about
Kate McLisky
I am a Clinical Psychologist with over five years’ experience in psychological counselling with children, adolescents and adults. I use a trauma-informed approach to therapy and value collaborative and client-centered modalities such as Compassion-Focused Therapy and Internal Family Systems Therapy. My goal is to help individuals build a more compassionate understanding of their circumstances and develop effective strategies for managing their inner world.
Evidence-based therapy
I am committed to using only evidence-based therapies which have been shown to help individuals heal. We will decide upon a treatment plan based on your symptoms or diagnosis and how you would like to work.
Connection first
I strongly believe that connection between therapist and client is of utmost importance in treatment outcomes. Evidence suggests that this is the number one predictor of best treatment outcomes. My first priority is ensuring you feel comfortable with me. From a foundation of trust, we can work toward healing together.
Your process, your outcomes
Therapy is your process. I’m here to listen, support and facilitate a process. Clients will need to be prepared to come to therapy with a goal, and to do the work! This will predict best treatment outcomes.
I work with…
- Mood disorders such as depression and bipolar
- Anxiety disorders including generalised anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety and OCD
- Trauma and complex trauma (PTSD and C-PTSD)
- Helping children and adolescents with anxiety, depression, the impact of abuse or bullying
- Parenting support and skills building
- Assessment, report writing and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD, autism and intellectual disability
- Low self esteem, self criticism and perfectionism
- Support for individuals attempting to attain NDIS funding, or navigating this system
- Psychotic disorders including schizophrenia
- Support of individuals in or recovering from toxic relationships or domestic violence
- Personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder (BPD)
Work across the lifespan
I have worked with young children, adolescents, and adults young and old. I’ve had a lifelong love for children, spending many years babysitting and then working as a nanny in Australia and the UK.
One of my very first jobs as a psychologist was at Child Aware, a child therapy clinic in Brisbane. In my years at Child Aware I became experienced with effective evidence-based therapies for children and adolescents with mental health difficulties, as well as supporting parents.
Working in telehealth can present challenges for child work: some children and adolescents can be more distracted during video calls. If you think this describes your child, a face-to-face practitioner may be best. If your child or teenager works well with telehealth sessions, however, I am an experienced and capable child psychologist.
My work now is with a mixture of children, teenagers and adults. I enjoy working with clients of all ages and with a diverse range of presenting issues.
Modalities that emphasise you
Compassion-Focused Therapy
CFT aims to help promote mental and emotional healing by encouraging people in treatment to be compassionate toward themselves and other people. CFT is grounded in current understanding of basic emotion regulation systems: the threat, drive and soothing systems. The aim of CFT is to bring these three affect systems into balance.
Internal Family Systems Therapy
IFS is an evidence-based therapy which helps people to access and heal their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
CBT aims to help you identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and to learn practical self-help strategies. These strategies are designed to bring about immediate positive changes in your quality of life.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) focuses on helping patients to behave more consistently with their own values and apply mindfulness and acceptance skills to their responses to uncontrollable experiences. ACT aims to lead us to a richer, more fulfilling life.
