About Kellie Ward
As a registered counsellor and founder of Foundational Holdings, she has built her career around one simple yet powerful standard: quality mental health support should be accessible, real, and without judgment—especially in the communities that need it most. Her approach is raw, honest, and deeply connected. She understands that healing isn’t just about talking; it’s about feeling safe enough to be real and truly honest. She creates spaces where people can drop their guard, be vulnerable, and start making sense of their struggles—whether it’s anxiety, trauma, burnout, or life’s unexpected challenges. Kellie didn’t take the typical path into counselling. Her journey started in health, fitness, and childcare, where she developed a deep understanding of how the body and mind are connected. Over the years, she has worked with regional communities, businesses, and frontline workers, tackling the unique mental health struggles of rural and shift-working populations—groups that are often overlooked and underserved.Â
She is currently pursuing a PhD focused on developing an intervention for shift workers, a passion fueled by firsthand experience seeing how workplace culture, long hours, and isolation impact mental health. Through her businesses—Foundational Care, Employee Assistance Australia, and The Centre for Counselling—Kellie is creating real change, not just in individual lives but in workplaces, families, and entire communities. With over 20 businesses signed under Employee Assistance Australia, reaching more than 600 employees in rural and regional areas, she is proving that mental health support can be proactive, personal, and community-driven.
Kellie isn’t about quick fixes or surface-level solutions—she’s about meeting people where they are, walking beside them, and helping them rebuild in a way that feels right for them. Whether she’s supporting a domestic violence survivor, guiding a business owner through burnout, or helping a teenager navigate anxiety, her work is always rooted in compassion, integrity, and a deep respect for the human experience.
For Kellie, counselling isn’t just a profession—it’s purpose. And she’s just getting started.
Kellie's Career
Kellie’s journey into counselling began in 2017 with the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) after the birth of her first child. Supporting new mothers through the often overwhelming transition to motherhood, she ran group sessions and worked on the ABA helpline, helping women navigate postnatal challenges, anxiety, and the pressures of early parenthood. While studying for a Bachelor of Psychology, Kellie made a pivotal decision—taking time off to complete a Diploma in Counselling and gain hands-on experience in the field. It didn’t take long for her to realise that counselling wasn’t just a profession for her—it was where she truly belonged. The deep, one-on-one work of helping people through their toughest moments resonated more than the clinical path of psychology, leading her to fully commit to counselling as her career.
In 2019, she stepped into private practice, working with an allied health company in Parkes, NSW, a regional community where mental health services were often hard to access. After gaining invaluable experience and seeing firsthand the gaps in regional mental health care, she knew she could do more. A few years later, she took a leap of faith and founded Foundational Care, a counselling practice focused on bringing real, accessible mental health support to rural and regional areas. Today, Kellie owns and operates a thriving counselling company with a growing team across multiple clinics in Central Western NSW, Australia. She is also the founder of The Centre for Counselling, a key part of her mission to bridge the gap in mental health care for regional communities.
Through Foundational Holdings, she now leads three businesses—Foundational Care, Employee Assistance Australia, and The Centre for Counselling—all dedicated to creating meaningful, community-driven mental health solutions. With a focus on workplace well-being, employee assistance programs, and rural outreach, her work continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of individuals, families, and businesses across the region.
Kellie's Qualifications
- Masters of CounsellingÂ
- Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) with a Minor in MarketingÂ
- Graduate Certificate in Research
- Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Leadership
- Diploma of CounsellingÂ
- Diploma of Fitness
- Cert. IV in Breastfeeding Education & Counselling
- Cert. III & IV in Children’s ServicesÂ
- NDIS RegisteredÂ
- PEERS Social Skills Training CertifiedÂ
Therapeutic Approaches
- Gottman Couples Therapy
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Dialectical Behavioural TherapyÂ
- Cognitive Behavioural TherapyÂ
- Somatic Trauma-Informed Therapy
- RISE UP Supervisor Â
- Narrative Theapy
- Play TherapyÂ
- Internal Family Systems TherapyÂ
- Family Therapy
- Functional Behavioural AssessmentÂ
- Behavioural Counselling
