Principal Psychologist- Jodie Wassner
Developmental and Educational Psychologist
Counselling - Training - Supervision
Our Team
Jodie Wassner
Melbourne
Jodie (Jordana) Wassner is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist with over 25 years experience counselling young people and their families in Melbourne and Sydney. She divides her professional time equally between clinic work with young people and educational training for psychologists and other health professionals, via local and international workshops, as well as supervision for psychologists and provisional psychologists worldwide.
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Jodie completed her Masters of Psychology (Educational and Developmental) degree at Monash University. She went on to spend the next fifteen years working as a school psychologist in Primary and Secondary schools, followed by 10 years in private practice focusing on young people and their families. She is especially familiar with the issues that are likely to emerge across the developmental period and has extensive experience working with anxiety, depression, autism spectrum conditions, attention deficits, learning difficulties, grief, anger, family conflict, bullying, sleep disturbance, stress management, social skills, school refusal, eating disturbance and OCD.
Her two professional passions are neurodiversity (particularly autism and attention deficits) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
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Clinic Work:
Jodie runs a busy private practice in Melbourne. She works predominantly with autism, anxiety, OCD and ADHD. ​Jodie has always had a knack for connecting with young people. She harbours a genuine love for kids and teens and treats them with compassion and understanding from the outset. Young people and their families often comment that they feel safe and understood in Jodie's care. She has a particular reputation for helping dozens of families in her clinic to navigate the challenges of autism as well as embrace the strengths and passions that accompany neurodiversity via a neuro-affirming approach.
Workshops:
Jodie is a seasoned presenter and has delivered countless workshops to health professionals, schools and the community. She is a workshop facilitator for several highly respected organisations including the Black Dog Institute and Learning Links. She has also presented her own work at several conferences including The Australian Psychological Society, Body Image and Better Health Inc. in conjunction with VicHealth, Association for Contextual Behavioural Sciences and Shire Australia Clinical Insights: Modern Management of ADHD- Building the Therapeutic Alliance.
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Jodie has co-written a ten-session manual for psychologists working with anxious children using the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
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Jodie is Immediate Past President of the International Autism and ACT ACBS group and is a Fellow of the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists. She is also a Board Approved supervisor. Jodie is in the final stages of writing a comprehensive clinician's guide to using ACT with children. The book is due for publication in 2024.
Rachel Richardson
Sydney
Rachel is based in Sydney and holds several degrees in Social Welfare and Psychology, and obtained her Master of Professional Psychology at Macquarie University.
Rachel has experience working with children and adolescents with a range of presentations including anxiety, depression, interpersonal issues, obsessive and compulsive disorders, self-harming, stress, anger management, and developmental and learning difficulties. Rachel has a special interest working with autistic children and adolescents, as well as OCD and ADHD. Rachel has worked in parenting programs, primary and secondary schools, and in a multidisciplinary child development and assessment clinic.
Rachel is passionate about working collaboratively with children of all ages and their families, and aims to provide a warm and holistic approach.
Lize Booy
Sydney
I am based in Sydney and currently completing the Educational and Developmental Psychology registrar program. I have experience in working with children, adolescents, and families. I am passionate about neuroaffirmative and inclusive care. I work from a trauma-informed and attachment-based perspective. I have experience in supporting clients with anxiety-related challenges, low mood, school-based difficulties, attentional and learning deficits, grief, and parenting support. I have previously worked for a child and family NGO and as a school psychologist. I also have experience in conducting cognitive, ADHD and learning assessments.
I value meaningful connection, collaboration and aim to create a compassionate and safe therapeutic space in which children can feel valued and understood. I appreciate use of creativity, playfulness and humour in my work and enjoy getting to know the uniqueness and strengths of each individual. The therapeutic approaches that I draw from are Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as well as Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.
Patsy
Patsy is our gentle and quiet 14-year-old Cavalier-Poodle. From time to time and if appropriate, she may come along to sessions. When children come to therapy, it can be very overwhelming. A calm dog’s presence has been shown to have many benefits in therapy enabling young people to open up and improve readiness to learn new strategies in a relaxed atmosphere. It would not be appropriate to have Patsy in the session unplanned, if your child is afraid of dogs. Please ensure you let us know if this is the case.
Comet
Comet is our Therapy Puppy in training. He is super- friendly and just wants to be loved. He is only 2 years old and with a little more training, will soon be ready to become an official member of the team.