Boronia Clinic

Akshay

Akshay is a general psychologist, and has a Master of Counselling Psychology from Latrobe University. Akshay has experience in the delivery of counselling services to individuals, couples and families. Akshay works with a variety of presenting issues that include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, conflict, parenting difficulties, family violence, stress, substance abuse, family separation, adjustment issues, trauma, grief and loss.

Akshay has worked across a range of settings including child and family counselling services, correctional services, community health, and relationship support services. Akshay incorporates multiple therapeutic frameworks in his counselling practice, that include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-focused therapy, Schema Therapy and Mindfulness therapies.

Andrew

Andrew is a registered clinical psychologist with a Masters in Clinical Psychology from La Trobe University. He has experience working with adolescents and adults in the public mental health sector and in private practice.

Andrew has worked with individuals and groups presenting with a range of issues including: anxiety and depression, stress, specific anxiety disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, chronic pain, grief and loss, trauma, relationship issues, and mood disorders. Andrew has a special interest in working with adults on the Autism spectrum.

Andrew uses a flexible therapeutic approach tailored to the individual client, encouraging feedback and collaboration. He utilises various treatment methods including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT). Andrew strongly believes in working with clients to empower them to achieve their goals, and live happier and more fulfilling lives.

Carina

Carina is a General Psychologist and Clinical Registrar. She has worked with children, adolescents and adults across various private and public mental health settings. Carina has experience with various presenting issues including depression and anxiety disorders, significant trauma, grief and loss, family violence, substance abuse issues, anger management, relationship and parenting problems and adjustment difficulties. Carina is a firm believer in early intervention for mental health and has a special interest in working with children and adolescents.

Carina uses a number of psycho-therapeutic frameworks tailored to individual client needs including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Play Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.

Carla

Carla is a registered general Psychologist. She completed her Undergraduate and Honours degrees in Psychological Science, and her Master’s degree in Educational and Developmental Psychology in 2017. She wrote her honours and masters theses on attitudes towards people with physical disabilities and evolutionary processes, and the wellbeing of mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) respectively.

Carla works with children and adults with emotional, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental concerns. She has experience in the assessment and treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), mood disorders, anxiety, and cognitive and learning difficulties. In her previous work, she developed and coordinated intensive behavioural interventions for children with ASD, global developmental delays, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She draws from a range of therapeutic frameworks when working with children and adults, including applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and play therapy.

Carla has a special interest in development across the lifespan, parental wellbeing, and a holistic approach to child and adult mental health assessment and intervention.

Elishia

Elishia is a registered (general) psychologist and a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS).

She holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) / Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) from the University of Melbourne, a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology from Monash University and a Master of Psychology (Counselling Psychology) from Swinburne University of Technology.

Elishia draws on a range of approaches in her work with clients, including cognitive-behaviour therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, schema therapy and the interpersonal process approach. She draws upon aspects of these approaches as is best suited to the client’s presenting issues and concerns. Elishia also has a particular interest in strengths-based approaches and positive psychology.

Some of the presentations Elishia can help with include depression, generalised anxiety, social anxiety, adjustment disorders, family and other interpersonal relationships, alcohol and other drug use, career and life choices, and transition to parenthood.

She has a warm and collaborative approach to therapy and she works with clients across a range of age groups.

Greg

Greg is a clinical psychologist who has been practicing in the eastern region for over 20 years.

Greg works with clients across most age groups, from primary school children to older adults. Greg works in most areas of mental health including Anxiety, OCD, Depression and other mood disorders, Grief, Behavioural issues, Stress management, Relationship issues, and Chronic illness.

In particular he specialises in working with people who experience chronic or persistent pain. For more information, please see the Pain Management section of our website.

Hiromi

Having lived, educated and worked in Japan, UK and Australia, Hiromi has been registered as an AHPRA psychologist and working in Melbourne, mainly for private practices, the tertiary education sector and primary schools since 2006. As a generalist, her clientele varies including individuals from across the lifespan, diverse cultural backgrounds, international students and working holiday makers.

The issues she deals with are also varied from depression, anxiety, relationship matters, to identity, adjustment and spiritual quests. Her chief therapeutic framework is not only Cognitive Behavioural Therapy but also Interpersonal Counselling and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy frameworks when appropriate.  Her strength lies in flexibility for application of those empirical therapeutic frameworks, not excluding her skills and knowledge gained from Transactional Analysis, in order to gain the best therapeutic outcome for her clients.

She is able to conduct various standardised psychological assessments to report the results for relevant bodies. Hiromi speaks English and Japanese.

Maggie

Maggie is a general psychologist and a clinical psychology registrar. She can conduct sessions in English and Mandarin. 

Previously Maggie has had experiences working across schools, and public and community mental health settings. Maggie has worked with children, adults, and older adults who present with issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, health-related stress, adjustment difficulties, domestic violence, anger issues, relationship problems, and postnatal depression. She has a special interest in multicultural psychology and culturally-related difficulties.

Maggie takes on an explorative and collaborative approach when working with people. She puts a lot of importance in creating a safe and non-judgmental space in the therapy room for the client. She works across a number of therapeutic frameworks such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, and play therapy.

*Maggie is currently not taking on new clients under the age of 12 years.

Meagan

Meagan originally qualified as an Educational Psychologist in South Africa (2012) and is currently working as a General Psychologist. Meagan has a passion for working with children and has a special interest in working with children between the ages of 3-12. Meagan is currently involved in the Schools program for Yarra Valley Psychology and has an interest in providing therapy in schools.

Meagan enjoys all areas of assessment and is registered to do developmental screenings on children under the age of eight. Being a mother, she is not only able to work with the child but is also able to work with a family from a parent’s perspective. It is important for her to work with each child as an individual and help optimise their personal abilities.

Miguel

Miguel is a Senior Psychologist at Yarra Valley Psychology & Counselling. Miguel has extensive experience in counselling and psychotherapy with individuals, relationships and families. A fluent Spanish speaker, Miguel has lived in the Eastern Suburbs since arriving in Australia, from South America, in 1975. Now married with five children, Miguel has earned a Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences Degree with Highest Class Honours from La Trobe University. Post Graduation, Miguel completed a two year Clinical Internship. Miguel employs a range of therapeutic approaches, specifically selected to match individual client needs. Miguel integrates Cognitive Behavioural and Interpersonal Therapies in his clinical practice. In particular, Miguel has had extensive training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness Training (MT). Since 2004, Miguel has been researching the application of Positive Psychology in clinical practice. In addition, Miguel specialises in Marital Therapy and Family Therapy, with post graduate certification in both fields.

Sessions can be held in English and Spanish.

Therese

Therese Duckett has been a Psychologist for 18 years. As a General Psychologist she has had extensive experience working with a range of client issues including depression, anxiety disorders, stress, Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD, grief and life transitions. In the past 5 years she has been working with people diagnosed with dementia and their families and carers. She has worked in a private capacity for many years but also with other organisations including Palliative Care, Dementia Australia, GP North (Tasmania) and West Vic Division of General Practice. She is ecclectic in her approach and draws on many modalities (CBT, Mindfulness, Gestalt etc) depending on the client issues being presented .

Sheida

Sheida is a registered Counselling Psychologist and board approved Supervisor. She has 11 years of experience in counselling older adolescents through to mature aged adults. Her personal background allows her a unique opportunity to also offer counselling in Persian and Norwegian.

She helps clients with a varied range of problems such as stress, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, trauma, identity issues, personal growth, confidence, resilience, cross-cultural adjustments, relationship difficulties (partner/ peer/ family), motivation, managing time/ work/ study/ life balance, and career support.

Sheida is particularly interested in strength-based frameworks including Mindfulness with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, utilising practical strategies from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as well as drawing on attachment theory with Emotion Focused Therapy. She aims to be sensitive to clients’ needs and preferences and remains flexible with her approach to build a solid and safe therapeutic alliance.

Kelsey

Kelsey has completed a Bachelor degree in Psychological Science, a Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling and a Masters degree in Counselling. She is currently registered as a Level 2 Counsellor with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA). She has also trained in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Therapy, which has equipped her with a variety of behaviour modification skills . She has worked within the mental health field for approximately 3 years, including individual counselling, volunteering for the Wellways and ARCVic helplines, and conducting intake at YVP.

Her training has provided her with practical experience in delivering a range of different treatment modalities including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Mindfulness. She sees clients presenting with a range of mental health concerns and personal challenges including stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, work issues, low self-esteem, life transitions and pain management. Kelsey works with clients from all stages of the lifespan but has a preference for counselling children, adolescents and young people (10-30 years).

Kelsey has a particular interest in working with individuals who have experienced trauma (physical, emotional and sexual) and who are suffering from physical illness, stress and adjustment disorders. She is a professional member of the Blue Knot Foundation – National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma, and is currently undertaking further training in trauma-informed care and interventions.

Melanie

Melanie has completed a Bachelor degree in Psychological Science, a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced) and postgraduate Masters in Professional Psychology.

Throughout her training she has gained practical experience in delivering a range of treatment modalities including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. She has worked within the mental health field for approximately 2 years, including working within a psychological laboratory at Monash University. She completed her thesis on the protective effects of mindfulness-meditation and physical activity in Parkinson’s disease.

Melanie has an interest in working with individuals from all age groups across the lifespan. She is able to work with a variety of issues but has a particular interest in working with issues pertaining to stress, anxiety and anxiety related conditions, depression and relationship problems. These include but are not limited to workplace related stress, burnout, relationship breakdowns and life transitions. She has experience in delivering and facilitating programs in the following areas: individual therapy, group sessions, play therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness meditation and careers counselling.

Melanie is currently registered as a Provisional Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a current member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Charlotte

Charlotte has completed a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology), a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology and a Master of Professional Psychology.

She has worked in the mental health field for approximately 4 years. Her training has provided her with practical experience in a range of treatment modalities, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Mindfulness.

Charlotte works with adults, adolescents and children. She sees clients presenting with a range of concerns, including stress, anxiety, depression, sleep difficulties, substance use, relationship difficulties, trauma, self-harm, behavioural problems and life transitions.

Her main areas of interest include Anxiety, Depression, Stress Management, Sleep Difficulties & Chronic Illness.

Charlotte is currently registered as a Provisional Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Megan

Megan has completed a Bachelor of Science degree, a Graduate Diploma of Psychology and also holds both a Master of Counselling and Master of Professional Psychology degrees. She has worked in the mental health field for 3 years in counselling, crisis support and research.

Megan uses a person-centred, strengths-based approach to counselling and has experience in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Schema Therapy, Mindfulness, Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD and Motivational Interviewing (MI).

Her specific areas of interest include relationship issues/breakdowns, eating disorders, anxiety, depression (including post-natal depression), trauma and PTSD. However, she is able to work with a range of different personal challenges including stress/motivational issues, grief and loss, self-esteem/body image issues, family violence issues and addictions (gambling, alcohol & minor drug-use issues).

Megan also has widespread experience working with children, adolescents, and young adults (5-25).

Megan is currently registered as a Provisional Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a current member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Jessica

Jess has completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology at Deakin University in 2016 and, having completed all coursework, is due to graduate with a Masters of Counselling from Monash University in 2020. She is currently a student member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA).

In her time at YVP, Jess has been involved with intake, the schools program and the group therapy program. This has allowed Jess to work with individuals across the lifespan but she has a preference for counselling children, adolescents and adults (10+).

Jess primarily utilises Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), but is flexible in her approach, ensuring that therapy is tailored to each client. Jess has worked with clients presenting with a range of mental health concerns and personal issues, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, life transitions, work-related issues and relationship issues.

Brittany

Brittany has completed a Bachelor degree in Counselling and a Diploma in Youth Work. She is a new graduate and has worked in the mental health field for approximately one year including individual counselling and conducting intake at YVP.

Her studies have equipped Brittany with practical knowledge and experience in a range of therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.

Her primary areas of interest include, but are not limited to, anxiety, depression, stress-related issues, phobias and low-self esteem. Whilst she is particularly experienced in working with children and adolescents, Brittany is interested in working with individuals from all stages of the lifespan.