Update for 2025

Welcome Hannah Portogallo!

We are delighted to welcome Hannah to the practice! Hannah has completed a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a fully registered Clinical Psychologist having completed her Clinical Endorsement over the past few years. She is a Geelong local and may complement our corporate triathlon team nicely with her interest in running! Hannah has been settling in well over the past couple of months and her books are filling fast. She has a specific interest in working with adult clients who have experienced trauma. Please see her profile for more information or reach out to our administration team if you would like an appointment with her.

SHADES (Self Help for Anxiety and Depression Education Sessions)

We are now closing in on completing the fourth term group of SHADES (Self Help for Anxiety and Depression Education Sessions). The support for this adult based educative therapy group from clients and referrers has increased substantially over the year as the group re-establishes itself as the best group therapy program available to clients from Geelong and surrounding regions.

Caitlyn Rogers has been co-ordinating the group this year and we have refreshed its materials and further refined content. We are fortunate to have several psychologists who have considerable experience in running group therapy programs and are trained specifically in the nuances of SHADES. Outcome data (Initial and follow up intervals) and client report provide continued support that SHADES participants not only benefit on completion of the program but these benefits endure and can further develop over time.

We look forward to running further SHADES & SHADES-Y groups in 2025 so keep an eye on the website or give our admin team a call to discuss further. The SHADES group also presents a cost effective and powerful alternative and/or complement to individual sessions.

Child Psychology and Assessment Services

We are very pleased to have recently welcomed Judy McKay to our team who is completing the Educational and Developmental Psychology Registrar Program and is a fully registered psychologist. Judy has a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology and will commence with us shortly for 2 days a week. Judy will complement our strong experienced team of fully registered psychologists who have expertise in working with children and adolescents. Judy has interest and experience in the administration of Cognitive, Educational and Learning based assessments to children and adolescents. If your child or adolescent requires an assessment please reach out to our administration team. Judy is also accepting new referrals for children and adolescents. See her profile for further information on areas she can assist children and adolescents with.

Barwon Heads Triathlon 2026

Growth will be entering three teams into the Barwon Heads Triathlon in February 2026!  This is shaping up to be a fantastic fun day! We are very lucky to have some team members who enjoy various types of physical activity. We love that this is a local event we can support on our beautiful Bellarine Peninsula. Coffee and brunch with some laughs will no doubt follow our efforts!

Celebrating 10 Years of Dedication and Drive Kirsty Brislane!

This year marks a decade of incredible contribution from Kirsty Brislane, whose unwavering commitment to psychology and the team has made a lasting impact. Kirsty is known at our practice for her exceptional organisation and reliability. Clients enjoy her upfront and clear direction in treatment, empowering them to make the necessary shifts to achieve their goals.

When it is footy season, you don’t get much more of a passionate or informed discussion than when Kirsty is at the table.

The team had an incredible night celebrating and toasting this achievement at Little Creatures.

Congratulations Kirsty on a remarkable decade. We look forward to seeing what happens next!

What’s new at Growth Psychology

2025 Festival of Psychology

Fletcher Hamilton has recently returned from this year’s APS Conference, held on the stunning Gold Coast! It was a fantastic few days filled with engaging keynote speakers and practical workshops, all focused on the latest developments in psychology. Attending conferences like this helps keep our team informed, inspired and continuing to grow and refine how we support you on your mental health journey. 

Peppe Cavalieri

Peppe joined our team as a Geelong Psychologist in March this year and has quickly become a valued member—bringing not only his clinical skills but also plenty of lunchtime laughs! Peppe’s diary is filling up  fast so please contact us if you wish to book an appointment. 

SHADES Group

SHADES is designed to support individuals experiencing anxiety and depression by teaching practical self-management tools in a safe and supportive group setting.

We are nearly halfway through our second SHADES program for 2025, and it continues to be in high demand. If you believe this program could benefit you or a loved one, we encourage you to contact us about the next intake starting in July.

The next group is starting Wednesday 23rd July 2025 and runs for 8 weeks, concluding Wednesday 10th September. Please contact our team to register your expression of interest or find out more information as spots are filling up fast!

That’s a Wrap 2024

WOW – A decade celebration

In August this year, our esteemed colleague, Sam Lloyd celebrated his 10 th year as part of the Growth Psychology Practice team. Over this time, Sam has been able to support and treat over 950 clients. Although the majority of Sam’s clients are children, he does also have availability to see adults. The team can attest to having a great night celebrating with Sam in a relaxed atmosphere at Little Creatures.

Run Geelong

When living and working in Geelong, whats not to love about a morning run/walk with the community while raising funds to support the work Barwon Health provides to locals and visitors to the region? At Growth, we are a very active team so it was no surprise we had close to 20 participants (including family members) take to the water front and share the morning with other like minded individuals. It was a stunning morning and the weather was ideal for us.

SHADES & SHADES-Y

We are opening up places for our next SHADES group in 2025. SHADES is an adult group program that runs over 8 weekly sessions and offers education on symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as training in practical self-management strategies. This program has had some great results for participants and is well worth signing up.

SHADES-Y is also expected to run in 2025. SHADES-Y is suitable for adolescents aged 14-17 who are experiencing and struggling with anxiety. This program runs for 7 weeks. This might be just the setting to help your young person achieve some goals and boost their confidence.

Please contact our admin team to register your interest or for further information.

End of Year Xmas Party

It was great to be able to take some time out together at our end of year Xmas celebration. This year, we embarked on a cryptic Scavenger Hunt around some beautiful parts of Geelong that kept us guessing and filled with lots of laughs. Following this, we enjoyed dinner at Mav’s restaurant where the good times continued.

Xmas Hours

The clinic will be closed from midday 24 th December 2024. We will re-open on Monday 6 th January 2025. You are welcome to call the practice during the Christmas break and leave a message for our return in early January.

A big thank you to all our clients and referring partners for making the year enriching, rewarding and supportive.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.

The Growth Team

Kicking Off 2024

New Team Member

We are excited to welcome Kirrily Zablan to the team this year. Kirrily is finalising her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and completed her thesis around animal companionship for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kirrily will be seeing clients from 12+. Please feel free to have a look at her profile page and reach out to our admin team to discuss her availability. 

Corporate Triathlon – February 2024

As you can see from the feature image, six adrenalin filled team members headed down the hightway to Elwood and had a fantastic day at this years Melbourne Teams Corporate Triathlon. We entered 2 teams of which each individual either completed the Swim, Bike or Run. We had fantastic results, surprising even ourselves!! We had a delightful breakfast in the sun after the event as we congratulated ourselves on what was a fun and successful meet.

2024 APS College of Clinical Psychologist Conference

Adelaide is hosting this years APS Clinical Psychologist Conference which is being held 22nd – 24th March. At Growth our team are forever ensuring that they stay informed, inspired and educated. The participants attending from Growth will benefit greatly from this 3 day event.  We will update again on the workshops attended after the event.

SHADES-Y

We are gearing up for our next SHADES-Y group after the Easter Break. This will be the week commencing 15th April 2024. We still have a few spots available so if you have or know of any young people (14yr-17yr) who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression please do not hesitate to contact our team for more information and register your interest. More details are listed under the Services section on our website.

Update for 2023

15 Years!

Growth Psychology Practice turned 15 this year! A big congratulations and thank you to all the clients, practitioners and referrers over the years who have supported the development of the practice. We are proud to have provided quality assessment and care to many clients, families and organisations and contributed to the heath and wel- being of our amazing community.

SHADES-Y

After a break in offering our Group Therapy programs due to COVID we were pleased to re-launch in October 2023 our first SHADES-Y group. SHADES-Y is best suited to adolescents experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. The group commenced in October and was very successful with enthusiastic participation and great outcomes.

We will be running further SHADES & SHADES-Y groups in 2024 so keep an eye on the website or give our admin team a call to discuss further.

2024 APS College of Clinical Psychologist Conference

Some of the Psychologists at Growth will be making the pilgrimage across to Adelaide in March next year to attend the APS College of Clinical Psychologist Conference. This is a great opportunity to spend time with peers and professionals alike. The conference has a dynamic and diverse range of full and half day workshops that is sure to inspire.  A team dinner will also be arranged and we look forward to learn more about the topics addressed at the conference. Watch this space for more details post event.

Corporate Triathlon 2024

Growth will be entering 2 teams into the Melbourne Corporate Triathlon in February 2024!  This will be a fantastic day with lots of healthy competitive fun and no doubt a lot of laughs as our teams make their way around the course. We are looking forward to the participation, the support from our crew and of course the coffee afterwards!

Thank you Referrers

Finally we would like to thank our referrers for their continued support. Without their ongoing engagement it makes it difficult to provide the exceptional care that we do.

We wish everyone a healthy, safe and happy Christmas!

High demand for services

At Growth Psychology Practice, we are experiencing peak demand for our services and as such our Practitioners diaries continue to be heavily booked many months in advance. 

It is advisable for our existing clients to schedule follow-up appointments and attend their current scheduled bookings to avoid lengthy delays in consecutive appointments. 

 We welcome enquires from new clients and will try to accommodate new referrals if and when diaries of our Practitioners have availability. At present, this availability is limited however we will continue to work with our referral community

Cancellation fees

Due to the unprecedented demand for Psychological services, it is imperative that clients avail of the session times afforded to them. 

Clients need to provide at least 24 (business) hours notice of cancellations to avoid a $100 fail to attend fee. This fee is payable prior to scheduling or attending any further sessions. 

Non attended or cancelled evening appointments will result in a full fee charge and may apply to sessions not attended during business hours. 

The cancellation of ongoing sessions or failing to attend sessions without notice may lead to future bookings being removed from the Practitioners diaries to accommodate outside demand.

We thank you for your ongoing support.