CHAIR

Sheri Zala has a strong interest in social justice, and the universal benefits of healthy, creative, and connected beings, along with a passion for deconstructing the myths, cultures, systems, and forces that sustain the illusion of separateness from one-another, the earth, and elements. Her studies reflect these interests including in politics, gender studies, teaching, social work, psychology, couples therapy, and in the integrative approaches to psychotherapy where body-mind-spirit are one.

Her more than twenty-five years of counselling and working in the violence sector represent a gathering of these ideas where the body is viewed as the sight of oppression, harm, and ongoing inequality and conversely, where the body-mind is also a place for healing, health, connection, and expansion.

Her private practice focuses on the ongoing impacts of adverse experiences and providing support to other practitioners in the form of clinical supervision, mentoring and eldering.

Sheri has been part of the Adelaide Trauma Collective since 2021 as a form of contributing to collective wellness.

Along with her private psychotherapy practice she also enjoys writing, reading, being in nature and the arts, philosophy, and striving for balance.

Sheri has a private practice offering professional supervision, for more information please click here.

VICE CHAIR

Nina Mekisic comes to her role as chairperson with over 10 years of experience providing therapy and counselling. She has had a long term passion for asking the big questions about healing and wholeness.

Nina is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, alongside continuing to train in other trauma-focused therapies. She is passionate about advocating for improved care for those experiencing complex mental health concerns, and for advocating for equity in access to quality health care. She has an interest in working to make good quality therapy more accessible to all.

She works at the Youth Enhanced Service and maintains a private practice. In her therapeutic work, she is particularly interested in supporting those experiencing challenges at the intersection between complex trauma and neurodiversity.

In her free time, she loves cultivating a garden, playing samba, and connecting to those who are most important to her.

For Nina's private practice please click here.

TREASURER

Vina Grossmann is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with experience in both public and private practice settings. She is a Senior Social Worker with SA Health's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and runs a private practice specialising in trauma therapy.

Vina's interest in trauma work grew alongside a long-term journey of meditation practice and personal growth. Formally a classically trained musician, she eventually found her passion and professional home in working with traumatised people using predominately somatic psychotherapy practices.

Vina has been a member of the Adelaide Trauma Collective for nearly ten years and has served as Treasurer for six years.

Her free time finds her in her garden, hiking, kayaking along the South Coast, sharing dinners with friends,and delighting in playtime with her grandchild.

You can contact Vina regarding her private practice via: vina@vinagrossmanntherapy.com

SECRETARY

Nicola is professional researcher and yoga instructor. Her PhD research looked at the impacts of childrearing on both the primary caregiver and the child with a focus on attachment theory, separation-individuation and the role of culture.

As a trained sociologist and cultural anthropologist, Nicola has an innate interest in human behaviour and human relationships. In recent years, this interest has expanded into body-work and body-oriented therapies. She teaches yin yoga and pilates at One Degree Studio in the Adelaide CBD and is currently undertaking Hakomi professional skills training to enable her to further help and support people’s healing through mindfulness and movement.

She is excited to bring her private sector management experience to The Adelaide Trauma Collective to assist in advancing the aims and mission of the Collective.

Outside of work, Nicola enjoys regular movement practice, including spending time outside chasing after her chickens, tilling the soil in her veggie gardens and experimenting with cooking home-grown food and produce.

We are seeking new members with experience or interest in working in the area of complex trauma and or with a legal background/event management background to join our Committee.

With over two decades of experience as a remedial massage therapist, Nikki has gained deep insight into the impact of emotions on the human body. This extensive work inspired her passion for exploring the mind-body connection, ultimately leading her to become a somatic (body-focused) psychotherapist.

Nikki operates a private practice where she provides psychotherapy and runs courses and retreats. She has a strong interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, particularly its potential to help individuals with complex trauma and treatment-resistant mental health issues. She is proud to be an advocate and therapist in this emerging field.

Her passion for fostering healing and growth aligns with the mission of the Adelaide Trauma Collective, and she feels privileged to contribute to its impactful work as a board member.

For information regarding Nikki's private practice please click here.

Living and working on Kaurna land, Lesley is a Relationship and Trauma Therapist, an accredited Mindfulness Meditation Teacher with UK-based Breathworks, a published poet, and an emerging literary fiction writer. She has a deep interest in embodiment, attachment, and love in relationships.

Holding a PhD in Counselling, Lesley’s research explores how trauma therapists experience poetic and sacred moments in therapeutic relationships. With a background in narrative therapy and relational narrative therapy, Lesley has extensive experience working as a therapist and manager in teams responding to domestic violence and sexual abuse in various contexts. She is also one of the original members of the Adelaide Trauma Centre (ATC).

Lesley’s involvement in the ATC has fostered an abiding interest in a range of body oriented ways of working with clients and therapeutic approaches for working with relational trauma. She is particularly drawn to:

- the work of Janina Fisher (in both theory and practice), and to her systems and parts approaches in this area,

- Frank Corrigan’s DBR – deep brain reorienting,

- the monumental contribution of neuroscience to trauma therapy, and being curious about neuro-biology,

- and the application of attachment systems theory within therapeutic relationships.

For information regarding Lesley's private practice please click here.

AWAY FOR 2025

Krystie is a dedicated and pioneering therapist who is a past chair and founding member of the Adelaide Trauma Collective.

She is trained in Narrative Therapy, Deep Brain Reorienting and is a certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist. She is interested in exploring ways to reclaim our ancient inherent capacity to have a deeply embodied connection to ourselves, others and the environment.

After 25 years of working in the field of gendered violence and complex trauma, she is passionately committed to furthering the work of the Adelaide Trauma Collective - to both better support those living with the effects of interpersonal trauma individually and systemically, and to working towards effective and humane responses to violence and abuse perpetration in our communities.

Krystie loves being in the bush and the sea, relearning how to move freely, travel, philosophy and art.

Krystie is taking a sabbatical in 2025.