3/552 Waterdale Road,
Heidelberg Heights, VIC 3081
I work with adults (18+) experiencing difficulties such as grief, anxiety, trauma, and overwhelming emotions—helping you understand yourself more deeply, address the underlying causes of your difficulties, and build resilience over time.
I also provide treatment for a range of other psychological concerns. I frequently work alongside psychiatrists as part of coordinated care.
The following is an overview, not an exhaustive list:
Sessions are 50 minutes in length. In the first few sessions, my aim is to give you a clear sense of how I work and to explore whether my approach aligns with what you’re seeking from therapy. This initial phase also helps us begin to clarify your goals, concerns, and what you’d like support with.
If you have questions before booking, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. This is not a therapy session, but an opportunity to clarify any queries and decide whether you’d like to proceed.
Ongoing sessions are 50 minutes and are typically scheduled on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Due to high demand and the part-time nature of my practice, I’m unable to offer sessions less frequently than fortnightly. Both research and clinical experience suggest that infrequent sessions tend to limit therapeutic momentum and are less likely to lead to meaningful, lasting change.
ISTDP (Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy) is an evidence-informed approach grounded in neuroscience, attachment, and psychodynamic theory. It is based on the understanding that many psychological difficulties arise from early attachment experiences and are maintained by an over-reliance on defences* that are no longer adaptive.
A central principle of ISTDP is that the ability to experience and express emotions in adaptive ways is essential for psychological health. When emotions are blocked, numbed, suppressed, or avoided, this can lead to distressing symptoms, impact physical and emotional wellbeing, and interfere with relationships.
These defensive patterns can present in many forms, including anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviours, overthinking, physical symptoms without a clear medical basis, self-defeating patterns, addictions, body image concerns, and sexual difficulties.
*Defences refer to psychological, emotional, and behavioural processes that protect against emotional pain, often rooted in earlier attachment experiences.
ISTDP is a highly focussed therapy where both client and therapist aim to work at their highest potential. ISTDP assesses the moment by moment interactions that occur during the session which lead to a feeling, anxiety or defence. The aim is to keep anxiety at a tolerable level, help one see and overcome destructive defences and face underlying feelings, thoughts and memories.
Unlike some other therapies, ISTDP does not focus on specific “skills” or “strategies.” Rather, the aim is for the client to develop a deep understanding of themself; of the things that have been holding them back and their thoughts, feelings, values and desires so that they can be aware of and go after their own needs in a balanced way.
Research has demonstrated that ISTDP is effective in treating a wide range of psychiatric and psychological difficulties such as anxiety, depression, trauma, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse as well as in treating medical conditions where no underlying physical cause has been established: “functional neurological disorders” (e.g., fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraine headaches).
ISTDP is supported by a strong evidence base, including meta-analytic research demonstrating its effectiveness across a range of psychological difficulties, with sustained improvements over time.
You can read a summary of this research here: Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
