Director of Dynamic Psychotherapy, a psychology practice with 28 psychologists and psychotherapists
Teacher and Supervisor of Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)
Registered Psychologist with Clinical Endorsement - AHPRA registration number PSY0001120782
Board of Psychology – Certified Supervisor
Teaching 1, 2 and 3-day courses, and 3-year courses on Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy in Australia, New Zealand, India, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, Portugal and Turkey
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Placement for Master of Clinical Psychology course
Professional Development: 2022 - 2023
Professional Development relating to supervising: 2022 - 2023
Books Read 2022-2023 relating to supervising:
Summary
1981 - Completed Year 12 Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School (academic scholarship)
1982 - LaTrobe University BBSc (psychology) - deferred
1982 - State Bank of Victoria - clerk and teller (6 months)
7 March 1983 - 7 March 1994: Victoria Police
Five years in uniform including inner suburban police stations. Special assignments based on aptitude including assignment to special duties. I attended multiple serious crimes including the mass murder at Hoddle Street by Julian Knight in 1987.
I was accepted into the Criminal Investigation Bureau less than five years after graduation and worked in various roles including as a detective senior constable investigating organised crime at the Tactical Investigation Group and was repeatedly briefly seconded to the Drug Squad to perform undercover work on various crime groups including individuals considered so dangerous that I was repeatedly accompanied at close proximity by covert teams from the Special Operations Group.
I was included in a small group that performed work within but separate to mainstream Drug Squad activities in an attempt to circumvent allegedly corrupt police knowing of the investigations. This was considered dangerous as we could not rely on the usual range of police resources in order to remain covert. I was asked to participate in this group because my integrity was very high. I was part of the investigation into the "Hamilton-Byrne Family" including being assigned to obtain statements from children who were raised in a cult.
I also worked at Brunswick C.I.B. and Flemington C.I.B. including undertaking the first investigation into the systematic abuse of special needs patients by their carers. Over a six-year period I regularly performed in excess of 20 hours per week of unpaid overtime.
15.02.83 - commenced two courses at The Cairnmillar Institute and work as a provisional psychologist. I was given four hours of free training in return for working in an unpaid position in the low-cost clinic. I was also given access to a free 1.5 hour group supervision per week with Dr Francis Macnab and one hour of individual supervision per week. I organised to be rostered on leave on Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings, on a permanent basis, to enable me to undertake this opportunity which I thought would help me to become a more rounded person and a better detective. My colleagues at Brunswick C.I. B. facilitated this in exchange for that I undertook to work every weekend unless on annual leave i.e. it took considerable organising and commitment to take part in this opportunity.
28.09.93 - I took sick leave from the Victoria Police due to a significant trauma
07.03.94 - I commenced a Master of Clinical Psychology degree at Deakin University
When I left the Victoria Police to undertake a Master of Clinical Psychology, my intention was to become as effective as possible as a psychologist to help address psychological distress. I read widely and canvassed psychologists that I met in the course of my studies and when in 1995 I learned of Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) I decided that in learning ISTDP it would possibly help me in this goal. I studied under the supervision of a U.S.-based clinical psychologist for some time. She helped me understand the importance of being able to see exactly what happened in the therapy session for optimal learning and understanding, and to optimally help a patient. I was becoming familiar with video recording sessions as I was on a 12-month university placement at Bouverie Family Therapy Centre at the time, in addition to attending their 12-month family therapy training (that I was given at a reduced cost in return for undertaking administration tasks for them), and video recording sessions was common practice at Bouverie Family Therapy Session, now know as The Bouverie Centre and attached to LaTrobe University.
I waited until my youngest child was six years old before commencing formal training in ISTDP which meant travelling overseas for three days at a time four times a year, for three years. I had the option of training in Canada, the U.S., or a number of European countries and I elected to train in Sweden. Undertaking this three-year course was a very big commitment, in terms of time and financially. My closest friend lives in Western Australia but undertook to come to my home to help my youngest child to manage my absence i.e. it was also a big commitment for my friend. Each three-day block of training cost me approximately $10,000 - over $2,200 in training fees and the remainder being airfares, accommodation, food, and time lost from work in that I was usually absent for six days. I did not hesitate to undertake this training. I had seen a lot of emotional suffering in the Victoria Police - both in members of the public and in members of the Victoria Police. It was important to me that I tried to become as effective as possible as a therapist if I was to work as a therapist.
I began to get requests from other Australian therapists to help them train. I also got requests from therapists wanting to work with me. From 2017 I accepted psychologists to come and work with me which by 2019 led to the establishment of the private practice that I now head, Dynamic Psychotherapy. In the third year of my Core Training in ISTDP, I was asked to join an Advanced Training and then a training for teachers and supervisors of ISTDP. I was initially reluctant to do so but the teacher was persistent and in 2015 I began a 3.5 year "Training of Trainers" course with Jon Frederickson who remains my supervisor and now I co-teach with him. It is unusual for students to be approached to join these trainings - usually they request to join. I now run more trainings within Australia and internationally than any other teacher including that I have this year had requests from three U.K.-based psychologists to train with me, despite that they have a number of local Core Trainings that they can choose from. I am told that I am exceptionally "kind" as a teacher and promote groups that are non-competitive but generally excel at learning. There are still exceptions to this and I do not manage to help all students to become proficient in ISTDP including that learning is also very dependant on the individual student
Professional