Our team of Clinical Psychologists all work exclusively with children, adolescents, parents and families.

Dr Suzanne Barrett, Clinical Psychologist/Principal Psychologist  DPsych(Clinical/Child, Adolescent & Family) BSc(Hons) MACPA MAPS FCCLP

Suzanne has worked in a variety of settings providing psychology services to young people over the past 18 years.  These include working with the Royal Children’s Hospital Mental Health Service on a community child and adolescent mental health service team (CAMHS) for over six years.  Suzanne has also worked on the RCH Autism Spectrum Disorders Assessment Team at Travancore and has over 13 years experience in private practice. In private practice, Suzanne provides assessment, therapy, parenting advice, and professional supervision in most areas of child and adolescent psychology (ages 2 to 24 years). She is an accredited provider of the Triple P Parenting Program (standard and enhanced), and integrates these strategies with her knowledge of other helpful parenting approaches and emotion-focussed interventions.

Suzanne’s professional qualifications include a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology with a specialisation in working with children, adolescents, and their families from the University of Melbourne.  Prior to that, she achieved a Bachelor of Science (with Honours and University Medal in Psychology) from the Australian National University.

Suzanne is registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) including endorsement as a clinical psychologist and approval as a supervisor for clinical endorsement.  Suzanne is a full member of the Australian Clinical Psychologists Association, the Australian Psychological Society, and the College of Clinical Psychologists; a registered provider of Medicare specialist clinical psychology services; and a Clinical Associate of Swinburne University.  Suzanne has completed board-approved supervision training and has over 12 years experience in providing professional supervision.  

Suzanne enjoys working with young people and is committed to providing them with effective and respectful services.  When working with children, Suzanne is passionate about providing developmentally appropriate therapy incorporating playful activities for children and working closely with their parents.

Appointments are available with Suzanne on Mondays between 9.30am-2pm and Tuesdays 10am-7pm.  Additional days and times are available for supervision services, which are also available in Greensborough and via Skype or phone.

Selected publications/research presentations:

• Zandt, F., and Barrett, S. (2017).  Creative Ways to Help Children Manage BIG Feelings: A Therapists’ Guide to Working with Preschool and Primary Children.  London:  Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Zandt, F., and Barrett, S. (In publication for 2020).  Creative Ways to Help Children Manage Anxiety: Ideas and Activities for Working Therapeutically with Worried Children and their Families.  London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Barrett, S., Prior, M., & Manjiviona, J. (2004). Children on the borderlands of autism: Differential characteristics in social, imaginative, communicative and repetitive behaviour domains.  Autism, Vol 8(1), 61-87.
• Barrett, S., Prior, M., & Manjiviona, J. (2002). Differences between Young Children with Autism and those with Communication Disorders in Social, Imaginative, and Repetitive Behaviours, and in Communication. In S. Lancaster, Understanding Children and Families: Psychology Research at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne (1st ed., pp. 87-118). Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.
• Barrett, S., Prior, M., & Manjiviona, J. (2002). Differences between Autism and Communication Disorders in Social Behaviours, Imagination, and Repetitive Behaviours, and Communication.  Presented at the Inaugural World Autism Congress, Melbourne, Australia.
• Barrett, S., & Heubeck, B. (2000). Relationships between School Hassles and Uplifts and Anxiety and Conduct Problems in Grades 3 and 4.  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol 21(5), 537-554.

 

Tamara Evans, Clinical Psychologist  MPsych(Clinical), Post Grad Dip Health Psych, BA/BSc, MAPS
Tamara’s training is in clinical psychology, and she has over 15 years experience working in the area of young people’s mental health.

Tamara works in therapy with children and youth experiencing many different problems including depression, anxiety, stress, grief and loss, trauma, sleep disturbance, self esteem, communication, mood swings, and school based issues.

Tamara has gained much of her experience working in youth-specific community and tertiary settings. She has also been working in private practice for several years. She has developed and facilitated numerous group therapy programs, presented at community and parent information sessions, and has delivered seminars to university students.

Tamara completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science double degree at Monash University, and a Postgraduate Diploma of Health Psychology at LaTrobe University. She then gained a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Deakin University, and has undertaken additional training in Narrative Therapy. Tamara is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency with Clinical Psychology endorsement, is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and is a registered provider of Medicare specialist clinical psychology services.

Tamara incorporates current evidence-based practice in her work.  She also finds a Narrative Therapy framework to be useful in helping people and families to realise their own skills and competencies in a respectful and non-blaming way.  Tamara uses creative approaches to engage and support young people and families to reduce the influence of problems that exist for them.

Tamara is available for appointments on Thursdays from 11am-6pm.

 

Dr Cody Potter, Clinical Psychologist  PhD, MPsych (Clinical/Child & Adolescent), BA (Psych), MAPS

Cody’s professional qualifications include a PhD and a Masters in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Melbourne. Prior to that, she completed a Bachelors of Science/Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A. Cody is endorsed as a Clinical Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and is a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).  She is also a registered provider of Medicare specialist clinical psychology services.

Cody has worked with children, adolescents and families in a variety of settings including in private practice, at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, where she administered developmental assessments for young children, at the Royal Children’s Hospital as Co-ordinator of Outcome Measures for the mental health service, and as a paediatric clinical psychologist at IPC community health service.  Cody also has many years experience working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in research settings and early intervention (including behavioural interventions such as social skills groups and ABA).  In addition to private practice, Cody is also employed as a Clinical Psychologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) south-west team.

Cody provides therapy for a range of issues in children and youth, including depression, anxiety, behavioural difficulties, confidence, sleep disturbance, trauma, and school-based issues. Cody provides assessment, therapy, and parenting advice.  She is trained to administer cognitive and educational assessments, as well as Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments.

Appointments are available with Cody on Wednesday evenings 4.30-7.30pm and Fridays from 8:30am-5pm.  Cody is also available some Saturday mornings for cognitive/educational or Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments.  From May 2020, Cody will be available at the following times:

• Mondays 3-6pm
• Wednesdays 10.30am-7.30pm
• Thursday 10am-6pm
• Fridays 8.30am-4pm
• Saturdays 9am-1pm (Saturdays for cognitive/educational or Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments only)

Selected publications/research presentations:

• “Lets learn to embrace the superpowers of Autism”. Newspaper article, Geelong Advertiser, April 2015.
• Spittle A.J., Walsh, J., Potter C.R., McInnes, E., Olsen, J., Lee, K.J., Anderson P.J., Doyle L.W., Cheong, J.  Neurobehaviour at term is predictive of neurodevelopmental outcomes at two years of age for children born moderate and late preterm. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (accepted for publication).
• Cheong, J.L.Y., Thompson, D.K., Spittle, A.J., Potter, C.R., Walsh, J.M., Burnett, A.C., Lee, K.J., Chen, J.M.E, Beare, R., Gabra Fam, L., Hunt, R.W, Anderson, P.J. & Doyle, L.W. (2016). Brain volumes at term-equivalent age are associated with two-year neurodevelopment in moderate and late preterm children. Journal of Paediatrics.
• Cheong, J.L.Y., Doyle L.W., Burnett, A.C., Lee, K.J , Walsh, J.M., Potter, C.R., Treyvaud, K.,  Thompson, D.K., Olsen, J.,  Anderson P.J.,  & Spittle, A.J. (2017). Association between moderate and late preterm birth and neurodevelopment and  social-emotional development at age two years. Journal of the American Medical Association Paediatrics.
•  “Social functioning of two-year old children born moderate and late preterm”, poster presentation at Perinatal Society of AustralIa and New Zealand, Melbourne, 19-22 April, 2015 and Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS), San Diego USA, 25-28 April 2015.
• Co-author of  “Delayed language development at 2 years in children born moderate to late preterm” and “Deep nuclear grey matter size are related to 2 year language outcomes in moderate and late preterm children”, both presented at Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS), San Diego USA, 25-28 April 2015.
  
• “The Correlation of High Self-Esteem and Aggression in Adolescents” and “The Effects of Mood Manipulation on Memory Recollection“,both poster presentations at NSU Undergraduate Student Symposium April 2009.