Clinical Psychology Services

Psychodynamic Therapy

In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart.
– Sigmund Freud

Psychodynamic Therapy is recommended for those suffering with issues of anxiety, low or irritable mood, generalised stress, relationship challenges (including parenting stress), feelings of emotional neglect and abandonment, insufficient self-compassion, poor cognitive-flexibility, sleep problems, binge eating, phobias, intrusive thoughts, low self-esteem, prolonged grief, people pleasing, life dissatisfaction, perfectionism, procrastination, loneliness, and emotional overwhelm or dissociation. 

Whilst these are all normal experiences of human suffering, it is not uncommon for them to  become increasingly distressing or a barrier to wellbeing.

Psychodynamic therapy relies on a strong therapeutic relationship built on trust. It places value on early developmental experiences and regards implicit memories (those stored in the unconscious/body) as important as explicit memories (available to conscious recall). It all began with Freud and has come a long way over time, boasting an outstanding evidence base for long term individual improvements.

What you will gain from psychodynamic therapies; 

  • An experience of relational safety

  • An understanding of your emotional distress in relation to your attachment experiences 

  • An understanding of your repetitive or problematic patterns (including where they came from and the role they play in both helping and hindering you)

  • Carefully curated corrective-emotional-experiences to address unmet attachment needs

  • Restoration of your sense of control, confidence, curiosity and compassion.  

A psychodynamic approach means you will be warmly re-parenting yourself long before our work is done. It can be short term (16-20 sessions) or long term (many years).

Hypnotherapy

What you are looking for is already in you…You already are everything you are seeking.

–Thich Nhat Hanh 

Clinical hypnotherapy should be practiced by a trained professional who adheres to ethical guidelines and works collaboratively with the client. I am the third generation in my family to be trained and experienced in the practice of hypnosis and psychotherapy. 

Clinical hypnotherapy is a therapeutic approach that integrates techniques from hypnosis and psychotherapy. It involves the use of hypnosis to help individuals achieve a natural state of deep relaxation and focused attention (light trance/alpha brain waves to medium trance/theta brain waves) and access their unconscious mind where learned behaviour patterns and emotional conflicts are stored. 

During a clinical hypnotherapy session, you will be guided into a state of relaxation that makes you more susceptible to desired changes, enabling the therapeutic use and benefit of suggestions and imagery to release negative feelings and rapidly integrate new skills, strategies and strengths. 

Whilst in hypnosis, the client hears and knows what is being said and is aware of what is happening and is in control of their mind and body. Clients can deliberately program their unconscious with beneficial ideas that have a post-hypnotic effect on their behaviour and habits.  

Effectiveness studies for multiple presentation types are numerous and replicated. 

Hypnotherapy is effective because it bypasses our conscious critical thought processes (Pre-Frontal Cortex), which usually act as a gatekeeper for adopting lasting change, in addition to our fight or flight response (Sympathetic Nervous System) as the Central Nervous System is in a soothed state (Parasympathetic Nervous System), leaving the brain available to digest new behavioural and emotional information. 

Clinical hypnotherapy is used to address a wide range of issues, such as managing pain and medical conditions, reducing stress and anxiety, overcoming phobias, improving sleep, releasing negative thoughts, changing habits and enhancing performance in different areas of life. Hypnotherapy gently releases blocks and fears, creating new inner beliefs to make changes in the way you think, feel and behave.  

  • Typically, an initial session is required for assessment of the challenges to be addressed, with a subsequent session allocated for hypnotherapy. 

    My preference is to use hypnotherapy as a tool, to relieve symptoms and improve the course of a more thorough and thoughtful therapy treatment plan. 

  • I invite you to dress comfortably to assist with relaxation.

    Where possible, being well rested, to avoid falling asleep.

    Conversely, please refrain from the use of stimulants (e.g., caffeine, ADHD medication) and vigorous exercise prior to your appointment as this may negatively impact both the depth of trance achieved and your relaxation experience.

Parenting Support

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A baby's arrival is an all-consuming phase of life which demands new responses from us. It can also be a time of unconscious upheaval, wielding the power to unearth sticky-spots in our psyche. Becoming a parent may feel like you’ve been thrown into the deep end, treading water, whilst at the same time trying to feed and care for another.

It is a uniquely stressful time in your adult development which requires additional emotional support and guidance. 

Typically, most new parents turn towards their partner and/or parents for this emotional support and guidance. Unfortunately not all partners and parents are able to meet such needs as they are learning to be parents and grandparents themselves, or they did not have secure attachment experiences to equip them appropriately. This situation can add further emotional stress and strain on an exhausted and vulnerable parent.

Therapy at this special and sensitive time can be like a torch shining into the dark night. 

A relational approach to parenting (as opposed to a behavioural approach like Triple P) focuses on the attachment needs of both parent and child and is beautifully illustrated by the evidence-based Circle of Security program. A relational approach creates safety and support for parents to explore their big emotions, learn to soothe their anxieties and co-regulate with their bub. A relational approach will free up a parent to be able to delight, play and connect intuitively. As part of therapy, I will gently educate you on the concepts of rupture and repair so that you can be (in the words of Winnicott) a ‘good enough’ parent who is able to form secure bonds with your children regardless of your own experiences being parented or your stress levels.

A relational approach will also soothe your own Inner-Child Parts, strengthening your Healthy-Adult Parts as you take up space and give yourself permission to parent in your own way. 

Clinical Supervision 

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.
– Gustav Mahler 

Clinical Supervision consists of a unique professional relationship between two practicing psychologists, one as supervisor, the other as supervisee.

I have been a board-approved supervisor since 2016, providing professional supervision to provisional psychologists, registered psychologists, clinical psychology registrars and other mental health practitioners and clinicians.

In addition to being considered ‘best practice’, regular clinical supervision is a requirement of registration for all Australian psychologists and carries responsibilities for both parties. 

If you wish to commence Clinical Supervision please make a booking here or contact the practice at info@mooreclinicalpsychology.com.au. 

My supervision session fee is $215.