Meet the West Leederville team
We are a small clinic with a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Our experienced team of psychologists encompasses a wide range of personalities, approaches, styles and areas of interest and we’d like to introduce you to them here.
Our administrative team can explore with you which psychologist might fit best with you, or your child’s needs.
Hayley Quekett
Educational & Developmental Psychologist Registrar
Qualifications
- Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology
- Bachelor of Science (Psychological Sciences and Psychology in Society) with First Class Honours
Hayley Quekett completed a Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology at the University of Melbourne in 2018, and has experience working with children, adolescents and their families in a variety of settings including primary and secondary schools, a hospital-based learning difficulties clinic, and private practice.
Hayley has a particular interest in conducting detailed assessments to assist young people to understand their cognitive and academic strengths and weaknesses, identify any specific learning disorders, and recommend targeted intervention to support learning.
Hayley also enjoys providing psychological intervention for a variety of concerns including anxiety, depression, and social and family challenges.
Registration
- Registered as a Psychologist with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- Medicare provider through Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative
- Working with Children Check
Professional development
- Certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Adolescents – CBT Australia (2020)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Young People 12 – 24 years – Dr Louise Hayes (2019)
Areas of interest
- Diagnostic assessments for children, adolescents and university students:
- Specific learning disorders (SLD) in reading (dyslexia), mathematics (dyscalculia), and written expression (dysgraphia)
- Intellectual giftedness
- Attention deficit-hyperactivity
disorders (ADHD) - Individual Therapy for children and adolescents
- Providing psychological therapy for a range of mental health, academic,
social and family challenges.
Career experience
Working as a school psychologist in primary and secondary schools providing individual therapy, group programs, conducting risk assessments, facilitating return to school plans, and contributing to learning and behaviour support plans.
Provision of professional learning to build the capacity of school staff regarding learning and mental health challenges.
Conducting diagnostic assessment for learning disorders with children and adolescents in private practice and a
hospital setting.
Providing evidence-based intervention for specific learning disorders in reading, spelling and mathematics, including using the Sounds-Write Synthetic Phonics program.
Tristan Abba
Counselling Psychologist Registrar
Qualifications
- Master of Psychology (Counselling)
- Bachelor of Psychology
- Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)
Tristan’s practice is underpinned by the theory that attachment (or the connection between a parent and their children) is paramount throughout a person’s life. This theory is held alongside trauma-informed models of care and neuro-affirming practice in Tristan’s work where he teaches concepts in an easy-to-understand, solution-focused way.
Tristan dedicated his early career to working with teens and young adults with complex needs such as trauma, substance abuse, and personality adaptations (disorders) as well as more frequently occurring mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and the significant impact of ADHD. His work in community agencies and in private practice in Perth and on the Gold Coast was underpinned by a commitment to early intervention for teenagers and adults.
Being reminded through his encounters with clients over many years that the origins of psychopathology are so often in childhood, Tristan decided to pivot his career to focus on working more frequently with younger children and their families.
In early 2022, Tristan joined Early Start Australia in West Leederville and was offered the opportunity to lead a team of skilled child psychologists soon after. At the clinic, he loves working with both adults and children alike with ADHD, anxiety, mood disturbances, and healing through the raft of challenges that life presents.
Registration
- Registered with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- Board Approved Supervisor for Provisional Psychologists (AHPRA)
- Medicare provider through Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative
- Working with Children Check
Professional development
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Intensive Practitioner Course – Professor Marsha Linehan (2017)
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Skills Training – Dr. Jennifer Sweeton (2019)
- Mentalisation Based Treatment – Anna Freud Digital Academy (2020)
- Suicide and Self Harm Prevention Strategies – Qld Health (2020)
Areas of interest
Individual and family therapy for older children, adolescents, and parents:
- Personality difficulties that create tension or conflict in an individual’s close relationships
- Anxiety and depression
- Trauma recovery
- Anger, stress, and sleep difficulties
- Functional change in substance or addictive behaviours
- Adolescent and young adult social-emotional difficulties
- Family relationship conflicts
Career experience
Thousands of hours providing 1-1 therapy at a private clinic supporting young people and adults with diverse mental health concerns.
Individual and group therapy with adolescents and adults at a Perth addictions centre.
Facilitating a multi-agency collaborative and providing community-based psychosocial support to young people with complex needs on the Gold Coast.
Therapy for children with an autism spectrum disorder in a private clinic.
Consultant psychologist to an employee assistance provider to assist adults within corporations experiencing anxiety, stress, or depression.
Kimberly Sandford
Psychologist
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Psychology
- Bachelor of Science (Psychology)
Kimberly is a registered psychologist experienced in providing intervention for a wide variety of psychological presentations.
She has worked with children, adolescents, adults, and families across a range of settings including not for profit organisations and within the private sector.
Kimberly holds a Bachelor of Psychology and has undertaken six years of study and supervised practice.
With a trauma-informed and client-centred approach, Kimberly uses a range of evidence-based approaches including cognitive behavioural therapy, attachment-based interventions, family therapy, Interpersonal therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and brief solution-focused therapies.
Kimberly’s therapeutic areas of interest include anxiety and mood disorders, perinatal and infant mental health, social and emotional wellbeing in children and adolescents, stress and burnout, autism and developmental disabilities, and interpersonal relationships.
She also enjoys working collaboratively with parents to navigate the complexities of parenting and children’s mental health.
Registration
- Registered with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- Medicare provider through Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative
- Working with Children Check
- National Police Clearance
Areas of interest
- Individual therapy for children, adolescents and adults
- Child and adolescent socio-emotional difficulties
- Anxiety and mood disorders
- Perinatal and infant mental health
- Parenting and attachment
- Autism
Career experience
Individual therapy for children, parents, adolescents and adults
Working with parents to improve the attachment relationship with their child and navigate challenging behaviour
Providing psychological therapy under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to children, young people, and adults with disabilities.
Providing therapy through an employee assistance provider and a vocational rehabilitation provider to assist adults experiencing a range of mental health difficulties
Development and delivery of psychoeducational group presentations
Postvention support and consultation to secondary schools
Referrals
Kimberly welcomes referrals from individual families, medical specialists, health professionals, and educators.
Cadie Amalfi
Clinical Psychologist
Qualifications
- Master of Psychology (Clinical)
- Bachelor of Psychology with Honours
Cadie is a warm and empathic clinical psychologist who has worked with children, adolescents, adults, and families in a range of settings; including private, public, and non-for-profit community sectors.
Cadie uses a client-centred and systemic attachment-based approach with a range of different interventions including cognitive-behavioural therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy, schema therapy, and trauma
Cadie’s therapeutic areas of interest include helping clients to overcome maladaptive perfectionism, adjustment and life transitions, child-related and attachment-based issues, and anxiety.
She particularly enjoys supporting children and adolescents from late primary school through the adolescent years to early adulthood.
Registration
- Registered with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA
- Endorsed in Clinical Psychology with the Psychology Board of Australia
- Working with Children Check
Professional development
- Youth Mental Health First Aid
- Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention
- Circle of Security
- Trauma-informed diagnoses and treatment
Areas of interest
- Mood disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Child and adolescent social-emotional difficulties
- Diagnostic assessments for children and adolescents
- Individual therapy for adolescents in a school setting
- Self-esteem and perfectionism
- Adjustment difficulties
Jacqueline
Psychologist
Jacqueline is an empathetic provisionally registered psychologist who has experience working with clients from a range of backgrounds, including the disability sector, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, drug and alcohol, suicide prevention, and conducting psychometric assessments across the school context.
She focuses on providing a welcoming, supportive and judgmental-free space to help clients feel safe, build greater self-awareness, and reduce distress to make meaningful change.
Jacqueline is particularly interested in conducting detailed psychometric assessments to help individuals and their families understand their cognitive and academic ability, identify specific learning concerns, and recommend targeted interventions to support ongoing development.
Jacqueline enjoys providing psychological intervention with children, adolescents and adults across the lifespan.
Her primary areas of interest include ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, chronic health, grief and loss, life transitions, trauma, and PTSD.
Jacqueline uses a client-centred and strength-based approach, implementing a range of evidence-based interventions, including cognitive behavioural therapy, interpersonal therapy, motivational interviewing and brief solution-focused therapies.
Sarah Hardy
Curtin University Student on Placement
Qualifications
- Master of Psychology (Professional) – due to be completed November 2024
- Bachelor of Psychology with Honours
- Graduate Diploma in Psychology
- Bachelor of Science (Nursing)
- Graduate Certificate (Critical Care Nursing)
Sarah brings a warm and genuine approach to her work with clients.
She strives to understand each person or family’s unique journey and then provide a safe space to collaboratively and holistically explore their needs and goals.
Throughout her previous career as a registered nurse and her extensive volunteering work, including two years in the Papua New Guinean disability sector, Sarah has accumulated valuable experience working with people from diverse backgrounds spanning various countries, demographics, and age groups.
Sarah is a provisional psychologist currently completing her fifth year of training in the Master of Psychology at Curtin University.
Although still learning, Sarah’s innate curiosity ensures her interests are varied.
She is especially interested in:
- Twice exceptionality and giftedness
- The therapeutic effect of biophilia (our affinity to the natural world)
- Burnout
- Perfectionism
- Anxiety disorders
- Mood disorders
- Perinatal and infant mental health
- Parenting support (particularly in the early years)
- Attachment-based issues
- Trauma related to medical / health experiences
Registration
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA)
- Working With Children Check
- National Police Clearance
Memberships
- Australian Psychological Society (APS)
- Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (AACBT)
Silvia Soriani
Provisional Psychologist
Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology (110/110)- University of Padua (Italy) 2012.
- Bachelor’s degree in Psychological Science of Personality and Relationships (105/110) – University of Padua (Italy) 2009.
Silvia, an Italian provisional psychologist, completed her education in her home country before moving to Australia. She is a warm and empathetic psychologist with a passion for working with children. Silvia continues studying to improve her knowledge and skills, supporting children and their families to make a positive impact in their lives.
She is receiving supervision and support in her transition to working in Australia regularly from both West Leederville Practice Principal and Counselling Psychologist Tristan Abba, and an external Board Approved Supervisor.
Silvia has been based at the Mandurah clinic since the beginning of 2024 and has recently been invited to join our team at West Leederville one day a week.
Registration
- Provisional Registration with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- Working with Children Check
- National Police Clearance
Memberships
- Australian Psychological Society (APS)
Areas of interest
- Anxiety disorders
- Mood disorders
- Eating disorders
- Neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD and Autism)
- Child and adolescent social-emotional difficulties
Administrators
Lucy and Romy are our committed local client support and clinic administrators.
Lucy
Romy
