A Reflective Practice Group for Helping Professionals

Pulls of Practice is a structured, facilitated reflective practice group designed to support helping professionals to better understand the emotional and interpersonal dynamics that emerge in their work.

Grounded in relational, trauma-informed practice and informed by ideas from Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), the group offers a space to step back from the busyness of helping work and reflect on the pulls, patterns, and roles we can find ourselves moving into with clients, colleagues, teams, and systems.

Chloe (she/her) & Zac (he/him)

Notice the pulls. Recognise the patterns. Respond with greater awareness.

Strengthen reflective capacity in your work, your teams, and your relationship with yourself.

Why this Group?

Many helping professionals notice recurring patterns in their work - feeling over-responsible, avoiding conflict, striving to “get it right,” becoming the fixer, or feeling stuck in difficult interpersonal dynamics.

Pulls of Practice creates space to pause and make sense of these patterns rather than staying caught in automatic reactions.

Through guided reflection, collaborative discussion, and experiential exercises, participants are supported to:

  • Notice emotional and relational pulls that arise in practice

  • Recognise recurring patterns across clients, teams, and systems

  • Understand how self-talk, expectations, and internal processes shape professional responses

  • Identify familiar helper roles such as fixing, rescuing, pleasing, withdrawing, or over-functioning

  • Develop more flexible and intentional responses under pressure

  • Feel less alone through connection with other professionals

Rather than focusing on case-specific problem solving, this group focuses on process over content - exploring how we relate, what pulls emerge, and what patterns repeat across our work.

What to expect

  • 6 sessions (90 minutes)

  • Small, facilitated group

  • Online via Microsoft Teams

  • A balance of structure and open reflection

  • Guided activities, discussion, and optional between-session reflections

The group is organised around the 4Ps reflective framework:

Pause -Slow down and notice what is happening internally and relationally.

Pulls -Recognise the urges, emotional pressures, and roles you are being pulled into.

Patterns - Identify recurring relational cycles across clients, teams, and systems.

Professional Response -Create room for thoughtful, boundaried, and relationally-informed responses.

The group emphasises:

  • Psychological safety and choice in sharing

  • Curiosity and compassion over judgement

  • Process over problem-solving

  • Awareness of group dynamics and parallel process

  • Reflection on professional and (where relevant) personal experiences

Who it’s for

This group is suitable for:

  • Mental health clinicians

  • Allied health professionals

  • Youth workers and support staff

  • Helping professionals across a range of settings

It may be particularly helpful if you:

  • Notice recurring interpersonal dynamics in your work

  • Experience pressure, self-criticism, or relational strain in professional roles

  • Find yourself fixing, rescuing, over-functioning, withdrawing, or over-carrying responsibility

  • Want to strengthen reflective practice and relational awareness

  • Are open to a facilitated group process

No prior knowledge of any specific therapy model is required.

Express Interest

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Pulls of Practice is a 6-session facilitated reflective practice group grounded in relational, trauma-informed practice and informed by Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT).

    The group focuses on the emotional pulls, relational roles, and recurring patterns that helping professionals can become drawn into in client work, teams, organisations, and systems. It combines reflective discussion, collaborative mapping, and practical frameworks to support greater awareness and flexibility in practice.

  • Pulls of Practice is suitable for:

    • Mental health clinicians

    • Allied health professionals

    • Youth workers and support staff

    • Multidisciplinary teams

    It may be particularly helpful for professionals who:

    • Notice recurring interpersonal dynamics in their work

    • Experience pressure, self-criticism, or relational strain

    • Want to deepen their reflective practice

    • Are open to reflective discussion in a group setting

    The group is queer-affirming, neurodiversity-inclusive, and facilitated with a trauma-informed, relational lens.

  • This group may not be the best fit for professionals who are:

    • Seeking case-specific supervision or clinical decision-making guidance

    • Unable to engage in a reflective group process at this time

    Please reach out if you would like to discuss suitability further.

  • Across six sessions, participants are supported to:

    • Develop a shared language for relational patterns

    • Recognise emotional and relational pulls

    • Identify recurring helper patterns

    • Reflect on team and systems dynamics

    • Explore more flexible professional responses

    • Integrate the 4Ps framework into everyday practice

  • Pulls of Practice is not a replacement for formal clinical supervision.

    Rather than focusing on case review or clinical decision-making, the group emphasises:

    • Process over content (how we relate, rather than what we do)

    • Awareness of relational patterns across contexts

    • Emotional pulls, enactments, and parallel process

    • Reflective capacity and professional use of self

    It can complement supervision by strengthening relational insight and reflective awareness.

  • Participants can expect:

    • A psychologically safe, structured, and facilitated space

    • Choice in how much to share, with no expectation of personal disclosure beyond what feels appropriate

    • Opportunities to reflect on professional and personal experiences (where relevant)

    • Collaborative mapping of relational patterns

    • A focus on curiosity, compassion, and non-judgement

  • No. Participants are encouraged to share at a level that feels personally and professionally appropriate.

    Reflections can focus on:

    • Professional experiences

    • General relational patterns

    • Personal insights, if relevant and comfortable

    Maintaining appropriate boundaries is supported and respected throughout the group.

  • Participants often find the group supports them to:

    • Recognise relational patterns in client work and team dynamics

    • Develop greater flexibility in responding to interpersonal challenges

    • Increase awareness of internal responses such as self-talk, expectations, and urgency

    • Strengthen reflective capacity and reduce reactivity in practice

    • Feel less isolated through shared professional experiences

  • The group is facilitated by Zac Morgan and Chloe Sutton, Accredited Mental Health Social Workers and Accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) practitioners.

    They bring experience across public and private mental health settings, with a focus on relational, trauma-informed approaches and group facilitation. Their style is warm, structured, and reflective, with an emphasis on safety, curiosity, and collaboration.

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    To express interest, sign up, or discuss suitability, please contact:
     admin@chloesutton.com.au or hello@zacmorgan.com.au

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    We are happy to discuss whether the group is an appropriate fit and answer any questions.

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