach is client-centred, strengths-based, and collaborative. I believe every person has the capacity for growth, healing, and resilience, and I work alongside clients to develop personalised pathways toward their goals.
At the heart of my practice is neurotherapy, an evidence-based approach grounded in neuroscience that helps individuals better understand and regulate the brain and nervous system. By addressing the underlying neurological patterns that influence thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and stress responses, neurotherapy can support lasting improvements in mental health, emotional wellbeing, and overall functioning. This approach is particularly effective for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, emotional dysregulation, and the impacts of chronic overwhelm.
My areas of interest include anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss, narcissistic abuse recovery, and religious or church-related trauma. I also support young people, couples, and parents as they navigate the complexities of adolescence, relationships, and family life.
While neurotherapy forms the foundation of my work, I integrate a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches to meet the unique needs of each client. These include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, and somatic practices. Drawing on both neuroscience and counselling frameworks, I take a holistic approach that recognises the interconnected relationship between the brain, body, emotions, and lived experience.
I incorporate practical tools such as neurocycles, nervous system regulation strategies, and somatic exercises to help clients develop greater self-awareness, emotional resilience, and lasting behavioural change. My goal is not only to help clients navigate current challenges but to empower them with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to create meaningful and sustainable transformation in their lives.
Whether you are facing a specific difficulty, healing from past experiences, or seeking greater self-understanding and personal growth, I am committed to walking alongside you with compassion, curiosity, and respect.
I look forward to supporting you on your journey toward healing, wellbeing, and a more connected and fulfilling life.
Book with Melina here Melina Windolf - Counsellor - Book an appointment
Wisdom and Experience
Stuart Hall Senior Counsellor
Stuart has extensive experience working as a counsellor with individuals and families over a broad range of issues. Stuart’s expertise around counselling families through the Family Law pathway has given him insight into building relationships and coaching individuals through highly conflictual times in their lives. Stuart has a style that is deeply caring and authentic. He empowers his clients to manage their life situations and maintain positive changes in their lives through his down to earth style. “As a senior counsellor, I am committed to empowering a new generation of counsellors through reflective supervision.”
I wish life was simple, but its not.
I wish I had all the answers, but I don't
I wish everybody would just do the right thing, but they don't.
I guess we all want to find the cure for everything but when it comes to our own personal life,
mental health, attitudes and expectations, intentions there is no cure but can learn to manage our
lives better.
I've been a counsellor for a very long time and have learned a couple of important lessons
There is nothing like a safe place to talk to someone who has skills in life, honestly, without the fear
of judgement from them, and to know that their only goal in that time is to make you successful.
That is a counselling session.
Secondly it is easy to get hooked on and become dependent on that person, that’s why we do brief
therapy so that you can adjust and continue your journey with new skills.
I’d love to understand where you are in your journey and value add to it. I have the skills, the quals,
the experience and the insight the only thing missing is you
I specialise in trauma, conflict, relationships, coaching and general counselling.
Book with Stuart here Senior Counsellor Stuart Hall - Counsellor - Book an appointment
Experienced and Solution Focused
Samuel McCosh Senior Counsellor
Life can be challenging at times, but through counseling, we can develop skills to navigate these difficulties and improve our ability to cope with life's issues. It's rewarding to see my clients grow stronger in their mental health, relationships, and overall life. In our counseling sessions, we collaborate to learn how to handle tough times and discover strategies that make life enjoyable once more.
Counsellor
Samuel Mark McCosh (MCOUNS, PGDipCOUNS, GradDipTeach)
At times life can be really hard, through counselling we can develop skills to work through this to better cope with life’s issues, I love seeing my clients become stronger in their mental health, relationships and life in general. As we work together in counselling sessions we learn how to manage the difficult times and find strategies to help life become good again.
Samuel is a seasoned counsellor with 15 years of experience, specializing in areas such as alcohol and drug counselling, along with couples and individual therapy. He holds a level four membership with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and is also a member of the Australasian Solution Focused Association (ASFA), where he presented at the national conference in 2023. Samuel earned a Master of Counselling, focusing his research on enhancing the Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) model to better serve specific client needs. In his practice, Samuel creates an environment where clients feel valued and understood, collaborating with them to establish goals for improving their mental health. He exhibits an empathetic, authentic, and non-judgmental approach to counselling, employing techniques that empower his clients to address and resolve both current and past challenges. Samuel has guided clients through difficult issues such as separation, grief, loss, anger, stress, depression, and trauma. His extensive experience ensures that he meets clients at their current state and supports them in progressing towards their desired outcomes.
Book with Samuel here Mr Samuel McCosh - Counsellor - Book an appointment
Qualifications
- Master of Counselling (Merit)
- Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling
- Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary)
Modalities
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy
- Person Centred Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Reality Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy (Two Chair Work)
Melina and Emily
Children/Teens/Family Counselling
At MelinaJBW Counselling, Coaching and Consulting, Melina and Emily are passionate registered children and teen counsellors dedicated to supporting young people and their families through life’s challenges with care, clarity, and compassion.
At MelinaJBW Counselling, Coaching and Consulting, Melina and Emily are passionate registered children and teen counsellors dedicated to supporting young people and their families through life’s challenges with care, clarity, and compassion.
Melina brings a grounded, strengths-based approach to her work, helping children and adolescents feel safe, understood, and empowered. With a deep respect for each young person’s individuality, Melina supports clients to build emotional awareness, resilience, and confidence while navigating issues such as anxiety, emotional regulation, school stress, behavioural challenges, and family transitions. Her work is collaborative and practical, always tailored to the child or teen’s developmental stage and unique needs.
Emily is known for her warm, engaging style and her ability to connect authentically with young people. She creates a supportive space where children and teenagers feel comfortable expressing themselves, even when words are hard to find. Emily works closely with families to support challenges including anxiety, low mood, social difficulties, self-esteem, and big life changes, using evidence-based and creative approaches that foster growth and emotional safety.
Together, Melina and Emily are committed to providing ethical, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate support. At MelinaJBW, counselling is not about “fixing” young people, but about helping them understand themselves, build skills for life, and feel confident in who they are. Families can expect a respectful, collaborative approach focused on long-term wellbeing and meaningful change.
Specialising in mental Health, Family Dynamics, and Personal Growth
Emily Banks
This is a space where your story can unfold without judgment—where we can work together to explore practical solutions in a strength-based and trauma-informed way.
"I deeply care about people and the unique stories they carry. At the heart of my counselling practice is a commitment to creating a safe, warm and non-judgmental space where your experiences, emotions and challenges can be explored with gentleness, respect and honesty."
Emily Banks is a dedicated and client-focused counsellor. She is a professional counsellor with nearly 20 years of experience working across a variety of settings and is a registered member of the Australian Counselling Association.
I support clients across all stages of life, having extensive experience supporting those navigating a wide range of presenting concerns. I support with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief as well as couples navigating relationship difficulties and challenges. I also have special interest and passionate for supporting children, young people and their families as they navigate big emotional, life transitions and family stressors.
My counselling approach is compassionate, grounded, and authentic – I am committed to creating a safe environment where individuals feel seen, heard and supported. I am dedicated to proving a non-judgemental approach where each session is collaborative, person-centred and strengths-based. I draw from evidence-based approaches, including cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), solution-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and narrative therapy, tailoring each session to individual needs, goals and pace. I may also incorporate regulation strategies and somatic practices to support calm, grounding and nervous system awareness throughout the counselling session.
I view counselling as an opportunity for individuals to slow down, explore their thoughts, emotions and behaviours, and encourages them to approach themselves with compassion, curiosity and respect.
My goal for counselling is to supports you through your counselling journey to feel truly understood, find greater peace, develop greater self-awareness and feel better resourced as you move toward the changes that matter most to you.
Emily is available for bookings at the Cleveland office
