Change Rooms Practitioners

DEANNE TYRRELL

Deanne is a warm and engaging psychologist who works collaboratively with clients to help them build new ways of dealing with issues, and new ways of being in the world. She brings a creative and open-minded approach to psychology, having originally trained in architecture and design, and being a lover of all things creative. She tailors individual therapy to the client’s particular needs, whether it be anxiety, perfectionism, issues adjusting to new circumstances and stages of life, or bullying, emotional dysregulation, self-harm, and trauma.

She is also passionate about mindfulness and self-compassion and has maintained a mindfulness practice for more than 20 years. She has taught mindfulness in clinical and community settings to groups and individuals including adolescents, young adults, and parents. She is trained in the Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and is skilled at helping clients bring the fundamentals of mindfulness into their lives in a way that is meaningful and useful for them. Mindfulness is essentially a non-judgemental awareness of what is happening for us in the present moment. It can be a powerful tool in times of stress, emotional upset and uncertainty; it allows us the space to pause for a moment, reflect, and make choices about how we want to respond to a situation.

Deanne has worked in both private practice and hospital settings, most recently at the Anxiety Disorder Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst, and previously at St John of God Burwood Hospital. At St John of God, she delivered dialectical behaviour therapy to clients struggling with emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, self-harm, interpersonal issues, post-traumatic stress, and childhood trauma, as well as group cognitive behaviour therapy and mindfulness to clients experiencing anxiety and/or depression.

Addictive behaviours are another area of interest for Deanne. She runs a weekly online SMART Recovery meeting assisting participants to recover from a range of addictive and problematic behaviours such as drug and alcohol use/abuse, compulsive shopping, and binge eating. SMART Recovery uses evidence-based therapies including cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational interviewing to help people maintain motivation, cope with urges, learn problem solving techniques, and achieve lifestyle balance.