Vanessa is a warm and empathic clinician with over 10 years experience working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families. She strives to create a safe, supportive and empowering space for those whom she works with. 

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Vanessa brings experience from both the private and public health sectors, including the Child & Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS), where she worked with young people and their families with moderate to severe mental health issues. 

 

Vanessa works with a wide range of presenting issues and has particular interest in anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, autism, ADHD, and parenting. She mainly works from a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, and Family Systems Therapy lens, however, also draws upon other research-informed approaches as outlined below. 

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Vanessa completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours Class I) at the University of Sydney, and a Master of Clinical Psychology at the University of Canberra. In addition to her clinical work, Vanessa has worked within research teams at School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales and Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry, South Western Sydney Local Health District. She is also a board-approved supervisor for clinical psychology registrars. 

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Areas of Interest

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• Anxiety (i.e., separation anxiety, generalised anxiety, social anxiety, specific phobias)

• Depression/low mood

• Low self-esteem

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Post-traumatic Stress/Trauma related symptoms 

• Emotion regulation issues

• Parenting concerns

• Relationship issues 

• Early childhood challenges (e.g., tantrums, meltdowns, oppositional behaviour)

• Neurodiversity including Autism and ADHD

• Selective mutism

• Psychometric testing 

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Therapeutic approaches 

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• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A)

• Schema Therapy

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)

• Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT-E)

• Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Family Systems Therapy

• Circle of Security Parenting®

• Tuning in to Teens®

• PEERS® Social Skills Training

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Qualifications

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• Bachelor of Psychology (Honours Class I), University of Sydney 

• Master of Clinical Psychology, University of Canberra

• Board approved supervisor for interns and registrars

• Accredited Schema Therapist with the International Society of Schema Therapy 

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Professional Memberships

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• Full registration with the Psychology Board of Australia

• Area of Practice Endorsement in Clinical Psychology

• Member of the Australian Psychology Society 

• Member of the International Society of Schema Therapy 

• Fellow of APS College of Clinical Psychologists

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Consulting Days: Mondays, Tuesdays & Saturdays​

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