Tonia-Marie Dempsey - Clinical Psychologist

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Kellyville, NSW
Tonia-Marie Dempsey - Clinical Psychologist

Clinical Psychologist in Sydney’s Hills District, providing Face to Face & Telehealth options

Telehealth Services now available for clients located in Australia - Please contact Tonia directly via email to discuss your options.

04/12/2023

🗞️
As of January 2024, I will be consulting from my new office located in the Nexus Building, Norwest.

For appointments/enquires please email contact@tmdpsychology.com.au

23/03/2021

🌾
The most important relationship you will ever have is with yourself.
Strive to make choices that your past self can be proud of, and future self can thank you for.
Your 5 year old self deserves that.
Your 85 year old self deserves that.
And your current self deserves that!
❤️💛

22/03/2021

🤣
Love this👏👏👏
And so accurate!

21/03/2021

❓
Question of the Day.

Develop a love of self awareness and self reflection🙂

14/03/2021

🍂
Oh I like that!🙂 Just a hard truth as we head into another week.

We all need to get out of our comfort zone, and that means different things for each of us, such as:

1. Challenge yourself.
2. Do hard things.
3. Do fun things.
4. Have that tough conversation.
5. Accept your emotions.
6. Get out of bed.
7. Be assertive.
8. Stop looking in the mirror.
9. Set some boundaries.
10. Don’t seek reassurance.
11. Make important choices.
12. Take a moment for yourself.
13. Breathe.
14. Show up.
15. Book that appointment.
16. Stop avoiding difficult moments or tasks.
17. Do the work.
18. Say No.
19. Say Yes.
20. Say Sorry.
21. Put your phone down.
22. Move your body.
23. Stop comparing yourself to others.
24. Get out of the house.
25. Seek rest before midnight.
26. Eat mindfully today.
27. Go to therapy.
28. Let go of control.
29. Focus.
30. Start right now.

🙂Look at the list and ask yourself what reminder/s do I need today?📝

14/03/2021

🧠
Check out this incredible TED Talk presented by Dr Lara Boyd on how truly phenomenal our big squishy brain is 😊 and how neuroplasticity offers us the ability to change and shape our brain.

Dr. Boyd speaks about the importance of everyday behaviours and reminds us that the brain is impacted both positively and negatively by these behaviors.
As Dr. Boyd put it “Neuroplasticity is supported by chemical, structural, and functional changes... The best driver of neuroplastic change in the brain, is your behaviour... Everything that you do, or do not do, impacts the brain”.

Personally I loved when she said that it can be seen that increased struggle leads to more learning and faster structural changes in the brain!
As I always say, that mental muscle is built by lifting heavy weights, that’s how we develop resilience - exposures, challenges, taking action.

Bottom line: Do the work, and build the life you want by building the brain you want😃🧠

13/03/2021

👏👏👏
Excellent post by
And I completely agree with this!

I have treated hundreds of clients with OCD, including the lesser known OCD subtypes such as POCD, Sexual OCD, SO-OCD/HOCD, Suicidal OCD, and even Scrupulosity/Religious OCD.
These types of OCD are seen in adults, adolescents, and even children; yet there is such reluctance from clients to bring these up in treatment due to shame, guilt, and fear of being misunderstood.

Unfortunately not all psychologists or therapists will know about these subtypes and can therefore unintentionally make things much worse (Oh how I could get on my soapbox about this, but I won’t right now lol).
I always suggest that people with these types of intrusive thoughts should seek out professionals who specialize in OCD and related disorders; as well as ask explicitly if they have experience treating ‘insert OCD subtype’.
P.s if the answer is “yeah, I’ve seen people about germs and stuff” - 👀run far far away lol.

I’ll aim to speak more about all the various types of OCD to ensure that there is no taboo on any of them🙂.
I love the work I do with my clients, and there’s is no OCD too scary for us to tackle together!🥊

Thanks again to for the great post reminding us all to talk more about this.

09/03/2021

🙈🤣
Some of the most rewarding moments of my career have involved helping incredible clients manage their OCD.

We all have intrusive thoughts, but OCD is relentless - thoughts are so persistent they become obsessions - hours can be spent wasted on analysis, research, or reassurance seeking and avoidance to neutralize these intrusive thoughts.
None of that works - the goal is living with OCD and conquering it through exposure and response prevention (ERP) mixed in with a whole lot of acceptance.

The accuracy of this meme can’t help but cause a little chuckle!

08/03/2021

🙂
It’s really as simple and as complicated as that.

The promise could be basic - ‘I’ll go for a walk today’.
If you dismiss and put it off, it seems tiny, but over time you can accumulate millions of these moments where you didn’t follow through on living to an important task or value of yours.
You end up having trust issues with yourself - no wonder we end up with self doubt and lack of confidence!

So if you want to better manage your mental health and build self confidence/love, it starts with building consistency in actioning those tiny moments of self respect - your future self will thank you for it 😊

05/03/2021

🎼
*DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS SONG WHILE DRIVING*

As so many of my clients would know, I absolutely love the song ‘Weightless’, created by British band Marconi Union, in conjunction with sound therapists.
I continue to recommend that clients use this song as part of their anxiety management routine - including assisting with sleep!

Years ago Weightless was released as the most relaxing song in the world; listening to it lowered heart rate, slowed breathing and decrease levels of the stress hormone ‘cortisol’ in the blood.

Research has continue to support this.
A recent study by Mindlab international found the song was able to induce greater relaxation levels in participants than a massage. In fact, “whilst the massage was enjoyed by all participants, it induced greater EDA levels and unsteady respiration rates, indicating levels of stimulation rather than relaxation”.

“Participants were connected to bio-monitoring equipment to monitor heart rate variability, skin conductance (EDA) and respiration (breathing) rate. The results clearly show that the track ‘weightless’ induced the greatest relaxation. Massage was found to be more relaxing than the relaxing tracks with the exception of weightless.
Weightless managed a relaxation score of 73%. This equates to an increase over other music of nearly 11% as well as a 6% increase over the massage”.

I highly recommend listening to this song and seeing what effect it has on you.
I often use it myself for sleep, grounding, and part of mindful relaxation!
Extra tip - although the song is 8 minutes - there’s a 10 hour loop available😍

Link to the original 8 minute version is in my bio, Enjoy!😃

28/02/2021

🍃PSYCHOLOGISTS STORY TIME:

As some people know, growing up I was very anxious; mine was general and social, primarily fueled by wanting to be accepted after moving away from my home to a country where kids didn’t really like the pale girl that sounded different to them.

I just really wanted to be liked, so I became a person who was hyper-vigilant to others criticism and cared far too much about what people thought of me. In the face of social difficulties or change I was not very resilient or adaptable - Perfectionism and people pleasing became the guiding force behind most of my decision making and I spent a great deal of time with minimal boundaries or confidence - just saying yes and trying to be someone that other people liked.

Spoiler alert:
It.
makes.
you.
MISERABLE.

So I decided I would work on being somebody I liked instead. That meant setting boundaries, saying no, assertively communicating my needs, living my values despite how they conflict with others, accepting others being disappointed and not compensating for that, and trying to make choices in my life for me and not for anyone else.
Some of these are things you will forever battle with, I can attest to that. And ALL of them are things that will make you feel extremely uncomfortable - actually even more anxious than when you’re people pleasing!
But they must be done.

If you’re trying to be liked by everybody, you aren’t being authentic to yourself.
Accept that you are not perfect - you never will be. Become adaptable and deal with not having control over life and others. You are not a failure if something goes wrong. Don’t try and fix others feelings - they need to learn to hold space for uncomfortable emotions too.

It will be hard, and there will be people who will not like your boundaries; there may even be some loss along the way. You will disappoint others because your not living up to their expectations of you. But you will be living a value driven life - your confidence will grow, you’ll have self worth and resilience, and you will like - dare I say - love yourself! Just as I do😊.

Dare to be disliked.
Embrace the uncomfortable.
& Aim to be authentic.

23/02/2021

💡
Read that again! “Your work is NOT your worth”. My fellow perfectionists and procrastinators, this video is for you!

I love the way Campbell talks about how perfectionism and procrastination link together and how it impacts productivity.
He talks about executing projects through use of the 70% rule.

Several of my clients will see the similarities in the way I approach perfectionism - action over motivation, embracing imperfection, making decisions, and aiming for good enough.
Remember perfectionism steals you of your self worth, contributes to significant mental health conditions, and stands in the way of you performing at your optimal level.

Thank you to for the excellent content! Please find the link to this Youtube clip in my bio for the week.
You’re likely to see a lot more of his content in my recommendations going forward!😃

Address

Level 5, 4 Columbia Court
Kellyville, NSW
2153

Telephone

+61423967043

Website

http://www.tmdpsychology.com.au/

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