I have been working as a Psychologist and psychotherapist for over 25 years, with extensive experience working as a tertiary care psychologist and psychotherapist within public and private services, as well as with a broad range of complex mental health problems.
My philosophy as a practitioner - Approach, Mindset & Experience
My approach is gentle. I believe in working with your style and type. I invite you to tell me explicitly if something is not for you - since you are the expert about you; I am the expert on the psychology tools available to you. While being gentle, I am pragmatic - I believe that you have come for feedback, so I am concise and to the point - sometimes I refer to myself as 'value for money', in the sense that I don’t beat about the bush, and let you know what my thoughts are.
While there are times that you need to figure out for yourself what to do, I can always point out options when things are not working, or when we are stuck in a cycle that it might be hard to see. I see my job as cultivating change because you have invited me to examine your mounting challenges, and accompany you along your journey, as required. I tend your needs and provide resources while you transition, and we face issues together, and grow your capacity to journey beyond me.
This may involve an exploration of the past, or practical focus on here and now strategies and approaches, which influence the map of your life journey you are carving. You guide me with expertise of your needs, wants and experiences, to plan a route forward, drawing on a variety of evidence-based methods I offer. Deep listening to your personalised style will encourage your confidence to use your own selected ways of knowing, and becoming who you are as you take your route onward through life.
My mindset is calm and non-judgemental. Life is so high paced, there is so much pressure to perform, that society is increasingly not exhibiting acceptance, tolerance or inclusion. It is a job in itself to resist the pressures of society, whether we are a-typical or not. Society is teaching us that happiness is performance, attainment, and a particular ideal - is that true? I believe that we are all entitled to be just who we are, and be content with ourselves. I provide encouragement to learn about how to employ techniques to be happy in life, drawing on the work of Dr Laurie Santos, Dr Amit Sood and various mindfulness and positive psychology approaches, such as Savouring, Gratitude and meditation, and ideas to use these daily.
With 25 years experience across Educational, Clinical, Occupational and Forensic Psychology, I specialise across the life span (children and adults) in
- therapy + mediation
- psychometric assessment + reporting
- psycho-legal case work / independent psychology reviews
I work with people with a variety of difficulties including relationship difficulties / divorce, complex mental health issues and disabilities (intellectual, injury, congenital and acquired neurological brain damage). My experience includes working with children and adults experiencing specific learning difficulties (Dyslexia, etc), developmental coordination delay (dyspraxia), autism, PTSD, birth trauma, post-natal depression (men and women), parenting, foetal alcohol syndrome Disorder (FASD), relationships or divorce, bereavement and loss.
I offer psychological, cognitive, psychometric assessment (IQ, literacy, executive function, personality, psycho-pathology) to clarify how a person presents, and how best to support them. These assessments and reports are available for funding (NDIS, DSP, CTP, PLD, SIRA, PI), career and self-development, identifying support needs, and offering an independent second opinion and case review, including child, adolescent and family assessments for child protection and custody matters; and medicolegal reports.
My areas of experience include:
- Clinical Psychology - Assessment, Formulation, Intervention, Evaluation
- Psychotherapy - Transactional Analysis and Integrative.
- Counselling - warm, relational work.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Mindfulness based therapy
- Couples' Work
- Clinical Supervision
- Consultancy and Coaching
- Training & Development
Inpsyght
The name INPSYGHT emerged as my company name when I abbreviated “Independent Psychologist Gill'' producing INPSYG. A company name based on “insight” has such relevance in psychology:
From insight, solutions suddenly appear, along with a feeling of certainty, relief or delight, often termed an ‘Aha-moment’. Realising a solution is not always because of previous experience or a familiar strategy, but from something that develops out of unique interpretations of information and its connection to our lives. Insight comes up as a clear and sudden understanding of the way forward to solve the problem, sometimes by changing the way we look at the problem.
Reflecting on a problem or a goal, highlights how the challenge has deceived your thinking, or where details of the context have been misread, and you are stuck in an impasse. To allow insight to occur, the obstacles need to be modified through reinterpretation, effectively changing the view of the problem. Effectively, therapy at Inpsyght involves elaborating and restructuring the context of your challenges, removing the limitations and hindrances in your approach so far to highlight the way forward.
Qualifications and professional memberships
Australia
- Medicare registered Clinical Psychologist
- Clinical Psychologist accredited by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- SIRA approved Workers Compensation & CTP Clinical Psychologist
- Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS)
- Fellow, APS College of Clinical Psychologists
- AHPRA Psychology Board-approved supervisor
UK
- Clinical Psychologist registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (CPsychol)
- Registered Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors in Clinical and Educational Psychology
- Certified Family Law Expert Witness
- Occupational, Personality and Ability Psychometrist
Qualifications
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Leeds
- Research Doctorate in Educational Psychology, University of Oxford
- Postgraduate Diploma in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy, University of Middlesex
- MSc Cognitive Science, University of Birmingham
- BSc Psychology with honours, University of Teesside