What’s New at Peaceful Mind Psychology?

As we approach 3 years since Peaceful Mind Psychology started, it’s hard to believe we’ve grown from a team of 2 psychologists to a team of 14!

One of my worst habits (and I apologise, because I should know better being a psychologist!) is pushing myself forward at a fast pace without stopping to breathe and reflect.

Though, I have recently learnt the importance of stopping and reflecting to check Peaceful Mind Psychology is aligned with our practice values of honesty, kindness and empathy. I have also learnt that reflecting on what’s changed at our practice positively reinforces and motivates me to continue to move us forward towards our future plans and goals.

So, what’s new at Peaceful Mind Psychology?

Introducing Psychologists, Noam Dishon and Leah Macklan

Clinical Psychologist, Noam Dishon

Noam is one of the most genuine and warm souls you’ll ever meet. His calming nature instantly makes you feel comfortable around him; I know when I first met Noam I found myself trusting him straight away (this is a good sign when you’re hiring a psychologist!).

Perhaps not surprisingly, Noam’s clients describe him as “warm”, “calm” and “patient”. And his client’s often feedback that Noam shows a high level of thoughtfulness and care in the way he approaches therapy.

Noam’s Skills and Expertise

Noam has a diverse set of skills and plenty of experience working with different mental health difficulties. This means Noam is able to turn his hand at supporting people with a range of struggles, including:

– Depression
– Anxiety (including panic attacks, general anxiety, social anxiety, and phobia’s)
– Low self-esteem
– Stress
– Difficulty adjusting to life transitions
– Interpersonal & relationship issues counselling
– Eating disorders and disordered eating (including binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia)
– Emotional outbursts
– Self/identity issues
– Problem behaviours

You can read more here on clinical psychologist, Noam Dishon.

Psychologist, Leah Macklan

Our newest psychologist Leah is what I’d describe as a “breath of fresh air”. Leah has such a relaxed calming presence about her that you feel her competence. Shortly after I met Leah, her air of “peacefulness” made sense, as she shared with me her passion for practising mindfulness meditation and yoga.

Leah’s client’s describe her as “easily approachable”, “compassionate”, “motivating” and “insightful”. I believe these qualities make an excellent therapist, but I suppose the real “proof in the pudding” as to Leah’s work as a psychologist is that her diary is almost full!

Leah’s Skills and Expertise

Leah has had plenty of experience working with a range of mental health issues and is familiar working with adolescents as well as adults. Leah provides support for the following issues:

– Anxiety
– Depression
– Stress (including work anxiety and stress)
– Trauma
– Adjustment issues
– Sleep concerns
– Impulse control and anger management
– Relationship difficulties
– Drug and alcohol use/addiction
– Low self-esteem
– Grief and loss 
– Poor body image

You can read more here on psychologist, Leah Macklan.

Our Hawthorn psychology practice

Our Hawthorn psychology practice opened in August this year to compliment our sister practice in Armadale opened 3 years ago.

Before opening our Hawthorn practice, I was nervous as to how it would succeed [insert jittery teeth emoji] – fears like “will people like it?” and “will the location work?” dominated my mind in the lead up. But, THANKFULLY, in the 3 months that the Hawthorn practice has been open, it has already grown from just a team of 3 psychologists to a team 7 psychologists (including Lucinda Poole, Sally Whiteside, Emily Burton, Akshay Dhingra, Lauren Daniell, Freyja Lysne-Sherwood and Leah Macklan)!

It’s hard to pin point why the Hawthorn practice is going so well, but if I was to have a good guess, I believe it’s the high-quality psychologists we have working there, as well as the comfort of the practice itself.

You can read more here about our Hawthorn practice in blog post – Our New Hawthorn Psychology Practice

New Medicare items for Eating Disorders

At Peaceful Mind Psychology, we are all celebrating this month’s release of new Medicare item codes and rebates for Eating Disorder Treatment.

Our practice is passionate about eating disorder treatment with 9 psychologists trained in this field, who together consult around 300 clients each year with an eating disorder. Our practice is therefore overly familiar with the struggle individuals and families face with affording proper eating disorder treatment.

The new changes mean clients with severe and complex eating disorders can seek up to 40 Medicare-rebated psychology sessions per year under a plan called an “EDP plan”. And fortunately, the rebates for these sessions are the same as the rebates for standard mental healthcare plans.

Our psychologists and support staff are educated and up-to-date with the new EDP plans, how they work, and the eligibility criteria, so please do not hesitate to throw any questions our way.