Today Kirrilie is the director of Developing Minds Psychology and manages and supports the team of 17 child and adolescent psychologists who work with her there.  She also provides seminars and training for young people, teachers, health professionals and schools around Australia.

Kirrilie has received a number of awards, grants and prizes for her speaking, research and consultancy work. She is regularly consulted by print, radio and TV media in relation to psychological issues and has numerous articles published in a variety of newspapers and journals.  She has written three books about and for young people, is the developer of the online program Calm Kid Central, and is the SA convenor of the Child, Adolescent and Family Interest group for the SA chapter of the Australian Psychological Society.

Taryn takes an eclectic approach as a Clinical Psychologist, and has worked in specialist settings with adults and young people.

She works particularly with children and young people, and has experience in working with separation anxiety, phobias, mutism, behaviour problems, substance use, and friendship difficulties among many other issues.

Taryn is the clinical programs and systems manager for Developing Minds and develops and monitors systems to make sure the practice complies with all relevant funding body (including NDIS, Medicare and others) requirements.

Penny has always been passionate about working with young people and their families and has a talent for connecting with young people. She has worked as a psychologist since 2004 in both the private sector and a variety of government settings including Child Protection, Community Health and Education. Penny’s roles have included providing therapy and conducting assessments with kids and teens and providing professional development and support for families, teachers and health care workers.

Penny draws on a range of evidence-based frameworks and adapts her approaches to meet the needs of clients and their families. However, her work most often draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Attachment Theory (for example Circle of Security©).

Penny aims to help children and young people understand that their wide ranging emotions are all part of what makes them human but to also equip them with skills to better manage their tricky emotions (e.g. anxiety, depression, sadness, anger) and adapt their behaviour (e.g. conflict management, social skills, avoidance, challenging behaviour) to lead a full and rewarding life despite any hardship they experience. In her work with families, she works to support parents and caregivers to better understand and be attuned to their child’s needs in order to more effectively support their emotional and behavioural development.

Although she loves working with all age groups, Penny has a particular interest in working with young children and their families and has many years of experience working in Early Childhood Settings.  Penny is also trained to run Circle of Security© – Parenting Groups .

Penny is the Team Supervisor at Aberfoyle Park and provides clinical and professional supervision and crisis supervision to the other Developing Minds psychologists at Aberfoyle Park.

Jacinda has worked as a psychologist over the last eleven years working in both the public and private sectors.  She worked as a psychologist with the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD) for many years and therefore has extensive knowledge in childhood development and the assessment and treatment of learning difficulties, social, emotional and behavioural issues.  Within DECD, Jacinda provided support to teachers, SSO’s and families about how to support kids with extra emotional/social/learning needs at school and in the classroom.  Jacinda has also worked previously as a psychologist within an Adelaide R-12 school and as well as providing support to students, provided significant numbers of hours of consultation to school staff and parents about how to manage student well being within a classroom and home setting.

As well as working within schools and the education department, Jacinda has worked as a research psychologist with the Women’s and Children’s hospital within the neonatal department and the child nutrition team, and also for sleep clinics at Flinders University and the Repat Sleep clinic.    Jacinda also has experience working within the drug and alcohol area, adult mental health and child health care settings.  Through her PhD research, she is also knowledgeable in the areas of caregiving, coping, illness and grief and loss.

Finally, Jacinda has also had many years of working with children and teens individually in a therapy setting. As a result, she is passionate about helping young people who are finding life difficult because of learning issues, eating problems, sleep difficulties, family and relationship concerns, anxiety, depression, issues related to gender and sexuality and other issues.

She is keen to help people learn ways of managing such issues so that they don’t get in the way of living the life they want.

Jacinda’s therapeutic approach is eclectic and adapted to the individual client and their presenting concerns. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) feature predominantly in her work.

Kate has experience providing support to children and young people who are encountering difficulties with their emotions, adjustment, peer and/or family relationships, behaviour or learning, as well as supporting their families. Kate has gained knowledge and experiencing through working with children and young people with a wide range of medical conditions or disabilities and has specialist knowledge in the area of paediatric acquired brain injury.

Kate draws on a number of evidence-based approaches, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, in addition to her knowledge of child development and paediatric neuropsychology, to assist in her understanding of the challenges children and young people face. This understanding allows Kate to tailor her therapeutic approach to suit each child or young person individually.

Kate aims to work in collaboration with children, young people, and their families to assist them in building on their strengths and learning further skills to help them to manage the difficulties they are experiencing. Kate is passionate about supporting children and young people of all ages and enjoys using humour and play in her therapy sessions to facilitate children and young peoples’ understanding and engagement in the therapeutic process.

Sandra is a social worker with 12 years of experience working in the child and family well being and mental health fields.  She has worked in management, consultation and clinical roles within government, education and private settings.  She is passionate about helping clinicians and services to provide high quality support to families.  At Calm Kid Central, Sandra helps professionals and families learn about the Calm Kid Central program and help them access and find the resources in the program they need.