Tugba Cagdas , AASW

Tugba Cagdas is a social worker based in Australia with 5 years of clinical experience focusing on mental health and wellbeing. She brings a strengths-oriented perspective to work with people facing stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, career challenges, and depression, helping them identify practical steps toward their goals.

Holding AASW (Australian Association of Social Workers) credentialing, she draws on Client-Centered, Narrative, and Solution-Focused approaches to tailor support around each person’s needs. Her practice emphasises clients' existing capabilities and resilience, using conversation and collaborative planning to build clarity, motivation, and confidence.

Tugba also attends to issues such as isolation and loneliness, life purpose, multicultural concerns, pregnancy and childbirth, self-love, social anxiety and phobia, women’s issues, workplace challenges, and young adult transitions. She works in English and Turkish, which helps her connect with multicultural clients and those more comfortable expressing themselves in either language.

Across her work, Tugba aims to create an environment where people feel heard and respected while they explore change at their own pace. Her approach centres on practical solutions and narrative exploration so clients can move toward more satisfying personal and professional lives.

How Tugba's Approaches Translate to Online Therapy

Tugba uses Client-Centered Therapy, which focuses on understanding each person's experience and building a supportive, non-directive space where clients lead the conversation and set the pace. This approach helps with stress, self-esteem, and relationship concerns by centring the person’s own goals and values.

She also integrates Narrative Therapy, a method that helps people reframe and reorganise the stories they tell about themselves and their problems. Narrative techniques can be useful for issues like identity, life purpose, multicultural concerns, and social anxiety by separating the person from the problem and exploring alternative meanings.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Tugba works collaboratively with clients to identify which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. Together they adapt techniques and set priorities so therapy feels practical and relevant.

Online sessions by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging offer flexibility for people balancing work, family, or geographic constraints. These formats make it easier to maintain continuity of care, schedule sessions around other commitments, and access support in a way that suits individual routines.