Dr Johana Stefan - Paediatric Psychiatrist

Dr Johana Stefan - Paediatric Psychiatrist Paediatric and family psychiatry

Dr Johana Stefan is a dually trained paediatric psychiatrist

Dr Stefan has worked as a child psychiatrist in hospital and community settings in metropolitan and regional WA, including Princess Margaret Hospital, Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Complex Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Services in Joondalup and Murdoch. She was a Clinical Senior Lecturer with the University of Western Australia for many years and remains involved in teaching and mentoring of medical students, postgraduate teaching and examination of psychiatrists and pediatricians in training. Dr Stefan has special interest in school age children with complex presentations, taking a holistic approach to patient care. She values collaborative work with paediatricians, psychologists, schools and families to provide patients with the best possible service.

29/08/2025

Feeling stuck when your PDA child is melting down?
You’re not alone — and there is a way forward.

Join neurodivergent mom, wife, LCSW, and parent coach Lindsay Flanagan () for a practical, heart-centered webinar on supporting PDA kids through dysregulation.

Lindsay gets it — she’s parenting and married to PDAers, and she brings both lived experience and 20 years of professional expertise.

You’ll learn how to:
✨ Spot the signs of each “level” of dysregulation in your child
✨ Match strategies to the moment so you can actually help
✨ Build a toolkit that works in real-life, messy parenting situations

📅 Sept. 18th - 7pm CDT (this will be recorded and sent to all who register!)
📍 https://buff.ly/tQZWY1X

Let’s move from overwhelm to connection. 💛

12/08/2025
This is a good exercise and may help some of the little worriers, or those experiencing intrusive thoughts
02/08/2025

This is a good exercise and may help some of the little worriers, or those experiencing intrusive thoughts

31/07/2025

An autistic life is not an easy life. There is the potential for great stress and chronic exhaustion from trying to cope with social and sensory experiences, being misunderstood and criticised, high levels of anxiety and, for many reasons, not feeling in touch with or able to be the authentic self a...

14/07/2025
Happy school holidays!
14/07/2025

Happy school holidays!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FictNPXLE/
02/07/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FictNPXLE/

When it comes to making a big life decision, it can sometimes feel like your whole future happiness rides on making the "right" choice.

If this sounds familiar, you might have experienced "analysis paralysis".

The burden of choice is something Jemma Sbeg knows well.

She told Sarah Kanowski on ABC Conversations about how she found herself at a crossroads when her podcast, The Psychology of Your 20s, unexpectedly took off.

Jemma had to decide between her podcast and completing her master’s degree to become a clinical psychologist.

"I remember being like, ‘OK, you have to make a choice. You just can’t do both. The podcast is so much work. What are you going to do?'" she said.

As Jemma reassessed her career trajectory, it triggered a "quarter-life crisis".

"It's a big door to open to acknowledge 'I'm unhappy', and then, 'I have to do something about it,'" she said.

So, when we find ourselves at a crossroads, why do we get stuck in indecision?

In a nutshell, as we overthink each path, we fear the potential costs of making the "wrong" choice.

Thankfully, there are strategies to help overcome decision paralysis. Clinical psychologists Zena Burgess and Max Von Sabler suggest to:

⏰ Set yourself a deadline
👀 Reduce your situation to just two options
✍️ Write a list of pros and cons
❤️‍🔥 Explore the underlying emotions holding up your decision
🗣️ Talk with someone you trust for their perspective
🩺 See a psychologist to guide you through the decision

If you’re fearful of regret and still struggling to take that next step, Jemma offers this perspective:

"If you are doing **something**, there's no way that you are doing it wrong," she says.

"Movement will get you somewhere faster than staying still, even if it means you have to turn around and come back."

✍️ Story by Fiona Purcell

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Paediatric and family psychiatry

Dr Stefan has worked as a child psychiatrist in hospital and community settings in metropolitan and regional WA, including Princess Margaret Hospital, Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Complex Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Services in Joondalup and Murdoch. She was a Clinical Senior Lecturer with the University of Western Australia for many years and remains involved in teaching and mentoring of medical students, postgraduate teaching and examination of psychiatrists and pediatricians in training.

Dr Stefan has special interest in school age children with complex presentations, taking a holistic approach to patient care. She values collaborative work with paediatricians, psychologists, schools and families to provide patients with the best possible service.