Melissa Kent MAPS FCCLP

Director
Principal Clinical Psychologist

"These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb"

Najwa Zebian

Days of consultation

Monday 9:30am - 3:00pm

Wednesday 9:30am - 2:00pm

Thursday 9:30am - 2:30pm

New client status

Sees clients aged 18+.

Melissa may take a small amount of new clients from approximately mid July. Contact our intake team for confirmation.

Returning clients - please contact our Client Relations Team if you are hoping to reconnect.

Click HERE for fee information

Qualifications

Master of Psychology (Clinical)

Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)

Bachelor of Behavioural Science

Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Memberships and affiliations

Member - Australian Psychological Society (APS)

Fellow - APS Clinical College

Member - International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) - currently pursuing advanced certification in Schema Therapy

Certified Chairwork Psychotherapist

Problems I can help you with

Depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems that keep coming back, or perhaps feel like they have never gone away
PTSD and other effects of traumatic experiences, including childhood abuse and emotional neglect
Difficulty regulating emotions, patterns of thinking, and patterns of relating to others
Understanding your reactions, responses and behaviours that cause you problems, but you find very hard to change - such as people pleasing, shutting down, avoidance, anger, substance use or other compulsive behaviours

How deep my understanding of these issues is

I’ve been a psychologist for 20 years, and in this time I have developed a deep understanding that many issues are recurring, and are shaped by our experiences. We first need to understand why we do the things we do, and only then can we develop ways of changing them that are sustainable and long-lasting.

I pride myself on keeping up-to-date with developments in my profession, striving for certification in specific treatments when available, and obtaining training and supervision from experts in these treatments (Schema Therapy, DBT, Chairwork Psychotherapy).

I use evidence-based treatments consistently. I supervise other psychologists and teams, and help them to stay up-to-date and deliver quality interventions.

How I can help you

My primary way of working is using Schema Therapy, which does not focus just on symptom reduction, but on long-term changes to your emotions, behaviours and relationships. In our therapeutic work together,

I will:

help you make sense of how your problems developed in the first place.
help you understand why your difficulties keep coming back.
use strategies within sessions that help create emotional shifts.
help you develop skills and strategies you can take with you and use outside of sessions.
listen to your goals and needs, seek your feedback, and collaborate with you every step of the way.

What does your involvement look like?

Regular attendance
Long-term attendance - if possible, 20+ sessions
Willingness to explore the origins of your problems, and what maintains them
Openness to trying things in session besides just talking - things that target emotions, like imagery and chairwork