Dr Marie Karakis is a Child and Adolescent Psychologist with experience working in schools, community and clinical settings.

She is the owner and director of private practice Young Minds Psychology.  She has specialist training in assessment, counselling and behavior management for a range of developmental issues, such as: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), anxiety, depression, ADHD, behavioural difficulties, grief and learning issues. She has extensive experience working with young people diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) including Asperger’s syndrome and has a special interest working in the area of early intervention and school readiness.

In the interview Marie talks in depth about the complexities of such a diverse and large spectrum, and why each individual case, requires careful assessment, formulation and treatment planning.  She also discusses the critical role that families and schools, play in the treatment of children with Autism, and the challenges that this often presents.

One of the most important tips Marie give those in this line of work is to be playful. During the interview, I could see in the background of her office a large castle filled with superheroes - so I guess she means literally, be playful.

So, lets see how we all wear it differently, with Marie Karakis.

For all the links Marie spoke about and her best self-care tip check out the website!

Carmel O’Brien is a Counselling Psychologist and National Convenor of the APS Women and Psychology Interest Group. For the last 23 years she has worked predominantly with people who have lived with violence at home.  This includes working in child protection services, the Victorian Women’s Prison, in critical incident management and relationship and general counselling practice.

Most of Carmel’s work has been in the welfare sector.  Carmel has also conducted a part-time private practice in eastern Melbourne since 1998.

From 2001 to 2015 Carmel managed the clinical services programs for a large community agency, including general counselling and clinical supervision services and a suite of support programs for women and children who have experienced abuse. Her special clinical interest is the recovery of women from family violence.

Carmel initiated some unique models of service provision including utilizing trained mentors to aid recovery, commencing a domestic violence prevention program for girls and schools, and starting a successful choir for survivors. She launched two iPhone Apps at Doncare (LiveFree and iMatter) delivering information to the public about domestic violence issues and healthy relationships.

In January, 2008, Carmel received a Menzies Award for her work in innovative service provision. In 2010 she received the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Elaine Dignan Award for her contribution to women through her profession. She is also a Fellow of both the APS and the Cairnmillar Institute.

She has just finished writing a book about intimate partner violence and is assisting the APS to develop practice guidelines for psychologists working with family violence. She has extensive experience delivering training and offering supervision to therapists.  

For all the links Carmel spoke about and her best self-care tip check out the website.