* I have recently returned from maternity leave. For existing clients, please contact me via email. I will be accepting new referrals from January 2024 (telehealth only) *
About me
I am a registered clinical psychologist based in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, the Dandenong Ranges.
I completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours from the University of Queensland, and a Doctorate of Psychology (Clinical) from Queensland University of Technology. I work with individuals ranging from late adolescence to adulthood. I have almost 10 years experience in public and private services, working with both inpatient and outpatients.
My therapeutic approach is client-centred and prioritises the development of an empathic, consistent, collaborative, and responsive therapeutic relationship. I offer an integrative approach to therapy, the foundation of which is rooted in psychodynamic therapies.
I work with individuals through Medicare, WorkCover, NDIS, DVA, Australian Defence, VOCAT, TAC funding pathways.
Services and Therapeutic Approach
I am trained in both brief symptom-focussed and longer-term therapies. A therapy is tailored for each person, using evidence based approaches including:
• cognitive behaviour therapy
• acceptance and commitment therapy
• dialectical behaviour therapy
• schema therapy
• mindfulness-based therapies
• trauma-focused therapies
• mentalization-based therapy
• attachment and developmental theories
• psychodynamic principles
• contemporary neurobiology research
I provide therapy for people with the following concerns:
• mood and emotion regulation issues
• issues with adjustment and life transition
• trauma related difficulties
• self-esteem and identity issues
• eating disorders
• chronic interpersonal and personality difficulties
• perinatal mental health
Longer-Term Psychotherapy
I have an interest in working with individuals who struggle with more long standing interpersonal concerns and are seeking a deeper approach to therapy.
I use a psychodynamic approach that focusses on a person’s attachment and developmental history. This approach involves a collaborative effort between therapist and client, within a safe and accepting therapeutic space, to consider a person’s current difficulties in the context of a their family history, childhood experiences, and other relationally significant experiences. We work to uncover and understand how these lived experiences have informed the ways a person typically tends to function in and manage their relationships so to avoid the pain of the past.
Through emotionally engaging in this process, a person is given more self-awareness, which results in previously unknown choices opening up and so leading a person to engage with others in a more authentic and self-regarding way. Previously hidden by layers of a person’s past relational patterns, their real self is then able to emerge and life can be lived in a more meaningful, genuine, and honest way.
The Circle of Security® Parenting™ Programs
I am an accredited facilitator of the Circle of Security® (COS) parenting programs. The COS model is based on decades of attachment research about how secure parent-child relationships can be supported and strengthened.
Using COS, I work with parents to help them:
• Understand their child’s emotional world by learning to read emotional needs
• Support their child’s ability to successfully manage emotions
• Enhance the development of their child's self esteem
• Honour the innate wisdom and desire for their child to be secure.
I am an advanced COS facilitator and supervisor. I offer both the COS-Parenting (COS-P) program and the COS-Intensive (COS-I) program. The COS-P program involves reviewing and reflecting on the COS video materials, whereas the COS-I program additionally involves specific parent-child relationship assessments and tailored treatment planning before the program commences. Therefore, with COS-I, the sessions, including video materials, becomes completely individualised for that parent and that parent-child relationship. While there are several accredited COS-Parenting (COS-P) facilitators in Melbourne, I am one of only two in Victoria further accredited to deliver the COS-Intensive (COS-I) parenting program.
I run COS-P with groups, couples, or individually, and COS-I in pairs/couples, or individually (Medicare rebates may apply).
I am currently undertaking my accreditation as a Supervisor for the Circle of Security - Intensive Program with Joe Coyne and taking expressions of interest for those clinicians who have completed the COS-I training and wanting to undertake their own accreditation for the COS-I Program. Supervision would be offered at a reduced rate. Please contact me directly for further information.
Clinical Supervision
I provide professional supervision and consultation to psychologists, provisional psychologists, and other health professionals. I am an approved supervisor with the Psychology Board of Australia and offer supervision for:
• work in addition to higher degree training
• higher degree programs
• clinical psychology registrar program
• peer supervision
• research supervision
Fees and Appointments
My fee is $210 per 50 minute session. With a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you are eligible for a Medicare rebate of $131.65, for up to 10 sessions per calendar year.
For those making the commitment to a longer-term psychotherapy, a reduced rate following the Medicare rebated sessions may be available.
I also accept Victims of Crime (VOCAT), Traffic Accident Commission (TAC), Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) referrals, and I am a registered service provider for WorkSafe and Defence Force members.
