Healing Well

Vanessa has a diversity of therapeutic experience working with

people of all ages and at all stages of life.  She is empathic and

curious. She has worked in clinical, private and government settings

with adults, adolescents, and young children and their families. As a therapist she considers the whole person, as well as their goals to inform her therapeutic approach. She is comfortable delivering a range of evidence-based interventions, including  ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Mindfulness, play therapy, emotion-coaching and Schema Therapy.

 

Generally, Vanessa encourages understanding of the social and emotional processes at play in peoples’ lives.  She has seen this approach provide positive outcomes in therapy and research. Vanessa has worked extensively with adults in this way, using predominately an ACT approach. This approach suits Vanessa’s interest in how the mind and the body integrate and in building clients' awareness of what is happening somatically as well as psychologically.

 

When working with families there is a focus on parent emotion socialisation practices as a starting point to improve children’s emotional functioning and reduce or prevent challenging behaviours. She has experience and training in ACT and CBT specifically for adolescents and thus an awareness of the uniqueness and vulnerability of this developmental period.

 

Vanessa has participated in a number of Research Projects through The University of Melbourne including: Academic Child Psychiatry Program (ACPU), SENSE Study, Affective Development and Psychopathology Team (ADAPT), E4 Kids Study, and Adolescent Development Study (ADS).

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Qualifications: 

• Masters in Psychology (Educational and Developmental)

• Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology

• Graduate Diploma in Psychology

• Associate Diploma in Professional Writing & Editing

• Bachelor of Arts in Dance

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Website: islandpsychology.com.au