Staff Profiles

Suzanne

John

John is a Community Mental Health Clinician. He has experiences in the counselling and mental health sectors for seven years. He worked as a school counsellor in his home country. In Australia, he has a wide variety of experiences as a family counsellor, an AOD counsellor, and a mental health clinician. John is motivated to work with clients through person- centred and holistic approach to achieve their goals. John has a background in Psychology, having finished his master’s degree in Psychology overseas. He also finished his Diploma in Counselling in Australia. He believes that utilising his knowledge and skills from these fields and through emphatic listening can help him work and understand clients to develop their own healthy wellbeing which would help them in moving forward positively with their lives.

Dina

Dina is an Mental Health Occupational Therapist with a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy and a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology. Dina has an interest in working with both adults and children and has extensive experience in the paediatric setting, working within the home environment as well as delivering school-based interventions. Dina uses a strengths-based and person-centred approach when working with individuals and has a special interest in assisting children and adults to achieve their goals and engage in meaningful occupations.

Morgan

Morgan is a Registered Psychologist with a Masters of Science and Postgraduate Diploma, both in Child and Family Psychology. Morgan has special interests in working with teenagers and parent coaching, and also has extensive experience providing assessment and intervention support for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety, Intellectual Disabilities, and difficulties with self-regulation. Morgan’s eclectic approach is informed by multiple therapeutic principles so that she can tailor holistic and strengths-based support to each child and their family, so that they may engage with their world in ways that are meaningful to them.

Wendy

Wendy is a Certified Practicing Member of Speech Pathology Australia with a master’s degree in speech pathology from the University of Melbourne. She is passionate about supporting children and their families to achieve their communication and swallowing goals and functional outcomes. Wendy has experience in areas of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), language delay and disorders, literacy, and speech sound disorders. Wendy is fluent in Mandarin and has a moderate understanding of Taiwanese Hokkien. She is also experienced in working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Yvonne

Yvonne is a psychologist with an interest in supporting children, adolescents and their families impacted by developmental conditions and disabilities. She endeavours to be person-centred, intersectional and neuroaffirmative in her practice, and strives to form strong connections with the young person and their system. Yvonne draws upon evidence-based approaches and techniques, and adapts them to suit each person’s unique experience to build upon their existing strengths and develop new strategies and skills.

Sean

Cece

Cece is a provisional psychologist under the NDIS team. Cece has a Master of Professional Psychology training. Cece is interested in supporting individuals to work towards achieving their goals by utilising person-centred approach and a mixture of evidence-based interventions such as trauma-focused approach, CBT-informed practice and ACT.  Cece has an interest in working with adults and other individuals across the lifespan especially with trauma and anxiety.

Anais

Emma B

Emma is a Speech Pathologist with a passion for working from a family centered, strengths based approach. Emma has experience working with children and families across multiple settings including home environments, kindergartens, schools and other community settings. Emma enjoys working collaboratively with the team around the child to support the child and family to reach their goals. Emma has a special interest in AAC/assistive technology in supporting the communication needs of children and adults.

Micah

Micah is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with experience in a variety of mental health and community settings. He has an interest in sustainable health behaviour change and experience supporting people with chronic complex physical and mental health conditions overcome barriers to physical activity. Micah seeks to prescribe movement that is meaningful, enjoyable and clinically effective for individuals. He also uses an intersectional approach and is experienced in providing culturally safe and inclusive services for sexuality and gender diverse people (LGBTIQ+).

Jeffrey

Jeffrey is a Registered Psychologist who completed the Master of Educational Psychology program at The University of Melbourne. Jeffrey works with paediatric, adolescent, and early adulthood clients from different social and cultural backgrounds, with a special interest in supporting male mental health. Jeffrey provides counselling services using evidence-based therapeutic interventions for conditions including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disability (ID) and various social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Jeffrey is equally passionate about administering cognitive and educational assessments.

Jeffrey enjoys working in disability to provide every individual with the skills, knowledge and insight to improve their wellbeing and life outcomes. He has a strong desire to build each clients confidence and self-esteem as they grow towards adulthood and beyond. He is also fluent in Russian.

Jessica

Jessica is a provisional psychologist under the NDIS team. Jessica has a Master of Professional Psychology training, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling.  Jessica is interested in supporting children and adolescents with experiences working in Primary and Secondary schools in Hong Kong and Australia. She is also interested in working with utilising a person-centred approach as well as various evidence-based interventions, such as play therapy, ACT and Schema Therapy. Jessica has an interest in working with children and other individuals across the lifespan, especially with neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety and traumatic experiences.

Sara

Sara (She/her) is a provisional psychologist who is currently studying a Master of Professional Psychology Practice at The Cairnmillar Institute. She is passionate about creating a warm, welcoming, non-judgemental and safe space for individuals, so that they are able to work collaboratively to overcome their issues.

Sara works with a variety of presentations across the lifespan including, but not limited to:

• Anxiety,
• Depression,
• Family issues,
• Interpersonal difficulties.

Ana

Ana (she/her) is an Occupational Therapist with a Masters in Occupational Therapy Practice from La Trobe University. Taking a person-centred approach Ana holds a genuine interest in enabling individuals to engage in occupations that are meaningful to them; advocating for individuals whilst taking a proactive and strengths-based approach to assist in reaching the chosen focus or goal. Prior to completing her Masters in Occupational Therapy Ana completed her Honours at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where her written thesis explored the interconnection between the body and mind and a person’s overall performance based on occupations they’d like to pursue and that are of significant meaning to them.

Darren

Darren is an Occupational Therapist with a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy (Honours) from Monash University and a bachelor’s degree in Science from the University of Melbourne. Darren aspires to make a lasting impact on people’s lives and has developed a strong passion for enabling children and their families to achieve their goals and to participate in meaningful occupations to their full potential. Darren uses a strengths-based and family-centred care approach when providing services to children and their families. Darren has experience working with people from all stages of life in different practice settings including community paediatrics, inpatient rehabilitation, and acute general medicine. Darren has also worked closely with community agencies as a project manager to advocate for greater health promotion amongst the vulnerable populations.

Jessica

Jess is an Administrator Support officer in the NDIS team. Jess has worked as an Administration Support officer since 2014 in other programs within in the organisation. Jess enjoys working in the health sector and being able to help others.

Rachel

Rachel Manderson is the Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist on the NDIS Team. She has nearly 30 years of experience working in this field with children and adolescents. She has worked in regional and metropolitan Victoria in community and school settings. Her work stems from her belief that every individual is valued and loved and contributes to society. She understands that ‘doing’ is therapeutic and beneficial to a person’s health and wellbeing. Rachel’s leisure pursuits include swimming and walking in nature. She enjoys spending time with her two teenage boys, family and friends.

Ferris

Ferris joins the team in February 2023. Ferris is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist with Board registration. Ferris has recently graduated from Monash University. He has experience with supporting people with a disability as a support worker and also as an Allied Health Assistant throughout his studies. Ferris’ goals are to promote people to be independent in their daily activities and everyday life. Ferris enjoys engaging with young children and using play as a way of developing their skills to achieve their goals. Ferris is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin and very competent in supporting people from a CALD background. Ferris loves sports (especially of the racquet variety) and just generally speaking likes to have fun through sport, music and games.

Emilie

Emilie is a speech-language pathologist with a Masters degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She has extensive experience working with preschool and school aged children, and loves creating personalized sessions that motivate her clients and their caregivers to achieve their goals. She strives to provide neurodiversity affirming and trauma informed care in her approach.

Bethan

Bethan is a Physical Health Occupational Therapist with a UK Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Occupational Therapy. Bethan has experience working in community rehabilitation, provision of aids and adaptions, and working with clients to modify activities to promote independence. Bethan’s career started in the UK NHS, and she has come to us with enthusiasm to work in our NDIS team. Bethan uses a holistic & person-centred approach when working with individuals to identify and work towards their goals in meaningful occupations.

Casey

Casey is an occupational therapist with an interest in supporting children and their families to do the things they need and want to do. She enjoys working within a multidisciplinary team to support children and their families to reach their goals. Casey enjoys using play-based therapy to support her client’s learning and skill development across all areas.

Shevaun

Shevaun is an Occupational Therapist working for both the Adult and Paediatric NDIS Team. Shevaun has over 15 years experience in Occupational Therapy having various roles within health care. She has specialised in working with adults with complex medical and neurological conditions. Shevaun uses a strength based approach to therapy. Shevaun loves seeing individuals grow and uses meaningful activities and evidence based approaches in her therapy sessions.

Jessica

Jessica is a general psychologist currently completing the registrar program to become endorsed as a clinical psychologist. Jessica is trauma-informed and person centred in her practice and has experience working with adults with a diverse range of mental health difficulties. She uses a range of modalities including cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, compassion focussed techniques and schema therapy. She believes her clients are the experts in their own experience and collaborates with them to meet their individual needs.