I am very excited to be part of the Geelong Bodi and Mind team and to continue the great work they do in helping people heal from a range of emotional and psychological disturbances. I am a psychologist and have worked in this role for the past 18 or so years.
I first started working as a psychologist in the disability field supporting adults and children with an intellectual disability as well as those with autism who had challenging behaviours. I learnt a lot in the 6 years that I was in this role.
What stood out for me was the realisation that many people with disabilities had experienced distressing and traumatic events and that these experiences were not addressed and there was little understanding of how to do this. So I decided to learn more about trauma and was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the Berry Street Take Two program supporting children and families who had experienced Trauma within the family (Complex Trauma) and who were involved in Child Protection.
After 12 years in this role I felt the need for a change an decided to work as a private psychologist in 2016 and use the skills I had learnt over the past 18 years helping those in the broader community.
I really enjoy working in the private area, with both adults and children, using a range of therapies that I’ve learnt along the way. As stated above, I have a particular interest in trauma and over the past several years I’ve undertaken training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) which is fascinating and has proven to be a very effective treatment for healing trauma as well as other emotional disturbances.
EMDR also fits in well with Geelong Bodi and Mind’s philosophy of using natural therapies that support the body’s ability to heal itself.
You can learn more about this therapy by visiting the following link http://emdraa.org/what-is-emdr/. I do not believe in a one size fits all approach to treatment so how I work and support each person depends on their individual needs and preferences.