Andrea is passionate about supporting children, teens, and adults who experience barriers in their learning and wellbeing. She has vast clinical and research experience in diagnosing Dyslexia and other Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Andrea takes a comprehensive approach in her assessments whereby she uses a Cross Battery Assessment (XBA) method to understand a person’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses. This means she “goes beyond the WISC-V” by adding extra cognitive tests into her regime to make sure that ALL of the cognitive abilities that are important for academic learning are captured in her assessments. This is because the traditional WISC-V alone does not capture the cognitive abilities that are critical for reading and writing. Moreover, Andrea uses Cattell-Horn-Carroll’s theory of human intelligence (CHC theory) to guide her interpretation of the results.

Andrea further inspects academic achievement (e.g., in reading, writing, maths, oral language), executive function, social-emotional wellbeing, and behavioural functioning to get a robust perspective of her clients as whole people.

Andrea uses assessments to help clients better understand their strengths and weaknesses. She works with her clients to use this information to develop “action plans” for how to reach their desired goals and outcomes.

Currently, Andrea provides psychological assessment, intervention, and counselling services to primary school-aged children, teens, and adults experiencing:​

• Neurodiversity e.g., Dyslexia, ADHD

• Learning & academic difficulties

• Anxiety & worries

• Depression & sadness

• Executive functioning weaknesses

• Limited self-control e.g., impulsivity, emotional regulation

• Low self-esteem

• Motivation issues

• Social challenges

• Career uncertainty

Andrea predominantly uses the following treatment modalities in her counselling practices:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).

Andrea has experience working in a range of settings as a Psychologist including private practice (Raise the Bar Psychology, Futures In Mind), secondary school (Rowville Secondary College), and university (Monash Uni).

Andrea is a Board-approved supervisor who can support Provisional Psychologists in their internships.

Andrea’s PhD research looked into best practices for identifying adults with Dyslexia. This was important because most of what we know about Dyslexia has been concentrated on children and teens. Aside from dyslexia-related research, Andrea has conducted many research studies across a variety of topics including psychological assessments, burnout, culture, personality, trauma, self reflection, and school-based interventions.

Andrea’s PhD research analysed methods for how to assess and diagnose adults with dyslexia. Andrea has conducted many research studies across a variety of topics including psychologists’ understandings, training, and practices across several areas including: learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia), trauma-informed care, reflexive practice, treating Internet gaming addiction, managing burnout, psychological interventions in schools, and culturally-sensitive therapy practices. A full list of Andrea’s research publications can be found here