Our Team
Merrylands Counselling is a client-focused, relational practice that aims to restore and empower. Our staff come from a variety of backgrounds and share a wealth of experience and expertise.
Employment Opportunity
Merrylands Counselling is a dynamic team of professionals. If you are a qualified Clinical or Registered Psychologist and are interested in the opportunity to join us, please send your CV and brief intro to admin@merrylandscounselling.com.au. Successful candidates will be asked to write a cover letter.
Colleen Hirst
Clinical Psychologist / Family Therapist
Colleen is a clinical psychologist and family therapist who has worked in the counselling industry for over 40 years. Colleen’s warmth and relational style are complemented by her strengths-based approach to therapy. She is passionate in her clinical work to respectfully assist people in uncovering the strengths and hope that can become the vehicles for change. Key models in her approach to counselling include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Narrative Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy. Colleen has expertise in working with a wide range of issues, including depression, anxiety, panic disorders, phobias, trauma, domestic violence, addictions, sexuality, sexual abuse, grief, parenting issues, relationship issues and work-related stresses.
Colleen has extensive and varied clinical experience, having worked in drug and alcohol counselling, street youth work, adolescent counselling, prison chaplaincy, crisis accommodation and homelessness, mental health, family therapy and couple counselling. Colleen enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.
Trista Li
Registered Psychologist
Trista is an experienced registered psychologist who enjoys working with a wide range of client presentations. She is warm and engaging and is passionate to help clients achieve change and facilitate healthier ways of living and being.
She also has a passion for working with neurodiverse children and adolescents on the autism spectrum, as well as issues such as ADHD, ODD, anxiety, depression, anger management, friendship difficulties, grief and loss, attentional and behavioural difficulties, and managing academic demands.
She enjoys teaching children (and adults) skills to build their independence, increase emotional resilience and improve their social skills
Trista completed a psychology degree at the Australian National University and a Diploma of Counselling with the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. She also has a teaching degree from the University of Sydney.
Trista completed the Westmead Feelings Program 1 Facilitator course in 2021 and ran the program in 2022 and 2023 with children, teachers and parents.
Trista has over five years of experience working as a school counsellor and worked with families of a variety of cultural backgrounds. She has experience working with primary and secondary students, and students in special education settings for behaviour and mental health concerns
Therese Davies
Clinical Psychologist
Therese has worked as a Psychologist for over 30 years. She has a strong commitment to helping individuals who are experiencing emotional distress learn helpful skills to move forward positively and achieve their goals. She has extensive experience working with adolescents and adults and has a collaborative and empathic therapeutic approach. She also enjoys providing clinical supervision to early and midcareer psychologists. Therese uses cognitive behaviour therapy, EMDR and other evidence-based treatment models. She works with individuals experiencing issues such as generalised and social anxiety, depression, ADHD, low self-esteem, anger management/ assertiveness, grief, trauma/PTSD and adjustment difficulties.
Therese has worked in a range of settings including adult and adolescent mental health, catholic schools, educational agencies, government departments such as Centrelink, Ageing Disability and Homecare and the Department of Education. She has worked with individuals with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disability, learning difficulties, brain injury, forensic clients and refugees. She is a member of the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists, a Clinical Psychologist, and AHPRA approved Psychologist Supervisor.
Tina Moynihan
Clinical Psychologist
Tina is a Clinical Psychologist and is a member of the Australian Psychological Society. Tina has been in practice since 2019.
We may experience shock, confusion, and a sense of disorientation when diagnosed with cancer. Sometimes, as we navigate a cancer diagnosis, undergo treatment, and attend multiple appointments, all occurring within the continuation of everyday life, our experience of the world as we once knew it may change. The fear of cancer returning is also commonly experienced after a cancer diagnosis and we may experience feelings of uncertainty that may cause anxiety, stress, and low mood. Returning to a new sense of normal after our primary cancer treatment and navigating how we feel about ourselves, our body, relationships and coping with change may be difficult.
Tina brings compassion and trauma informed care to emotional fear, thoughts of uncertainty, physical, and bodily changes associated with looking and feeling different, changes related to self, others and being in the world. These feeling, thinking, physical, spiritual, and relational connected or disconnected parts of yourself may be profoundly impacted by a cancer diagnosis and experience. Tina helps you to creatively explore and understand them with sensitivity to your needs.
Tina will hold a safe space for you with care, empathy, and kindness to allow your cancer experience to be expressed, heard, and seen. She understands that it is a privilege to hear your story. Tina understands that cultural diversity and the cancer experience may hold feelings of shame, isolation, and disconnection from family and community. She is passionate about helping you find healing, restoration, and a new meaningful approach to living your life.
Together, you will navigate wellbeing, wholeness, connectedness to self and others and ‘being with’ your experience whether that is early diagnosis, advanced cancer, palliative, or life after cancer.
Together, you will explore healing, restoration, and a new way of living.
For more information, click here for Tina’s Cancer Care Support Flyer
Glenn Cameron
Registered Psychologist
Glenn is a psychologist, relationship counsellor and family therapist with over 18 years of experience working with individuals and couples struggling with aspects of their lives and relationships.
His experience in private practice covers a wide range of issues including relationship conflict, separation and divorce, parenting difficulties, issues around religious faith, mental health problems, domestic violence, grief and loss, and trauma. Glenn has also worked as a School Psychologist and loves to work adolescents and adults of all ages.
Being happily married for over 36 years Glenn is passionate about helping couples develop fruitful and rewarding relationships. He believes that when two people decide to work on their relationship, couple counselling offers a unique environment to change despair in to hope, allowing couples to reap the blessings that come from a respectful and loving relationship.
Glenn has broad experience working with survivors of childhood trauma including sexual and physical abuse. Memories of such events can sometimes lead to confusion and difficulties in life. Glenn wants everyone to know that trauma is not a life sentence, and that it can be healed. Along with techniques such as EMDR he uses somatic and experiential approaches to manage and process trauma. His warm and encouraging approach helps his clients make sense of the past, and find hope in the future.
Glenn is an associate member of the Australian Psychological Society and an AHPRA registered psychologist. Many of his clients are able to seek rebates or fee relief through Medicare, Workcover/CTP and Private Health Insurance.
Matthew Solomon
Registered Psychologist
Matthew is an experienced, Registered Psychologist and member of the Australian Association of Psychologists.
With extensive experience working with individuals (both adult and children), couples and families, Matthew brings practice knowledge from his work in disability, education, child well being, family therapy and trauma management.
Matthew’s diverse work history includes roles as a Chaplain, a school counsellor, employee counsellor and cross cultural Psychologist.
Key models in Matthew's approach to counselling include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, and Narrative Therapy. Matthew has expertise in working with a wide range of issues including depression, anxiety, panic disorders, phobias, trauma, domestic violence, addictions, victims of crime, sexual abuse, grief, parenting issues, relationship issues and work-related stresses.
Matthew has been married for 45 years, has 4 adult children and 2 grandchildren.
Denise Piercy
Registered Psychologist
Denise is a Registered Psychologist and an associate member of the Australian Psychological Society.
She is passionate about enabling individuals to overcome their personal and emotional difficulties through respectful and supportive psychological intervention and counselling.
Denise has experience working with adolescents and adults and works from a strengths-based perspective incorporating aspects of a range of therapeutic modalities to motivate change, and facilitate awareness, acceptance and hope in her clients.
Kim Thompson
Registered Psychologist
Kim is passionate about helping people of all ages thrive. She is especially passionate about helping children, adolescents and their families, having worked with this demographic for over 20 years.
A Registered Psychologist and Member of the Australian Psychological Society, Kim uses a range of therapeutic treatments to engage and respectfully support clients including Interpersonal Psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Family Systems Therapy.
Kim has worked in residential youth care, adoption and permanent care, child protection and over the past 13 years as a School Counsellor in the Independent Education Sector. She has experience in working with anxiety, phobias and panic disorders, depression, self-harm, grief, trauma, sexual abuse, anger management, domestic violence and parenting issues. She understands that life can throw all sorts of complicated challenges at us, which require us to draw on many different supports to navigate our way through.
Julie Ryu
Provisional Psychologist
Clinical Counsellor
Julie is an experienced clinical counsellor and psychotherapist with both a Bachelor of Counselling (Australian College of Applied Psychology) and Master of Professional Psychology (University of New England).
Julie is also completing her internship to qualify as a registered psychologist.
Julie believes in the importance of relational framework when being with clients in each session as this plays a vital role in forming trust-based therapeutic relationships. Julie is warm and gentle in her clinical approach. She has extensive experience in working with clients who have been impacted by psychological distress, social and emotional challenges including domestic violence, abuse, trauma, anxiety, mood disorders, eating disorders, body image and disabilities.
As a second-generation Korean-Australian, Julie can provide compassionate care to clients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and stressors that may arise from the process of migration.
Some of the modalities she incorporates into her practice include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), psychodynamic therapy and narrative therapy.
Julie is accredited with Work Cover, CTP and Victims Services NSW.
Julie is also an accredited Eating Disorder Mental Health Professional.
Julie is also a clinical member of the Australian Association of Christian Counsellors
Tracy Hadden
Registered Psychologist
Tracy is a psychologist with over 15 years’ experience who is committed to helping individuals and couples cope successfully with the challenges they face. She uses a strength-based approach together with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Motivational Counselling. Her approach is also guided by training in trauma informed strategies, Narrative Therapy and Schema Therapy. Tracy has also undertaken training in the Gottman Method for couples counselling, and is an accredited provider of the Cool Kids anxiety management program.
Her experience working with adults, couples, children and adolescents dealing with depression, anxiety, panic, phobia, trauma, domestic violence, grief & loss, parenting issues and work stress, has helped her develop great understanding and compassion. Tracy has worked with individuals with learning difficulties, ADD, ADHD, and autism spectrum, in her many years as a School Counsellor in co-educational primary and secondary schools.
Prior to that Tracy worked in the disability sector supporting families with a child with a disability and helping those in crisis move forward. For many years she has run anxiety management groups and parenting groups, and volunteered on telephone crisis lines and with Prison Fellowship.
Tracy regularly works with clients between the ages of 6 and 70 who have been referred under Medicare, EAP, NDIS, Workcover, CTP insurance, and the Clergy Assistance Program.
Kelli Bradicich
Registered Psychologist
Kelli is a warm and engaging psychologist with over 20 years clinical experience. She has been in private practice as a psychologist since 2006 and has worked in the community sector since 1991.
Kelli works to help people approach life’s gifts and challenges with awareness and calm, tapping into the conscious and subconscious mind. Narrative and Solutions Focussed therapy assists in understanding the current story and helps to develop new more helpful, strengths-based and realistic life stories. Acceptance and Commitment therapy(ACT) helps to accept what is happening in the present moment and step mindfully through each future moment using strategies that connect to your values. EMDR can help process stuck memories, thoughts, beliefs and emotions. Bowen Family Systems ideas allow you to gain greater depth of understanding of yourself and your reactions in relation to family, friends, work colleagues and community. Meditation and visualisation with hypnosis influences will aim to reach the subconscious.
Together these therapies can help to develop a capacity to observe and regulate, find clarity and peace, develop a capacity to observe and regulate, find clarity and peace. develop a stronger sense of self and connect to purpose through awareness and calm as healthy life goals become a priority.
Kelli is also a registered provider for Workcover and CTP Insurance.
Claudia Chakar
Couple and Family Counsellor
Claudia has over 20 years of clinical experience, including working with Relationships Australia as a senior Couple and Family Therapist, where she supervised and led a team. Claudia continues to provide her expertise and clinical supervision to other Therapists.
She has a particular interest in helping couples, families, and individuals understand the unhelpful way they communicate, which often leads to conflict. She also has extensive experience working with estrangements and conflict in adult families, as well as helping parents navigate complex situations where neurodiversity may be present.
Claudia is a trauma-informed therapist with a background in mental health. With expertise, she incorporates trauma themes with a relationship lens. This greatly benefits couples who have experienced a trauma such as an affair or other betrayal, significant loss, health diagnosis and all types of drug and alcohol addictions.
Claudia is a “Child Inclusive Consultant” for children whose parents are in the process of separation, mediation or Court proceedings. Claudia says, “I find it highly rewarding when I can help couples manage separation in a healthy way which reduces the impact on children”.
Claudia has trained in Systemic Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Solution Focused, Emotionally Focused Therapy and uses Gottman interventions in her work. She is known for bringing extensive knowledge and a lovely warmth to her work. However, as well as her warmth, she has a direct interventionalist style – which means clients receive direct guidance and help for their relationship problems.
Claudia is a mental health Therapist, a Clinical Supervisor, and a parent.
Qualifications and Professional Memberships
Masters in Counselling (UWS)
Bachelor Degree of Social Work (UWS)
Post Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling (USYD)
Child Inclusive Training
Prepare and Enrich Facilitator
Member PACFA – Registered Clinical Counsellor
Claudia’s fee is $155 with no medicare rebate.
Kay Honeyfield
&
Lauren Buxton
Reception / Admin
Our wonderful admin team are here to help you with your enquiries. We pride ourselves on our empathy, compassion, and patience. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Contact Us
Admin Hours
Monday–Friday
8.45am–5.45pm
Phone
Phone: (02) 9760 1110
Location
11 Lowe Street
Merrylands NSW 2160