Our Team

In 1991, Louise took up a lead role with Australia’s first co-located domestic violence, sexual assault, and historical child sexual abuse service, and later became founding member and Convenor of the Domestic Violence Action Groups of WA (DVAGWA) established as a peak body to advocate for and represent 14 action groups located throughout Western Australia. DVAGWA successfully lobbied Government to introduce social justice reforms while also securing legislative and policy change, and new funding for much needed FDV counselling and support services.

In the mid ‘90s, while working at the WA Government’s Domestic Violence Prevention Unit, Louise was a key advisor for the “Freedom From Fear” community education campaign encouraging perpetrators to seek help.  During that time Louise provided FDV training for Judges and Magistrates and a broad range of other allied professionals in WA and across Australia. Louise has written Best Practice Guides for Victim and Perpetrator Domestic Violence Services and then later for Legal Aid’s Primary Dispute Resolution Services and Family Relationships Centres established across Australia.

Louise was appointed to positions that supported and managed 10 National and 16 State committees established to work collaboratively in the Family Law and Family Violence areas.  Louise then went on to work as National Manager Family Services for a peak industry representative body supporting more than 70 social service organisations across Australia before being appointed as manager of a leadership program when returning to Perth.

Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer at Phoenix Louise was responsible for establishing clinical supervision, case note audits, clinical observations, and professional development for 300 staff located in 11 sites in regional and metropolitan WA.

Louise has studied Self-Regulation with Canadian neuroscientist Dr Stuart Shanker and the Shanker method became the foundational evidence-based underpinning of the Trauma Transformation program Louise had conceived and developed with the clinical staff for Phoenix clients.

Louise is currently leading the development of a fee for service program that will be known as Phoenix Professional Development and Prevention Services and delivering workforce training, sector professional development, clinical supervision and mentoring for professional staff who wish to work with, or currently work with individuals and families impacted by interpersonal violence and abuse.

Qualifications:

Master of Arts Human Services; Grad Dip Counselling; Cert IV Workplace Training & Assessment; Public Sector Management Certificate; Various certified accreditations in the fields of counselling; family therapy; domestic violence; trauma; self-regulation; and dental therapy.

Sally takes a systemic perspective to understand a client’s bio-psycho-social context of their issues and works collaboratively to establish the most effective and least intrusive course of treatment. She is an experienced and accredited EMDR therapist who is passionate about providing this evidenced based trauma treatment approach as an alternative to talking therapy. Sally is also an accredited Interpersonal Therapist (IPT) with experience in providing this intervention for clients whose primary challenge is depression.

Qualifications:

BSC Hons degree in Psychology and Biology; Registered Social Worker since 1990 and recently awarded Australian accreditation as a Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW); Postgraduate Diploma in Alcohol Studies Family and Relationship Therapy 2009 (2-years part time); IPT Accredited 2015; EMDR Accredited 2016.

Dijana is passionate about working systemically, using family inclusive therapeutic model through the lens of Attachment and Psychoanalytic Theory. This has been enhanced through her experience of working with a wide client base, both in an adolescent and adult population, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

In her practice, Dijana applies a strength based, reflective practice supervision model: offering a safe space for a practitioner to express and build their professional capacity, to develop deeper awareness of their emotional responses to a variety of work-related situations and to observe how their experience informs their practice. Dijana prioritises developing a trusting supervisory relationship and is passionate about supporting self-care and wellbeing of her supervisees.

Qualifications:

Bachelor of Counselling, Postgraduate training in Advanced Professional Supervision and Strategic Intervention Coach Training. Clinical registration with PACFA.

Working as Senior Counsellor and Supervisor in Family law – Post separation and family Domestic Violence issues for the last 10 years, Claudia is focus on intergenerational trauma and affects in the family system, but also client centred. Her practice has been in the field of child abuse, sexual assault, family violence, emotional and physical abuse and neglect. 

Over the past 15 years, Claudia began her work with out of home care for children, victims of family domestic violence, couples and complex trauma clients in Sydney-NSW. Her theoretical underpinnings were by trauma clinicians in the field of trauma, such as Bessel Van Der Kolk, Dan Siegel, Stephen Porges and Janina Fisher. 

As a clinical family therapist working in the trauma field with children and families, her clinical practice was influenced by Dr Michelle Webster- Australian Emotional Focused Therapist.  Since becoming an EMDR Practitioner in 2021, Claudia is more interested in historical child sexual abuse and the healing of past trauma.  Claudia has a relational style with social awareness and experience in diversity and social inclusion, she run Supervision groups and is a convenor to the Brazilian ACA Chapter- (Australian Counselling Association). Claudia contributed to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse doing Case Management and Counselling for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse – (Royal Commission/Redress) from 2015.  

Qualifications:  

Hons in Psychology; Post graduated in Emotional Focused Therapy (IEFT); Post Graduated in Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. Clinical registration with ACA.