Jade Forgan
Psychotherapist & DBT Lead
Professional Identity and Role
Jade is a DBT-informed, PACFA-registered Psychotherapist with a Master's in Psychotherapy. She works across therapeutic and community roles at AkindaCo, bringing a person-centred and trauma-informed approach to her practice. With extensive experience in complex mental health settings, Jade specialises in trauma, identity development, healing, and distress management. Her integrative practice draws from DBT, family systems therapy, trauma processing, polyvagal theory, and expressive modalities. Jade is particularly passionate about strengthening family relationships and supporting individuals to reclaim agency and connection. Outside of her professional work, Jade loves theatre, travel, hiking, and dancing.
Qualifications and Registration
PACFA-registered Psychotherapist
Certified Practising Counsellor
Master of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Adelaide University
Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Psychology), Adelaide University
Therapeutic Approach
Jade works flexibly with clients, centring their lived experiences to uncover what they truly want out of life and their future. Her approach is validating, safe, grounded, and emotionally focused. She values collaboration and adapts her practice to suit different verbal and non-verbal ways of working, meeting each person where they are. Therapy is about building a space where you feel heard, understood, and empowered to move toward the life you want.
Areas of Focus or Interest
Jade commonly works with adolescents and adults experiencing:
Complex trauma – including developmental trauma, relational trauma, and the lasting impacts of abuse, neglect, or childhood wounds. Whether you're struggling with flashbacks, dissociation, or a deep sense of unsafety in the world, Jade offers a compassionate space to process and heal.
Attachment-related distress – patterns of relating that feel confusing, painful, or overwhelming. This might show up as fear of abandonment, difficulty trusting others, push-pull dynamics in relationships, or a persistent feeling of not belonging.
Grief and loss – navigating the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, loss of identity, or any significant life transition. Jade supports you in honouring what's been lost while finding ways to carry it forward.
Relationship challenges – conflict with family, partners, or friends; difficulty setting boundaries; feeling misunderstood or disconnected; or repeating unhelpful patterns in how you relate to others.
Reactive or overwhelming emotions – experiencing intense anger, shame, sadness, or anxiety that feels unmanageable or out of control. Jade helps you understand your emotional responses and develop skills to regulate and respond with greater choice.
Difficulty engaging in community and social connection – feeling isolated, socially anxious, or disconnected from others. This might include struggles with loneliness, withdrawal, or a sense of not fitting in anywhere.
Values and Stance
Collaboration – working together as partners in your journey
Strengths-based and values-based – building on what you bring, not what you lack
Person-centred and life-experience centred – your story and context matter
Emotion-focused – making space for all feelings without judgment
Non-pathologising – seeing you as a whole person, not a diagnosis
Psychoeducation – understanding yourself and your responses empowers change
Professional Background
Jade brings a rich background in complex mental health community work, support coordination, and de-escalation. She has led arts-based and community programs that centre the voices of low socioeconomic communities, fostering participation, inclusion, and creative expression. This lived experience in multidisciplinary and community settings deeply informs her therapeutic work, grounding her practice in real-world understanding and compassion.