Trauma Support Providers

Professional Biography

Shona has a lengthy history of working with clients who have experienced complex trauma in multiple settings. In the late 1980s, Shona’s first job was to support people who had lived in “care” (institutional, government care and in prisons) to adjust and manage in new settings. From very early in her career, she saw first hand both the bricks and mortar of many of the residential facilities and the organisational culture that affected residents, children and adults. Moving to work with incarcerated young offenders in the mid 1990’s, Shona continued to work with clients with trauma histories and saw the way trauma lead to interpersonal difficulties, mental health issues, substance use and offending. She learned to balance risk and safety issues with an understanding of how each young person had been affected by the complex traumas in their lives. Shona also spent time working in a hospital mental health ward and assessing people in the hospital emergency department working on ways to keep them safe while they managed their difficulties. Here, Shona was exposed to work with many different types of health professionals as the people she was assisting often had multiple complex health needs.
In private practice since the late 1990s, Shona has remained vigilant to the best ways to assist clients and has attended numerous conferences workshops and training opportunities. She has learned much for each of her many clients over the years. She believes there is no point in having extensive clinical knowledge without the interpersonal skills and rapport needed to assist a person to find ways to manage their troubles.
In addition to providing treatment, Shona has written countless reports for Courts, Tribunals, and agencies. Understanding issues across the developmental lifespan, Shona has also authored a series of internationally selling children’s books designed to assist the very young.
Shona is a supervising psychologist. From her rooms in Buderim, she also provides consultations via “telehealth”. Shona has provided workshops, training to staff in Sexual Assault Units, Hospitals, Schools, Prisons, Youth Justice Centres, and Child Protection Agencies. Shona also continues to educate and advocate for clients and safer, healthier communities. She is often approached by local media to provide commentary on mental health issues including a regular segment on her local ABC radio station.
Shona’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Applied Science (Applied Psychology), a Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Applied Child Psychology) and Master of Clinical Psychology. She is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a Fellow of Clinical College of the APS and the Forensic College of the APS. She is a member for the Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, the Australia and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.

Client Types

• Child
• Adolescent
• Adult