Duska is a Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years of experience. She is skilled in the assessment and treatment of a number of mental health presentations including depression, anxiety, stress, adjustment disorders, sleep disorders, trauma, relationship and parenting difficulties. She also has a deep interest in investigating how people differ in the way they perceive information, experience emotions and regulate their moods and emotions – the topic of her research PhDDuska works with children, adolescents, adults, older adults, couples and groups. Her extensive knowledge of anxiety disorders has stemmed from training and teaching roles at Macquarie University (MU) where she was involved in the research and delivery of world-renowned anxiety programs. These included the Cool Kids Program for children and parents, Anxiety Programs for older adults and Social Phobia programs.Duska works primarily from a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach. She also has a keen interest in Schema Therapy, with a passion for digging deeper and helping people understand how their life experiences have helped shaped their core beliefs/schemas/mental maps, which influence their experience of the world.
Duska completed her Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at the University of Newcastle and her Clinical PhD/Masters at MU. She has primarily worked in private practice but also has experience working in community settings, inpatient and outpatient hospital units, schools and universities.
From 2018-2020 Duska lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur which expanded her knowledge and experience of working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Being of an ethnic background herself, Duska’s passion is for people of all cultures and backgrounds to have access to quality evidence-based treatment.
Duska has a passion for working collaboratively with clients, whom she believes, are experts of their own life. Her aim is to help her clients increase self-awareness and self-compassion, and learn practical skills to create emotionally rich and meaningful lives.
From 2018-2020 Duska lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur which expanded her knowledge and experience of working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Being of an ethnic background herself, Duska’s passion is for people of all cultures and backgrounds to have access to quality evidence-based treatment.
Duska has a passion for working collaboratively with clients, whom she believes, are experts of their own life. Her aim is to help her clients increase self-awareness and self-compassion, and learn practical skills to create emotionally rich and meaningful lives.
specialities
- Adults
- Children
- Adolescents
- Older adults/aging, couples
- Groups
- Anxiety
- Adjustment disorders
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Bipolar personality disorder
- Depression
- Schema therapy
- Drug & alcohol- Gambling- OCD- Panic disorder- Parenting,- Phobias- Sleep disorders- Stress- Social phobia- ACT- CBT