Vita Psychology & Education Services

Working with you in a caring and confidential environment to develop the skills you need to achieve your potential. We are a caring and friendly team of psychologists and counsellors located in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, dedicated to providing high-quality professional services to our valued clients. Our practice first opened its doors over 15 years ago and since then, we have been se

rving the needs of the community within Berwick and surrounding areas. Our psychologists provide a range of services to children, adolescents, adults and families for a variety of issues. These include individual and couples counselling, group classes, as well as psycho-educational / behavioural assessments for all ages.


**OUR TEAM**

Geneva Van Es

DipTeach,BA(Psych),GradDipEdPsych,MPsych(Couns),MAPS

Geneva is the director and principal psychologist at Vita Psychology and has over twenty years experience working in the profession. After working as a primary teacher for five years, Geneva registered as a psychologist and became a member of the Australian Psychological Society. She worked as a guidance officer/school psychologist for several years prior to establishing Vita Psychology, when a passion developed to serve the psychological needs of the community in Berwick and surrounding areas. Geneva has had experience in assessments and counselling with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. In addition she has conducted seminars, workshops and consulting services to educational institutions, community organizations and government agencies. She has lectured in developmental psychology at tertiary level and provided supervision for psychologists and counsellors. Geneva has a broad range of experience in areas such as mood disorders, trauma, grief, stress management, parenting, crisis intervention, childhood conditions, behaviour management and gifted identification. She has particular interests in positive psychology with a focus upon strengths-based counselling to build resilience and confidence in her clients. Sophie Simonis

BTeach(Sec)/BHthSc, BAppSc(Hons), MPsych(Couns),AssocMAPS

Sophie Simonis has recently joined the Vita Psychology team as a qualified psychologist. Originally from a teaching background, Sophie taught psychology at the secondary level as well as human health and development and nutrition and dietetics. Sophie’s interest in child and adolescent psychology, led her to study public perceptions of child sexual abuse and how these cases are often managed through the judicial system. Sophie has also carried out research on religious faith, broad dimensions of personality and how these factors contribute to measures of resilience. Sophie has had experience within the clinical hospital setting, tertiary counselling settings, community counselling and school settings. While she is passionate about working with children and young people, her interests also include positive psychology, individual differences and behaviour genetics, social and cultural psychology, decision processes and emotional regulation. Toni Lam

BA(SpecEdDisSt), GradDipChPsych, MAPS

​Toni has over 18 years experience working in the profession and has as worked with the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education and Training as a school psychologist. She has also worked with EAP services and the CFA providing critical incident management, trauma and counselling services.
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​Toni works with children, adolescents and adults providing assessment and counselling services. Toni’s areas of interest include trauma, critical incident management anxiety, depression, stress management and anger management. She works with individuals and families to provide support and work towards positive outcomes. Toni also has experience presenting and providing professional development training to school staff, in the areas of challenging behaviours critical incident management and trauma.
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Toni is a registered Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia and is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society. Picture



​Rosemary de Castella

BEng (Hons), GradDipPsych, PostGradDipPsych, MPsych (Couns), MAPS​

Rosemary is an Endorsed Counselling Psychologist, a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and Fellow of the APS College of Counselling Psychologists (APS FCCOUNP). She has interests and experience in a broad range of areas, including depression and anxiety disorders, grief and loss, relations and marriage counselling, life transitions, self- esteem, workplace stress, adjustment issues, abuse and trauma-related conditions. She has worked in elderly care settings and has extensive experience in crisis counselling, su***de prevention and bereavement counselling. She has a particular interest in supporting parents dealing with perinatal loss/miscarriage, perinatal mental health, and has completed training in perinatal loss with the Centre for Perinatal Psychology.
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Rosemary aims to respond to the individual needs of each client, drawing from a range of modalities, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) schema therapy, emotion-focused therapy (EFT), mindfulness, attachment-based therapies and applied interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB). Her previous experience in engineering assists her in connecting with clients from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. She works from a person-centred, strengths-based framework and incorporates existential and positive psychology approaches to promote healing and personal growth across the life span. Peita Bouziotis

BSc, PGDip Psychology, MPsych (Child&Family)

Peita is an accomplished Educational and Developmental Psychologist. She has spent many years working in various primary schools and also in private practice settings. Peita has extensive experience in providing psychological assessments for children and adolescents, as well as counselling support. She has a strong background in conducting psychoeducational assessments and diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorders (impairments in reading; written expression; mathematics), Cognitive and Intellectual presentations, including Intellectual Disability and Giftedness, as well as neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). She enjoys working with primary school aged children, adolescents and their families with a range of client challenges. Some of the challenges include anxiety, depression, anger, bullying, phobias, adjustment difficulties, ADD/ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. During counselling sessions, Peita will draw on evidence based techniques most suited to the child. The therapeutic techniques Peita practices in are: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and play-based learning. She works collaboratively with parents to achieve best outcomes for the child and the family. Duanne Nadarajah

BAppSc(Psych), BSc(Psych)(Hons), MPsych(Couns)
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Duanne is a registered Psychologist with a Master of Psychology (Counselling) from Monash University. She has interests and experience in a broad range of areas including depression, anxiety, stress, relationships difficulties, grief, self-esteem, bullying and vocational counselling. Duanne is passionate about working with adolescents and young adults, which let her to study the effects of Facebook use on personal well-being for this age group. She has experience working with students at University Level experiencing various issues including academic pressures, cultural adjustment, social isolation and familial difficulties. She also has experience working at Monash IVF with individuals and couples undergoing fertility treatment. Duanne has 10+ years experience working in the rehabilitation field, empowering individuals with disabilities and mental health conditions to maximize their overall well-being and reach their potential. Duanne adopts a person-centered CBT approach to counselling but also utilises a variety of evidence-based approaches including mindfulness, motivational interviewing, strengths-based counselling and solution focused therapy with the focus on improving resilience, confidence and self-worth.