Bio
she/her/hers, Âû
Yael Clark – Educational and Developmental Psychologist.
BA, BSc(Hons), Grad Dip Ed, MPsych (Educational and Developmental)
I have over 30 years experience working with children, adolescents and parents. I initially trained as an Early Childhood Educator (as it was called then) and an Instructor for Parent Effectiveness Training Inc. and Teacher Effectiveness Training Inc., then- after teaching for many years- went on to obtain a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education and a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology. I have taught all age levels from prep to high school, through to adult education. I initially worked in general Educational and Developmental Psychology with all ages and psychological referral issues, and increasingly specialised in working with young children and parents.
Special Interests – Parenting and Anxiety
- Infertility and pregnancy loss and bereavement
- Parents’ wellbeing- special focus on the perinatal period and adolescence
- Parenting from an Attachment Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (incl. Mindfulness) framework.
- Parent-Child Relationships
- Multiple Birth family wellbeing (twins, triplets and more)
- Infant and Child Mental Health
- Childhood Anxiety- both within normal limits, Anxiety Disorders, and OCD.
- Creating safe communities for children- personal protective behaviours/body safety education and prevention of child sexual abuse
- Body image and weight-related mental health from a HAES (Health At Every Size) and non-dieting approach.
My work as a Psychologist has included assessment and counselling in schools; assessing children under five and counselling their parents for the Department of Human Services and working in a Non-Government Organisation with families who have been notified to Child Protection.
I have worked as a solo practitioner in private practice for 13 years whilst accepting locum positions and short-term work to ensure I stay abreast of systemic developments and to benefit from the dynamics of working in a team.
I am registered as a Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and hold Endorsement as an Educational and Developmental Psychologist with AHPRA. I am a member of the Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi) as well as being a member of the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health, the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science, the Tourette’s Syndrome Association of Australia (TSAA), and the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF).
I am committed to ongoing professional development and keep informed of current research findings and best practice recommendations.