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The Elizabeth Clinic has six experienced psychiatrists. Drs Feutrill, Priestley and Devadasen are Perinatal and Infant Psychiatrists, specialising in the care of young families. Dr Zanetti is a Perinatal, Infant and Child Psychiatrist and can work with children up to the age of 10 and their families. Dr Bassiri is a general adult psychiatrist with a particular interest in psychotherapy, and Dr Mchechesi is interested in general adult and youth mental health.
We also have a regular advanced Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Registrar at our service. Currently, Dr Philippa Carter is with our team. She brings recent experience of having worked across the public sector in Perth and can work with families with children of all ages.
We specialise in preconception counselling, parent-infant and parent-child therapy, individual therapy and the use of psychotropic medication in the perinatal period. We are all interested in the parenting experience, and often work with parents that are concerned about their child’s behaviour. Many of our clinicians are qualified to work with the Circle of Security Parenting Program.
A GP or specialist referral is necessary to see a psychiatrist. If the referral is based on challenges with parenting or the behaviour of children, a referral for both parents and the child is necessary. Most of the time, the work is done with the parents, to help them support their child with their emotional and behavioural issues.
The Elizabeth Clinic can provide a wide range of psychological services including individual, couple, family and group therapy. We can offer treatment across the life span with infant, child, adolescent and adult psychologists. We can also provide developmental assessments and complex case management for children.
We have specific expertise and interest in fertility counselling and supporting families with pregnancy after fertility treatment. The Heart and Hope program is an antenatal group program for couples who are pregnant after fertility treatment. It is well recognised that these families have specific concerns in pregnancy and transition much better to parenting with specialised support.
Our team also work extensively with children in primary school who may be struggling with their emotions, development or social skills. The Elizabeth Clinic is the first service in WA to offer the Lighthouse Program, an evidence based program, that has outstanding results for latency aged children.
A referral is not necessary to see a psychologist, but a Mental Health Care Plan written by a GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician will allow access to medicare rebates. Many private health funds also provide rebates for psychological care.
Dr Gavin Hutana is a general and rehabilitation paediatrician and is interested in all of general paediatrics. He is a co-director of the service and is seeking to provide a comprehensive paediatric service to families in WA.
Aggie Bakowski is a general paediatrician with training and interest in babies from birth to 4 years of age. She understands the intensity of those early months of parenting and can support the developing relationship between parent and infant, particularly in the context of medical issues. Dr Babowski also provides developmental assessments.
Dr Emma Argiro is a general and developmental paediatrician with extensive experience in the public sector. She can provide comprehensive assessments and work closely with other health providers.
Dr Sarah Skeldon is a general paediatrician specialising in adolescents. She is currently Head of Department for the Adolescent Service at Perth Childrens Hospital.
Dr Veronika Kretzer is a very experienced general paediatrician with a background in working in adolescent health. She is interested in working with families with children of all ages.
The Elizabeth Clinic is fortunate to have the services of Belinda Martin, an experienced paediatric dietitian who can also work with adults. She is particularly interested in working with families who are struggling with feeding issues in the early years.
A referral is not needed to see a dietitian but medicare rebates are accessible under certain conditions.
Karen Dare is a senior social worker who has significant expertise in helping young families. She can provide comprehensive assessment and care that takes into account not only the psychological state of each parent but the specific parenting issues and developmental issues for each child. She can confidently work with couples and families.
Karen is able to offer rebates for her sessions under a Medicare Mental Health Care Plan or through private health funds.
Marnie Kehoe is a social worker employed by the Elizabeth Clinic to provide timely assessment, triage and management to families. She can offer medicare rebated sessions to women in the perinatal period under the Non-directive Pregnancy Counselling Initiative.
She can work closely with Child Health Nurses and General Practitioners to achieve the best outcome for each family. She is also available to provide educational sessions to playgroups, mothers groups or other organisations interested in promoting secure attachment relationships between parents and their children. She is a Circle of Security Parenting Program Facilitator and is also providing support to One for Women in Murdoch.
The Elizabeth Clinic is fortunate to have the services of Dr Marnie Rowan. She is a general practitioner with extensive experience in womens’ health and mental health, and has a sessional appointment at KEMH in the Department of Psychological Medicine. She has training and expertise in lactation issues and can provide holistic care from the specific issues of breastfeeding, to the broader mental health and parenting issues.
A referral is not required for Dr Rowan but it is helpful to have another general practitioner involved, so a collaborative treatment plan can be established.
Adolescence is a time of great change and poses special challenges to the teenager and the parents. At the Elizabeth Clinic we have an expert counsellor who has extensive experience in working with young people. Scott Nodwell is a counsellor and psychotherapist, who has a particular interest in the challenges of the teenage years.
No referral is necessary to see Scott and often adolescents feel more comfortable with the idea that they are seeing a counsellor instead of a psychologist. Private Health funds often offer a rebate for counselling.
Several of the clinical psychologists. paediatricians and psychiatrists also enjoy working with teenagers and are accustomed to working with schools and other service providers, to ensure comprehensive care.
There are several different group programs at the Elizabeth Clinic that have been thoroughly researched over the years and have been helpful to many families.
To be eligible for the group program an assessment by one of the clinicians is necessary to provide appropriate clinical care and ensure that the program is a valuable addition to the care plan.
All programs are subject to research and evaluation and are conducted by experienced clinicians. There are variable fees associated with each program and with individual circumstances. Please contact the clinic to establish costs and suitability.
An 8 Session DVD Program
Almost 50 years of research tell us that the early years of parenting will build the foundation for resilience and emotional stability with the development of a strong and loving relationship that every parent wishes to have with their children. The Circle of Security DVD Parenting Program is designed to guide parents in understanding and meeting their children’s needs for love and connection, protection and limit setting. Above all children need to be delighted in and every parent wishes to delight in their children. The clinicians at The Elizabeth Clinic have extensive expertise in running this program, and it can be done individually, as a couple or in small groups.
The Pathways program has been helping families for more than a decade and provides individual, couple and parenting work all in one. Our aim in this group program is to provide participants with opportunities to think about themselves as a person: as a mother, a partner, a daughter, a friend and as someone who makes a contribution to the world. The way we see ourselves influences all our interactions with the world, so understanding and re-evaluating the beliefs and values that guide us in our different daily encounters is an important step in getting better after becoming anxious or depressed.
For some families, the journey to pregnancy is complicated by fertility issues. This can take its toll and make it difficult to confidently look forward to becoming a parent. Parents to be can feel isolated and unable to connect with the pregnancy in the way they would like.
Michelle Stuckey, psychologist at the Elizabeth Clinic has experience and training in fertility treatment and parenting, and has created a three session group program to support those who are pregnant after fertility treatment. The group has been highly successful during the pilot phase, particularly for the partners, who too often feel sidelined by the process.
With support and recognition of the special circumstances around each of these pregnancies, the parents-to-be feel ready to embrace their new role.
New to Perth, this ten-week program has had excellent results in helping parents with children who have social or emotional problems. It provides information about how parents’ relationship with their children can promote children’s growth and development, build resilience, and help them meet their individual potential in life. The aim of the group is to empower parents to understand and meet their children’s need for a feeling of security. Research shows over and over again that children who feel secure in their relationships with their parents are better equipped for life.