Vanessa is a Clinical Psychologist, with extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and families, in addition to adults. She is experienced in treating a diverse range of presenting issues, along with conducting psychometric and autism assessments. Vanessa's therapeutic style is warm, genuine, and collaborative. 

 

Vanessa founded Youth and Beyond Psychology (formerly known as Kids in Mind Psychology) in 2018. She has previously worked within schools, community mental health settings, and other private practices. Prior to Youth & Beyond Psychology, Vanessa worked at the Child & Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS) at Hornsby Hospital.

 

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. She is an accredited schema therapist, and has advanced trained in conducting gold-standard Autism diagnostic assessments using the ADOS-2 and ADI-R. 

 

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. Areas of research included evaluating transition to school guidelines for children with autism, data collection for the Australian Autism Biobank, and evaluating resources designed to improve partner communication during pregnancy.

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Vanessa is a board-approved supervisor for clinical psychology interns and registrars.

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Areas of Interest

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• Anxiety/stress/phobias

• Depression/low mood

• Poor self-esteem/self-worth

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder / trauma-related symptoms

• Perfectionism

• Emotion regulation issues

• Parenting concerns

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

• Neurodiversity including Autism and ADHD

• Psychometric Testing and Autism assessments

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Therapeutic approaches 

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• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

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

• Schema Therapy

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

• Family Systems Therapy

• Attachment-Based Family Therapy

• Gottman's Emotion Coaching

• Circle of Security Parenting®

• 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

• PsyBA approved supervisor for interns and registrars

• Accredited facilitator of the PEERS® for Young Adults Program

• Accredited facilitator of the Circle of Security Parenting®

• Accredited facilitator of the Tuning in to Teens® Program

• Accredited Schema Therapist 

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Professional Memberships

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• Full registration with Psychology Board of Australia

• Area of Practice Endorsement in Clinical Psychology

• Member of 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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