Jill Donaldson

Jill is a child and family psychologist registered with the Psychologists Board of Australia. She has completed her Bachelor of Psychology and Masters in Clinical Psychology. Jill’s thesis on the treatment of generalised anxiety in adolescent females was published in the Journal of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy. Jill has over 10 years experience working with children and families presenting with complex and severe mental health concerns.

Jill has particular interest in developmental trauma in children and bonding/attachment concerns between children and their parents. She has received training and supervision in childhood trauma and the associated intervention, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, by leading expert Kim Golding. Jill is passionate about improving the parent-child attachment particularly when this has been affected by exposure to domestic and family violence or generational patterns of childhood abuse, neglect or disconnection. Improving connections between parents and their children to a secure and loving bond is the most effective way to improve your child’s resilience and general mental health.

Jill also has training in Circle of Security with interest and experience in infant mental health. Early intervention for parents who are struggling with perinatal depression and anxiety is key to ensuring we can get parents back on track, supporting their baby’s development, and enjoying their family life.

Jill practices a variety of therapeutic interventions and tailors therapy to the individual child and the family to which they belong. Therapies practiced by Jill include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), behavioural parenting interventions, Circle of Security (COS) and attachment interventions, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), Motivational Interviewing, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Jill is non-judgemental in her approach and is highly motivated to create warm connected therapeutic relationships with her clients.