Meet Giselle Martins

Qualified Mental Health Therapist

OMA Wellness was founded 10 years ago by Giselle Martins, an internationally qualified therapist who takes a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing, integrating contemporary and evidence-based therapeutic methods with traditional practices.

Giselle Martins is a qualified therapist with a Dip. in Counselling and BSocSc. in Psychology. She has undergone postgraduate training across New Zealand, Brasil, and at UC Berkeley, USA, where she was also directly taught by Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing. Additionally, drawing from over 15 years of dedicated meditation practice, and as a certified Taiji and Qigong instructor trained at the Wudang Mountains in China, she integrates mindfulness into her therapeutic approach.

Giselle brings a rich and diverse background to her practice, having worked with Indigenous communities, served as a university course tutor, and supported survivors of severe interpersonal violence and abuse. She has supported hundreds of clients globally through individual therapy, group workshops and retreats. Her purpose is to provide guidance on the journey toward inner peace and resilience.

My Background

I was born and raised in the heart of Brazil, where I grew up surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of waterfalls, rivers, and dazzling crystals. I have a multiethnic background, my mother's side traces back to migrants from Germany and Poland during World War II, while my father's side has roots in Portugal and potentially the indigenous Krenak people of Brazil.

Embracing a global identity, I've spent a significant portion of my life travelling to over 20 countries worldwide. For more than 15 years, I've established my home base in Oceania, particularly in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia.

My journey into becoming a therapist was deeply motivated by my own path of healing from complex and multiple traumatic experiences. These included surviving sexual and domestic violence, coping with emotional trauma, facing cancer and death of my beloved father during my youth, while navigating the challenges of intergenerational trauma, which all led me to drug and alcohol abuse.

Around 15 years ago, I embarked on a conscious journey of personal healing, which ignited my passion to help others navigate similar paths toward recovery and wellbeing.

I am a highly sensitive person, therefore being with and in nature, practicing embodied movement and listening to soulful music is an integral part to my self-care routine. I love travelling, hiking, scuba diving and contemplating the beauty in the natural world.

My Work Experiences

I am a trained and experienced mental health therapist, but I consider myself a professional of vulnerabilities and not of certainties. I understand what it is like to experience trauma, as I have endured many struggles in life.

I have been working in the field of healing and wellbeing for the last 10 years, I have successfully supported hundreds of clients around the world with individual therapeutic sessions, virtually and in clinic settings, also offering group workshops and retreats in New Zealand and Australia.

In addition to my clinical experience, I have also worked academically as a research assistant in the psychology department lab of University of California, Berkeley in United States and also worked as a tutor of a Maori Social Psychology paper at Waikato University in New Zealand.

Dip. Counselling/ Completed credits towards MPsych/ B.Soc.Sc. (Psych)

Qualifications

I respectfully acknowledge the Maori people, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa, New Zealand, whom I have lived and learned with for the last 15 years.

I also honour the indigenous of Brazil, my birth country, especially the Guarani, Huni Kuin and Krenak people who also had impacted and influenced my personal and professional growth.

I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where I currently reside in the Northern Rivers, NSW - Australia, particularly the Bundjalung Nation. I honor their Elders past, present, and future, and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.