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Who We Are

We are a team of therapists with expertise gained from a broad range of healing modalities and perspectives; and a team of individuals personally familiar with the type of deep, internal process that our clients will also be undertaking whilst in retreat. The entire team share a common desire for balance, fulfillment, awareness and connection. This allows our team to provide a background of healing support for each client.

Our clinical team is led by Radha Nicholson, Clinical Director, Brendan Healey, Psychotherapist; and Michael Lerner, Psychologist. Radha and Brendan are the therapists responsible for pioneering one-to-one intensive therapeutic and addiction rehabilitation retreats in Australia.

Radha Nicholson's early interest in the human mind and condition lead her on a journey of exploration in Asia where she came into contact with Buddhist teachers. Her experiences during meditation retreats profoundly influenced the direction of her life.

A registered Psychologist, Radha has developed and refined her own style of counselling using inquiry and insight to allow access to each person’s inner wisdom. Radha brings Buddhist mindfulness and inquiry to her psychology practice as both have the power to transform the individual. She began counselling in a therapeutic community for chemical dependence in 1993 and continues this work in her practice, bringing a loving, compassionate approach to the treatment process. Her work aims to help people free themselves of destructive patterns of behaviour which have their origins in a painful or traumatic past.

Trained as a self psychologist, she is able to work at a profound level to inspire healing, cohesiveness and connection. Radha’s particular fields of interest and expertise are the treatment of trauma, anxiety and depression. Since 1999 she has worked in private practice treating a broad client base, helping people to access joy, peace and wisdom. Radha places an emphasis on the recognition that all experiences, no matter how painful, offer transformation.

Along with Brendan Healey, Radha pioneered the initial concept of one-to-one clinical treatment using a wholistic approach and developed innovative and successful methods of working with clients. This inspiration continues at The Bay.

Radha is also an Insight Meditation teacher and teaches meditation retreats internationally. This international schedule includes regular teaching in India. She lives in the beautiful Northern Rivers district of Australia and has four grown children and grandchildren.

Brendan Healey is a psychotherapist and dependency counsellor with 25 years of experience. He has a comprehensive background working in the addiction and recovery field initially to support his own recovery, then in service to others. His considered and creative style quickly invites an atmosphere for profound awareness and insight to develop. His ability to facilitate complex process with simplicity and lightness has been well refined over the years.

“In 1985 I was 26 years old and contemplating what direction to explore next. My meditation, yoga and martial arts regime was wrapped around the beauty of Byron Bay beach swims and coastal runs... I was a long way from the carnage of my previous life. I was offered a traineeship in the drug and alcohol field after working as a volunteer at a local rehab centre where I had been a resident for the previous year. I chose to specialise in stress management techniques to enhance the recovery programs.

I'm now 50 and have never looked back, still studying, still teaching always excited at the brilliance of developments in the body, mind and spiritual amalgamation. There are a number of truly gifted and revered trainers I have had the honour to work with over the last quarter of a century. Their life commitment to merge psychotherapeutic and awareness practices in a grounded and eloquent way still humbles and inspires me today.”

Over the last decade Brendan has developed a successful private practice working with couples and individuals and offers clinical supervision for Gestalt students. "The Bay has offered me another chance to further refine and enhance the prevailing depth and spirit of best practice skills available to support wellbeing, with a group of likeminded people where there is scope and space to offer the highest possible service...now that's what excites me.”

Michael Lerner is a psychologist specialising in the field of drugs and alcohol. Michael completed his initial clinical training during the 90s, a time also spent surfing and travelling. Michael was fascinated by the myriad cultures and spiritual practices he encountered, and this fired his passion for human consciousness and the mysteries of our existence. At Bond University, Michael studied and wrote about the effects of profound drug induced mystical experiences with regards to people’s values, beliefs and a sense of well-being [click here to read article].

Michael was lead further down the academic path by his interest in the physical aspect of brain mechanisms involved in drug experiences. At present, Michael is conducting his PhD research, looking at the effects of Methamphetamine use on brain functioning. In conjunction with his doctorate work, Michael has lectured and tutored various courses in psychology at Bond University, including a course in psychopharmacology, exploring the ways substances operate in the brain.

In recent years Michael was the manager of the co-morbid disorders’ (the coincidence of other mental disorders along drug addiction) department in a drug rehabilitation centre on the Gold Coast. This role involved managing some of the most complex cases of drug addiction and mental health presented to drug and alcohol services across Australia.

Michael sees addiction as a process of complex interaction between bio-psycho-social factors which constantly influence and shape each other. From a psychological point of view, Michael believes that identity issues play a central role in addiction. Identifying with, a transient and situational web of ideas, images and ever-changing circumstances, can lead to rigid concepts of being “this or that.” These particular thought processes, accompanied by experiences and emotions stored in our memory as “evidence,” are integrated as dysfunctional thought patterns and as a result, create similar, repetitive realities. Asking fundamental questions such as “Who am I? What is this all about?” is essential to addiction and other issues. Michael is a strong supporter of the perennial view which refers to the unifying, underlining factors in spiritual traditions, specifically SELF inquiry.

“Recovering from addiction can be seen as a tremendous opportunity for self discovery. The long and painful road can spontaneously transform into a journey filled with the beauty of meaning, joy, and innocence; our vessels to the SELF”.

A father of two and avid surfer, Michael now spends his leisure time changing diapers and practicing ancient sleep deprivations techniques while watching the bay in a marvellous dance of glorious sunrises joined by fresh ocean scent and the sounds of perfect rolling waves...

Reference: Lerner, M., Lyvers, M. Values Beliefs and a Sense of Well-Being: A Cross Cultural Comparison. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (38, 2, June, 2006).

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