Professional experience
Kathy (Kat) is a highly experienced psychologist with 20 years of diverse clinical and community‑based expertise. Her professional background spans behavioural analysis, disability support, infant and child development, and frontline workforce wellbeing. She has spent a decade working within child and youth mental health services and has extensive experience supporting Aboriginal families in community settings. In these roles, Kathy has delivered shared learning initiatives, trauma‑informed care, and culturally grounded wellbeing programs for children, young people, and adults.
Kathy also plays a vital role in supporting frontline workers, offering debriefing, containment, and reflective practice to promote resilience, professional effectiveness, and emotional-psychosocial safety for those in high‑demand roles. Her understanding of complex systems, workplace stressors, and trauma‑exposed environments enables her to provide thoughtful, stabilising support to multidisciplinary teams.
Clinically, Kathy has a wide scope of interests. She works with individuals experiencing depression, Autism, anxiety, stress, self-worth difficulties, adjustment issues, work‑related concerns, complex PTSD, and bereavement. She integrates a range of evidence‑based therapeutic approaches focusing primarily on the body-mind-spirit connection, including somatic practice, I Rest , Self- Compassion Focused and yoga-informed practices, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, and Solution‑Focused Brief Therapy. Her style is grounded in empathy, collaboration, and a deep respect for each client’s unique story.
Beyond her clinical work, Kathy brings significant expertise to her role as a trainer with Access Psych. Holding a Master’s degree in Training and Development, she has a strong interest in how individuals and systems learn, change, and heal. Her training background includes delivering Youth Mental Health First Aid, guest lecturing for TAFE and university community services programs, and speaking nationally and internationally on her work in antenatal healing within Aboriginal communities.
Kathy is also engaged in system‑level reform and educational consulting. She has worked with TAFE Victoria on disability‑safe, neuro‑affirming revisions to their training resources, reflecting her commitment to inclusive practice and the creation of supportive learning environments.
With her rich experience, thoughtful presence, and deep commitment to trauma‑informed and culturally mindful practice, Kathy is a highly respected clinician, educator, and advocate for community wellbeing.
Interests
- Reading
- Vibrational medicine
- Bushwalking
- Spending time with animals
What Kathy loves about working in mental health
“I believe mind, body and spirit are shared and we must nurture all three to be our best selves. I love the opportunity to support balance and healing.”
