Psychologists & Counsellors in West Ryde

Jenna is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and Relationship Therapist with over 15 years experience supporting individuals, couples and families. She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Melbourne and is endorsed as a Specialist Couple Therapist by Relationships Australia (Victoria).

Jenna's career began in family services, supporting vulnerable children and families across a range of community and health settings. This included developing group programs for mothers experiencing mental health difficulties and social isolation, giving her broad experience across the different stages of family life. She now works in private practice where she works with clients from a broad cross section of the community.

Jenna supports both individuals and couples experiencing a wide range of issues including anxiety and depression, attachment and connection, historical or intergenerational trauma, sexual and intimacy issues, affairs, family conflict and communication difficulties. She has particular experience supporting neurodivergent clients, and holds a special interest in perinatal mental health, including the transition to parenthood, parent-child attachment, and birth trauma.

Jenna draws on a strengths-based, attachment, family-systems and trauma-informed framework, tailoring her approach to the needs of each client. She integrates Internal Family Systems therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Gottman Method couple therapy, and is a qualified Circle of Security Parenting Facilitator, drawing on this when working with parents of young children.

Jenna works with individuals and couples to build an authentic, safe and trusting relationship in which to understand the challenges they face, helping clients build resilience and form deeper, more secure connections with themselves and others.

Petra is a Registered Counsellor and member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) with experience in various roles across the healthcare industry. She holds a Diploma from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors and a Graduate Diploma in Relationship Counselling, as well as advanced accreditations in grief & loss, addiction, abuse and eating disorders.

Petra has worked extensively with a diverse range of individuals across multiple organisations in both the aged care, clinical and charity sectors. Through her time at the Butterfly Foundation, Petra empowered her clients through evidence-based therapy to help them overcome negative eating patterns. Petra also has specific experience treating complex mental health in elderly clients, supporting them through issues such as trauma, grief and cognitive decline. Prior to her commencing a career in counselling, Petra worked in various roles within the corporate space, collaborating and liaising with an assortment of professionals, helping shape the person-centred approach she utlises in therapy today.

In private practice, Petra’s focus is to meet and understand where individuals are at in their lives, and best support them using a variety of therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solutions Focused Therapy, ACT, Strengths Based Therapy and Narrative Therapy. In her sessions, Petra assists her clients in a range of concerns, including anger management, depression, anxiety, relationship concerns, grief & loss, self-esteem issues, workplace stress, as well as more complex mental health including eating disorders and addiction.

Petra is an insightful and altruistic counsellor, who believes everyone is unique in their counselling needs and, as such, aims to personalise each session to the individual. Creating safe, supportive and confidential spaces for people to engage, Petra uses empathy and understanding to support her clients in their mental health journey and onto more fulfilling lives.

Daniela is a Registered Psychologist with over 20 years of experience across clinical practice, behavioural support, university teaching, and clinical supervision. She holds a Bachelor of Psychology and a Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, and has trained in a variety of evidence-based modalities including EMDR, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) at the Beck Institute, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) with renowned US-based psychologist Marsha Linehan.

Daniela has extensive experience supporting clients from diverse cultures, professions and psychosocial backgrounds from her work in private practice, at universities and with the NDIS. She works with a wide range of presentations including but not limited to anxiety, depression, OCD, complex post-traumatic disorder, relationship and sexual challenges, career challenges, psychological disorders, mildlife transition and life purpose.

Daniela’s main therapeutic approaches are humanistic, existential, psychodynamic and systemic. She also utilises the tenets of positive psychology to promote and provide unconditional empathy and positive acceptance in her work with clients. In addition to her training in CBT and DBT, Daniela is also skilled in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), schema therapy, and psychodynamic approaches.

Daniela is a welcoming, empathetic and inspirational practitioner. Her work is characterised by her warmth, her critical thinking and a humanist perspective. She is passionate about offering a space where her clients can feel heard, be respectfully challenged, and supported to create meaningful change.

Daniela is also an experienced careers psychologist and a member of the Career Development Association of Australia. In this capacity, she enjoys working with adolescents and adults to navigate career transitions, rediscover purpose, and align their work with their values.

Ali is a Registered Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Couples Therapist with over 15 years experience in the mental health industry. He holds both a Bachelor of Psychology and a Masters of Counselling and Psychotherapy, both from University of Western Sydney, as well as various accreditations in treating trauma.

Ali has worked as a treating counsellor in the government, not-for-profit and education sectors including at STARTTS Refugee Support Service, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, the Department of Communities and Justice, and the Public Health department. This experience has fashioned his collaborative approach and ability to to assess and treat individuals from diverse backgrounds. Drawing on his advanced knowledge of trauma-informed counselling, Ali has experience supporting various vulnerable populations, including both war veterans, refugees and at-risk youth.

In private practice, Ali is passionate about educating his clients on mental health, coping strategies and self-care techniques to facilitate positive growth and change. Drawing on a range of modalities to suit his client’s needs, Ali tends to preference the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Mindfulness, Trauma-Focused Therapies and Narrative Therapy. In his sessions, Ali assists his clients with a variety of concerns, including depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mood disorders, anger, as well as substance abuse and behavioural addictions.

Working with couples, Ali combines Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) and the evidence based Gottman approach to understand the dynamic within each relationship and to support couples with a range of concerns, including communication, arguments, parenting, intimacy, stagnation and infidelity.

Ali is an altruistic therapist, striving to act with empathy and guidance when supporting his clients. By aiding individuals through times of emotional, psychological and behavioural challenges, Ali helps foster positive changes and support his patients to lead happier and healthier lives.

Christine is a professional counsellor and psychotherapist. She holds a Bachelor in Social Science, a Graduate Certificate in Psychotherapy Studies and is a member of the Australian Somatic Psychotherapy Association and the Australian Hypnotherapist’s Association.

Christine has over 20 years experience as a clinical counsellor in the public sector (for the NSW Police and Women’s Health) and in private practice. She has experience working with a range of client presentations, including self-esteem, trauma, grief, sexual abuse, domestic violence, parenting, relationship issues, anxiety, depression, post natal depression, workplace stress, disorders of the self and addictive behaviour.

Whilst Christine’s underlying framework is psychodynamic and humanist, she takes a client-centred approach to her therapeutic interventions and utilizes a variety of therapeutic approaches depending on the client’s specific issues and emotional capacity. Christine believes that each person’s requirements are unique and her therapy is guided by that belief. This is a collaborative approach, whereby Christine works together with the client to form a therapeutic alliance.

Both conscious and unconscious processes are explored as people are helped to manage their thoughts and emotions, and challenge patterns of behavior - enabling change, where desired, and better ways of being and living. When Christine works with couples, she uses a combined approach drawing on intra-psychic and systemic modalities, understanding the individuals and what happens between them as a system of relating.

Christine works with the client as a whole person, rather than as a set of ‘symptoms’ or ‘pathologies’ to be treated. People manifest their emotional difficulties in different forms in an effort to adapt. Christine focuses her therapy on what works and the resources people have within to draw from and help them to understand that they can make changes and improve their experience of life.

Andrea is a registered psychologist with over 20 years experience in the field. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology, and a Diploma in Sexual Health Counselling from ASSERT. She also completed a comprehensive one-year training course in Ellyn Bader’s Developmental Model of Couples Therapy.

Andrea has worked in private practice since 1999. She sees both individuals and couples and is able to provide both short-term and long-term therapy, as well as psycho-education, advice and support for people in emotional or relationship distress, sexual counselling services, and trauma-informed therapy.

Andrea uses a holistic approach which combines behavioural, interpersonal and mind-body therapies in her professional interactions with clients. She helps to locate the underlying emotional and physical responses to a particular problem, working at a deep level with both mind and body in order to effect long-lasting change. To this end, Andrea utilises her training in Inner Space Techniques - a form of meditative body-oriented therapy that helps to access these core emotional undercurrents within the body as well as change repetitive thought patterns.

She is also able to help her clients process and regulate their emotions, understand their negative patterns of behaviour, develop better communication strategies and increase their body awareness.

Andrea is experienced in working with a range of client presentations, including depression, anxiety, grief, stress, sexual difficulties, anger and complex trauma (including sexual trauma). Andrea is also an accredited sexual health counsellor.

As a relationship counsellor, she is able to support couples through all sorts of relationship issues, including infidelity, intimacy, arguments and communication problems.

Andrea is also highly experienced in dealing with the psychological repercussions associated with body-image, desire, sexual trauma and gynecological problems (including pregnancy issues, miscarriage, termination and menopause).

Di is a Counsellor and Psychotherapist with over a decade of experience in private practice. She holds a Bachelor of Counselling, a Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy, a Diploma of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Strategic Psychotherapy, and is a Clinical Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA).

Di is trained in a variety of therapeutic modalities, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Therapy, Hypnotherapy, and the Gottman method for relationship counselling.

Throughout her career Di has assisted clients with a range of concerns including anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, drug, alcohol and gambling addictions, among other emotional and psychological concerns. She has extensive experience in relationship counselling.

As well as helping individuals and couples in private practice, Di has worked as a telephone counsellor for the Beyond Blue and 1800 Respect domestic violence help lines and Quitline.

Di takes a person-centred approach and is committed to working collaboratively with her clients to explore possibilities for change.

John’s work as a counsellor in private practice is supported by his extensive corporate experience in human resources, executive coaching and change management. John holds a Bachelor of Business, a Masters of Applied Science in Social Ecology and a Graduate Diploma in Counselling. He is a member of the Australian Counselling Association and is an experienced conflict resolution facilitator.

John is a Clinical Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, a member of the Australian College of Clinical Counsellors and the Australian College of Supervisors, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Executive Coaches.

John works with both couples and individuals, drawing on a range of therapeutic modalities that best suit the presentations and personality of the client. He is particularly interested in the challenges and opportunities inherent in all relationships. He is accredited as an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner as well as a Voice Dialogue practitioner, and is able to administer a range of psychometric testing instruments. John is also trained to administer Gottman Therapy in his work with couples.

Commencing from a framework that steadfastly honours individual difference, John works with his clients to build awareness and insight into the patterns, processes and belief systems which inform our decisions and choices. In this way, he hopes to help his clients encounter a more conscious, empowered, effective and fulfilling way of living and being in the world.

Whilst his approach is initially cognitive, John endeavours, over time, to help his clients embrace their new belief systems holistically - enabling an integrated and sustainable approach to better living. He works to develop a trusting and supportive therapeutic relationship with his clients, believing this to be a central component of good therapy and sustainable change.

John’s book “Breaking Patterns - Run the life you want to have or life runs you!” is available on Amazon. You can find it here.

Mike is registered as a Clinical Psychologist and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society. He works with adults with anxiety disorders, depression, addictions, trauma, relationships and has a special interest in working with LGBTQ+ clients. His therapeutic approach uses CBT, ACT and mindfulness for letting go of unhelpful thoughts, being present with difficult emotions and connecting to your values; the things that really matter to you.

He completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2003. His doctoral training included internships in adult mental health, forensics, child & family services, and intellectual disabilities. His post-doctoral training has included skills in ACT, DBT and training in professional supervision.

Mike has worked in sexual health services in London, community mental health services in Auckland, student counselling at the University of Auckland and as a forensic psychologist in Sydney. He is one of our most senior clinicians and has been providing online therapy since 2012.