Health in Mind

04/05/2026

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of Ruth Fordyce working at Health in Mind Orange! Congratulations Ruth!

Ruth brings a remarkable level of expertise and genuine passion to her work, consistently providing thoughtful and high-quality care to her clients. Her organisation skills and attention to detail are exceptional and widely admired across the team—including by our admin staff, who greatly value the clarity and precision she brings to everything she does.

Beyond her clinical work, Ruth adds so much to our team culture. Her warm relationships, great sense of humour, and those ever-enjoyable lunchtime chats make a real difference to the feel of our workplace. And of course, her uncanny ability to imitate international accents (along with her impressive movie-quoting skills) never fails to bring some lightness and laughter.

As a senior member of our team, Ruth is deeply committed to supporting the development of our early career psychologists through training and supervision. Her investment in others is both generous and impactful, and it strengthens our team as a whole.

Ruth - we thank you for the care, excellence, and personality you bring to Health in Mind Orange. You are a deeply valued member of our team!

Please join me in congratulating Ruth on this wonderful milestone!

04/05/2026

On 2nd May 2026, Elissa Hiller celebrated her 10 year anniversary of working at Health in Mind Orange. Over the past decade, we have observed Elissa to grow into an exceptional psychologist, consistently providing thoughtful, high-quality care to her clients with both expertise and compassion. She has played a key role in shaping and strengthening neurodiversity-affirming practice within our clinic, while also elevating our collective reputation through her thorough and professional cognitive assessment reports.

Elissa brings creativity into her clinical work, thoughtfully integrating AI and other tools to better support her clients in meaningful and practical ways, and sharing this knowledge with out team.. Alongside this, she offers a quiet but steady leadership within the team as one of our senior clinicians—someone others naturally look to for guidance, insight, and example.

We are all very grateful for Elissa in our practice, and look forward to many more years working together!

Please join me in congratulating Elissa on this significant milestone and thanking her for the care, wisdom, and dedication she brings to Health in Mind Orange!

02/04/2026

Our Director, Dr Belinda Harris has been appointed to the Board of Directors for the EMDR Association of Australia.

This organisation strongly reflects Belinda's core values—promoting high-quality EMDR therapy, equipping clinicians with effective, evidence-based tools, and advocating for greater public understanding of trauma-informed care.

EMDRAA plays a vital role in supporting its members, advancing research, and increasing awareness of EMDR as a powerful therapeutic approach. EMDR therapy has the capacity to meaningfully address a wide range of mental health presentations, offering hope and tangible outcomes for many individuals.

We are very proud of Belinda and her contribution to the continued growth, integrity, and impact of this important work. Well done!

Board Update | Welcoming New Directors & Thanking Outgoing Members

We’re pleased to welcome three new Directors to the EMDRAA Board: Dr Belinda Harris, Dr Sarah Schubert, and Max von Sabler.

Each brings a wealth of experience across clinical practice, leadership, research, and education, along with a strong commitment to supporting practitioners and advancing the EMDR field. We look forward to the expertise and perspectives they will contribute.

We also extend our sincere thanks to Dr Karen Klockner and Andrew Cameron, who are stepping down from the Board.

Karen has been a valued contributor since October 2022, bringing a strong member voice and expertise in risk management to Board discussions.

Andrew, who joined as an Independent Director in September 2023, has provided important legal insight across commercial, contractual, and governance matters.

We thank them both for their time, care, and contribution to EMDRAA, and wish them all the very best.

Please join us in welcoming our new Directors and acknowledging Karen and Andrew for their valued service.

27/03/2026

Today, our Director, Dr Belinda Harris, had the privilege of supporting the APS EMDR Special Interest Group in hosting the outstanding Thomas Zimmerman, who delivered a powerful training on EMDR in the treatment of complex trauma.

We’re looking forward to one more day together tomorrow, focusing on the Flash Technique.

Thomas has been exceptional—generous in sharing practical, effective strategies for working with complex trauma, dissociation, and attachment-related presentations. It was inspiring to see nearly 200 participants come together to learn, connect, and deepen their clinical skills.

Despite a mass electrical and internet outage, the group showed incredible patience and professionalism, and the day continued with great energy. We were also fortunate to enjoy stunning views around Tweed Heads and beautiful weather, which added to an already memorable experience.

A huge thank you to the dedicated committee members who helped bring this event to life—your teamwork and commitment made it all possible. And thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to such a meaningful day of learning. A particularly thank you to Sandra Douglas, Rachael Ambler, Suzanne Startseff, Melanie Cormack, and Elaine Bennet - you guys are wonderful to work with!

20/03/2026

Australia – Don’t Miss This!
One of the world’s most sought-after therapy trainers is coming back! Health in Mind Orange is bringing Robin Shapiro to Sydney and Perth for a 3-day, hands-on clinical training you won’t want to miss.

✨ What You’ll Learn
Easy Ego State Interventions:
✔ Work effectively with parts, protectors, and internal conflict
✔ Support stabilisation in trauma and dissociation
✔ Use simple, powerful language that clients can connect with
✔ Integrate ego state work into any therapy approach

Mixed Bag EMDR- Advanced applications:
✔ Working with shame, OCD and anxiety disorders
✔ Use imaginal nurturing and attachment-based interventions
✔ Resourcing with current safety and the therapist relationship
✔ Combine EMDR with other modalities for deeper impact

💥 Why This Training?
- Live demonstrations
- Hands-on practicum (not just theory)
- Real clinical strategies you can use immediately
- Taught by a globally respected expert

Robin Shapiro is known for making complex trauma work practical, accessible, and deeply effective.

These workshops will fill fast — and may not return to Australia soon!
- Secure your spot now
- Register today before places are gone

For more information and booking:
https://himorange.com.au/upcoming-workshops

19/03/2026

We are looking to fill multiple positions for a Provisional psychologist, Registered Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist.

Health in Mind Orange is an award winning Employer of Choice*
and simply an amazing place to work. We have a beautiful team of staff who care for each other and our clients, and strive for clinical excellence and integrity. We value the professional development and supervision of our team, and promote a strong, sustainable and safe working environment.

For more information or to apply - see our Seek advert or contact our team to discuss further.
https://www.seek.com.au/job/91034270

*NSW Business State awards finalist (2025) and Winner of Orange Business Awards (2024, 2025) and Western Region Business Awards in Employer of Choice(2025).

08/03/2026

AAPi's concerns about a recent Medicare change forcing patients to see a GP face to face to access treatment via telehealth featured in an ABC article this week.

Medicare now requires patients to see a GP in person at least once in the previous 12 months in order to access telehealth mental health care.

Victorian member Olivia Clayton said the rule disproportionately affected rural patients, who often faced six-to-eight-week waits, travel long distances, and had privacy concerns in small towns.

AAPi Executive Director Tegan Carrison said she was "deeply concerned" about what the rule change meant for regional communities.

"Access to things like telehealth for referrals from GPs is absolutely an essential part of meeting community health needs," she said.

Read the article: https://ow.ly/6wck50YmOj4

08/03/2026

Several clinicians from Health in Mind spent the last three days completing advanced consultation in the art of EMDR- with the incredible internationally renowned EMDR trainers- Roger Solomon and Vesna Bogdanovic. An absolute privilege to learn from these EMDR masters, and our Team have come away enthused and better equipped to support the precious people we work with. What a joy!

10/02/2026

Please support psychologists in training to be able to access vital funding opportunities whilst studying and learning!

The APS supports Allied Health Professions Australia in calling for the expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment to include all allied health students.

A petition launched today by Independent MP Dr Helen Haines and Senator David Pocock, alongside Allied Health Professions Australia, calls for equitable placement support across health disciplines.

Allied health students – including psychology students – complete extensive mandatory unpaid placements, often at significant personal cost. Expanding placement support will reduce placement poverty, provide equitable access to placement support, and contribute to the diversity of Australian psychologists entering the workforce.

Equitable access to placement support must be a national priority.

If you want to help end placement poverty for allied health and medicine students, sign the petition below. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/expand-prac-payments-to-allied-health-and-medical-students?source=direct_link&

05/02/2026

🌱 Proud moment for Health in Mind 🌱

We’re excited to celebrate our involvement in CoreConnect, an innovative, collaborative training program supporting provisional psychologists in regional NSW — and the publication of its evaluation in the Australian Journal of Rural Health.

The research highlights how the model of shared training of provisional psychologists between joint organisations in the CoreConnect program- supports provisional psychologists to grow in confidence and competence, feel less isolated, build strong professional networks, and prepare for the National Psychology Exam — while also helping rural services attract, train and retain their workforce. A true win for regional mental health 💚

A special shout-out to the research team Nicole Sudmalis, Matt Thomas, and Zora Todoroska (Marathon Health) and the team at Whole Child Specialists, whose work showcases the power of collaboration in strengthening the rural psychology workforce. We are especially proud of Nicole Sudmalis, one of our own Health in Mind team members, for her leadership and contribution to this important research 👏

This work reinforces what we value deeply at Health in Mind: investing in people, learning together, and building sustainable pathways for psychologists to thrive in regional communities.

📖 Evaluation of CoreConnect: A Collaborative Professional Training Programme for Provisional Psychologists in Regional NSW

06/01/2026

What a great initiative! Attention all business owners!