MEETJOHNNY
CO-FOUNDER
Cognitive Analytic Therapy Practitioner (ICATA)
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AASW)
"Johnny has been incredibly important in helping me find my way through trauma, gender transition and making sense of my life. He is a careful and kind practitioner who sincerely cares for his clients. Johnny also has an intimate understanding of queer community, identities and relationships and I don't hesitate in recommending his services."
aboutJOHNNY
Johnny is a qualified Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) Practitioner. CAT is a mode of psychotherapy that looks at the way people think, feel and act, and the events and relationships that underlie these experiences. Through this therapy modality, Johnny helps clients make links between how past relationships with others have impacted on the way they relate to their sense of self.
In addition to CAT, Johnny has trained in:
Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR)
Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Johnny offers something different to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) alone and is able to tailor the above modes of therapy to suit an individual’s needs. He believes the relationship between him and each his clients are unique.
Johnny is very experienced and passionate in working with trauma, grief and loss, survivors of childhood and adult abuse, alcohol and substance problems, self-harm and relationship difficulties. He has assessment skills and knowledge in identifying and working with depression, anxiety, personality, psychotic and bipolar spectrum disorders.
Enthused by relational group psychotherapy, Johnny also runs Sydney's first Schema Therapy Group Program with Clinical Psychologist colleague Dr Catherine McCarthy.
An Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Johnny has more than 20 years’ experience working within public and private mental health settings and has been in private practice since 2012. Johnny moved from Scotland to Australia in 2008 and is attuned from personal experience to how it can feel to be considered ‘different’ both from his experience of migrating and being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. He understands how hard it can be to talk about traumatic experiences. Johnny strives to bring warmth, partnership, acceptance and compassion to all of his work.
EXPERIENCE
Clinical coordinator at headspace National Office: part of leadership team creating headspace, Australia’s first online youth mental health services
Senior Clinician at St Vincent’s Private Hospital Young Adult Unit, Uspace, facilitating group psychotherapy helping participants develop knowledge and skills to guide their recovery journey.
Clinical supervision, group, systems and policy consultations to various organisations, including:
National Institute of Dramatic Art
Twenty10 inc. GLCS NSW
Girls Rock! Australia
Black Dog Institute
Expert panel member and advisory capacity on various podcasts and media productions in New South Wales, Victoria and Nationally.
Community Psychiatric Acute and Crisis Teams since 2003
Acute inpatient hospital settings since 1999
Refugee Centre, Antwerp Belgium, 1998
areas of interest
Johnny is interested in working LGBTQIA+ people, young people, survivors of trauma, relationship difficulties, people wanting to learn more about who they are, people who use addictive behaviours as a way of managing, including drugs, alcohol, self-harm and thoughts of suicide.
qualifications
Cognitive Analytic Therapy Practitioner (ICATA): 2 year post-graduate psychotherapy training
Diploma in Social Work (Attained in 2000)
BAppSC (Hons, Social Studies)
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (Australian Association of Social Work)
availability
Monday 10am-5pm
Tuesday 8am-5pm
Wednesday 8am-5pm
Thursday 8am-5pm
Phone or text Johnny 0426 897 049
