Who are we?
We are an innovative team of psychologists with a broad range of training and expertise that includes clinical psychology, counselling, as well as neurophysiology and research specialisations.
We work with a range of techniques and approaches to help people reduce their anxiety, improve their mood, heal from traumatic experiences, see themselves more positively, to feel more at ease in relationships, and to achieve their goals.
We apply an informed and empathic approach to our work including those from diverse cultures, migrants, and our LGBTIQA+ clients.
Can we help you?
Anxiety disorders (panic, generalised)
Trauma (PTSD, developmental)
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Grief and loss
Adjustment disorder
Stress and burnout
Mood disorders (depression, bipolar)
Relationships (intimacy, breakdown)
Gender and sexuality
Adult attachment repair
Self-development
Sleep disturbance
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Trauma therapies
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Sensorimotor psychotherapy
Schema therapy
Attachment repair
Parts/self-states approaches
Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
Internal family systems (IFS)
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Compassion therapy
EEG biofeedback
Cognitive-processing therapy (CPT)
EMDR
An essential aspect of therapy, early on in the process, is to listen carefully so that we are able to conceptualise our clients’ experiences in terms of what happens next. This early assessment phase informs the treatment approach we use. However, people arrive at a set of symptoms via many different routes, and due to myriad factors. To understand these factors together requires that we perceive the person through a wider lens.
The most effective treatment is an integration of evidence-based techniques to address the primary set of symptoms, but that is also customised to the individual.
If you would like to enquire about attending the practice as a new client, please contact us via the New Client Enquiries Form below
Our People
Werner Briedenhann
(He/him)
Clinical Psychologist
Masters (Clinical Psychology)
It’s been a while since I qualified as a clinical psychologist in 2013. Since then, I’ve worked in psychiatric hospitals, substance rehabilitation centres, tertiary education, primary healthcare, community mental health, and private practice. I’ve listened to many people’s stories and seen how they change when they resolve what’s on their minds.
We are complex beings, and so I take an integrative, multimodal approach to therapy. Drawing on various therapeutic models to build context and understanding for you and the difficulties that brought you to therapy. The overarching goal is to work towards change through awareness of the aspects that complicate life.
In my practice, I often see people living with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Or individuals trying to make sense of their sadness, loss, or trauma. A lot of the time, we also have to work on relationships, boundaries, and saying goodbyes. Reconstructing our lives as we immigrated, ended a relationship, or finally have the courage to address the shadow part of ourselves.
Our human development is of interest to me. We all change and develop as we move through life. Therapy is also a place to talk about identity, sexuality, career choices, life goals, about feeling lost and figuring out what to do next. Therapy can be a helpful space to gain clarity and perspective on our being in the world. Helping us develop a more congruent relationship with ourselves and others.
A core part of therapy is understanding the space between us and how we interact. When needed, I will reflect on our therapeutic relationship and how our interactions can tell us a bit more about what’s going on for you.
Some availability
David Eckel
(He/him)
Mental Health Social Worker
David is an accredited mental health social worker with over twenty years’ experience counselling adults in community health, specializing in the areas of PTSD and complex trauma, GLBTIQ mental health and alcohol and other drugs. David was co-founder and co-therapist in the Women’s Trauma Recovery Program, a collaboration between Swinburne University and Access Health and Community. David has worked in counselling, project work and clinical supervision roles at IPC Health, Victorian AIDS Council and Access Health and Community. He is passionate about trauma treatment and has trained in EMDR Therapy, Polyvagal Theory and completed Level A Certification in Interpersonal Therapy, Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level One, and is a Level One and Two trained Internal Family Systems Therapist. David is also a trained creative arts therapist and is experienced in supervision and training, having previously taught at the Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP). He provides a gentle, warm and sensitive approach to counselling. David is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), a registered Circle of Security Facilitator, and a past board member of the EMDR Association of Australia. He is currently completing his PhD focused on Internal Family Systems Therapy and Adult Attachment.
Professional Affiliations
Registered with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
Registered Circle of Security Facilitator
Member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT)
Member of the EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA)
Wait list
Publications
2021 Eckel, D. (2021). The Inside Story of Attachment: What can Internal Family Systems Therapy offer? Psychotherapy and Counselling Today, Ed. 3, 49-63.
2011 Eckel, D. (2011). Early vs. Late-Onset Drinkers. Of Substance, 9 (2), 20.
2006 Eckel, D. (2006). On creative arts therapy and depression. The Australian Journal on Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 2006 (1), 43–54.
2003 Eckel, D. (2003). Movement Assessment for Children with Special Needs. Dance Therapy Association of Australia Inc., Quarterly, 2003 (4), 17–22.
Emily Li
(She/her)
Psychologist
Masters (Professional Psychology )
BA (Hons.)
I have worked in the mental health field for 10 years, first within a research capacity and more recently as a therapist.
My early work as a research assistant set me up to be able to assess and identify complex mental health presentations including psychoses and personality disorders. As a therapist, I have worked within both the public and private sectors. This has allowed me to see clients presenting with both acute and chronic presentations ranging from mild to severe. I have also had experience working with children and families impacted by trauma within the child protection system, where I was required to support the child’s caregivers and parents to understand the negative impact trauma has had on development, and to promote healing using attachment and developmental based approaches.
From all of these experiences, what I have found most rewarding, is the therapeutic trust and relationship developed with clients. It is a privilege for clients to be able to entrust me with their stories, experiences, challenges, and deepest thoughts, worries, and concerns. Therefore, it is my upmost priority to hold this space for my clients, and to sit with them through feelings of shame, guilt, fear, and pain, in a space that feels safe, comfortable, and respectful.
I work with a range of presentations, but my experience to date has led me to be particularly interested in supporting those impacted by developmental trauma. As humans, we are social beings, connected to others and impacted by our environment. Therefore, helping clients to unlock the impact their life experiences have had on their sense of self and relationships with others is a key way in which I like to work.
I like to utilize an integrated approach that is tailored to the unique needs of each client throughout their therapeutic journey. Modalities and frameworks I draw upon include:
CBT
Schema Therapy
Emotion Focused Therapy
Attachment & Developmental Theories
Trauma Focused Therapies
Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Mindfulness Based Therapies
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Benjamin Shields
(He/him)
Clinical Psychologist
Masters (Clinical Psychology)
PhD Candidate
Board approved supervisor
MAPS
I love helping people achieve positive change in their inner world, in their relationships, and to get closer to their goals. I have 16 years of experience as a psychologist, and more than 20 years in mental health.
I work with a range of conditions, including low mood and depression, anxiety (including worry, panic, and social anxiety), and responses to traumatic events (including single events, and trauma and neglect that occurred in childhood).
Therapy works when there’s a trusting partnership between the client and me. A deep respect, sensitivity and empathy make for good relationships, generally. These are the foundations of a good relationship with a therapist.
My style with clients is friendly and transparent. We work together on what they want to change. That can be about worrying less, feeling calmer in their body, to stop feeling terrorised by painful memories, or more at accepting of their past, to get rid of panic attacks, to understand why they are responding to situations or people the way they are, to be less critical of themselves and others, to feel more hopeful and optimistic, to be freer to express themselves in all different ways, to name a few.
Sometimes clients tell me that they don’t know if their ‘problem’ is serious enough to work on with me. For me, helping someone to worry less, or to feel more confident, is as genuinely wonderful and legitimate a process as is helping someone in their recovery from a terrible assault, abuse, or huge loss. If therapy might make us feel more at ease and freer in the world, then we should do it!
I am cautious about making assumptions when working with clients. I’ve learnt that ‘the devil is in the detail’ when it comes to conceptualising the problem and the approach to it. Here is one example of what I mean: A client might come into therapy feeling depressed, which would have it that we would refer to the most tried and tested approaches for depression. However, we can arrive at period of low mood via 100 routes, e.g., worrying so much (i.e., simulating the worst ways things might unfold) that we feel hopeless and exhausted, or because our social anxiety and low confidence has put us in particularly isolated place, or because we’re actually grieving something we’ve lost, because we’re starting to understand that something we thought we had, we never had. It can be that we are mistaking sadness for depression (sometimes it’s both), or that boredom is in the mix. An over-pathologisation of our feelings can mean we are so focused on fixing the feeling that we don’t recognise that there is often a context to it. That’s not to deny ‘depression’ as a condition – absolutely not. However, an approach to low mood (and all other ways we people present) needs to factor in the pathway to it, the factors that contribute to it, the person’s style and strengths. If we want to see permanent change, that means breaking things down properly and looking deeper.
I am interested in the ways that the nervous system and mind interact, using top down, and bottom-up approaches to treatment. I am interested in attachment style and emotion regulation and training the mind and brain to strengthen the relationship with the self and create new ways of being.
Aside from my work at the practice, I am doing a Phd focusing on the function and activity of several brain networks, and these functions underpin different symptom sets. I am particularly interested in how these networks affect sense of self, to understand how we can help people develop and/or restore a sense of self after traumatic events via talking therapy techniques, but also techniques that can address the nervous system directly, such as neurofeedback.
No capacity for new clients
No waitlist capacity
Sean Cuthbert
(He/him)
Clinical Psychologist
Masters (Clinical Psychology)
Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist
Approved IFS Clinical Consultant
Board approved supervisor
MAPS, FCClin
Sean Cuthbert has over 15 years of experience working therapeutically with clients across a number of settings, including community organisations, within public health settings, and in private practice. Sean draws on a variety of experiential methods to create a tailored approach for each individual and situation. He has advanced training in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, EMDR, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and the Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM). He has worked extensively with adolescents, young adults, and adult clients, and has a particular interest in men’s health. As a therapist, Sean has an approachable manner, and is warm, open, encouraging, and direct. He combines a down-to-earth, realistic approach to the counselling process with a healthy sense of humour. Sean strives to provide a high quality, personalised, professional service.
Sean graduated from Australian Catholic University in Melbourne with a Master of Psychology (Clinical). He is fully registered as a Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). He has an endorsement in Clinical Psychology with the PBA. Sean is a full Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), and a Fellow of the Clinical College of the APS.
Sean is a PBA-approved supervisor of Psychologists and has worked as a Senior Psychologist and supervisor in a number of settings. Sean is a Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist from the IFS Institute, and an Approved IFS Clinical Consultant (Supervisor). He can supervise other therapists and practitioners in gaining competence in IFS practice, and IFS Level 1 graduates for IFS Certification.
Sean specialises in the big challenges: attachment injures, trauma-related issues and experiences, addictive processes, depression, anxiety, shame, and improving relationships – both internally and externally. Sean is energetic, and passionate, and brings the full intention for clients to engage in transformative therapeutic experiences.
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Articles
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If you would like to enquire about attending the practice as a new client, please click the icon below to contact us via the New Client Enquiries Form below.
We are happy to answer any questions you have.
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How to refer to us
Please fax referrals to (03) 4050 7076
Call us on (03) 7038 0980
We will get back to you as soon as we can
In our experience, the best outcomes and level of care for patients occurs when there is an effective partnership between GP/specialist, and the treating psychologist.
Feel free to get in touch so that we can meet with you to discuss.
Have questions?
Our therapists are private billing psychologists. Therefore, a gap fee will apply to all sessions.
Fees are comparable to other therapists with similar experience, training, and specialisation. Fees also vary between our therapists, so please contact us for more information.
Mental Health Care Plans: A Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) is available from your GP and will cover up to 10 sessions of psychological therapy per calendar year
In order to access the medicare rebate for sessions, your mental health care plan (referral) needs to be made out to the psychologist you intend to see. We are unable to process rebates using plans that are made out to other psychologists.
Click here more information about Medicare rebates for psychology sessions
Insurance: Private health fund rebates may be claimable depending on your level of coverage. Please check with your health fund provider for details. Please note, you cannot claim both a medicare rebate and a private health insurance rebate on the same service.
TAC/Worksafe/VOCAT: Our therapists are registered providers for TAC, Worksafe, and VOCAT services.
If you do not attend or reschedule your appointment within 24 hours of your agreed appointment time, there is inadequate time for your psychologist to offer the session to another client. In those cases, clients are required to pay the full fee for the session.
Please be aware that you are not able to claim the Medicare rebate for cancellation fees. Cancellation fees must be paid before your next appointment.
We take your privacy and confidentiality very seriously, and we are also required by law to preserve and uphold your right to privacy and confidentiality. Subject to certain limited exceptions (described below), your information is kept strictly confidential and stored securely at all times.
Your information will be stored electronically using secure 256-bit SSL encryption. The following accreditations, certifications and standards for data storage are in place: PCI DSS Level 1, ISO 27001, and FIPS 140-2.
As part of providing psychological services to you, Spencer Street Psychology will need to collect and record personal information that is relevant to your current situation. This information is collected for the purpose of enabling your psychologist to plan and provide you with treatment. Your personal information is gathered as part of your assessment and treatment. It is kept securely and, in the interests of your privacy, used only by your psychologist. Your personal information is retained to document what happens during sessions and enables the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you. A detailed description is provided in the practice’s “Privacy policy for management of personal information”, which can be obtained by contacting Spencer Street Psychology.
All personal information gathered by your psychologist during the provision of the psychological service will not be disclosed except when:
-it is subpoenaed by a court; or
-failure to disclose the information would, in the reasonable belief of your psychologist, place you or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety; or
-your prior approval has been obtained to: provide a written report to another professional or agency. e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or discuss the material with another person, e.g. a parent, employer, or health provider; or disclose the information in another way; or
– you would expect your personal information to be disclosed to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected; or
– disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
If you are claiming rebates from Medicare, your psychologist will provide your GP with a brief report about your treatment and will outline any recommendations for maintaining and improving your mental health. This is standard practice, and your information will remain confidential.
The safety and security of our clients, staff, and records is very important to us.
Spencer Street Psychology is not accessible from the street without a security procedure. The building is monitored by CCTV by in-house security staff 24hrs/day.
The services provided by Spencer Street Psychology are treatment focused.
Spencer Street Psychology does not accept referrals for the purpose of providing medico-legal opinions. Psychologists are not obliged to provide reports for court matters.
Your safety and the safety of our staff is our first priority. We are grateful for your assistance keeping our staff and other clients safe by adhering to the following COVID-19 safety requirements:
Please do not attend the practice if you have symptoms associated with COVID-19. These symptoms including fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea. Please use the following COVID-19 symptom checker to determine if you should be tested for COVID-19: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/healthdirect-coronavirus-covid-19-symptom-checker
Telehealth sessions are available. Please advise your psychologist if you have any symptoms associated with COVID-19 so that alternative treatment arrangements can be made for you.
Contacts
(03) 7038 0980
(03) 4050 7076
If you would like to enquire about attending the practice as a new client, please contact us via the New Client Enquiries Form below.
We are happy to answer any questions you have.
Office 101, 393 Spencer Street
West Melbourne 3003