Clients

Since 1981, Stephen has specialised in working both with survivors of human and natural violence and with people with moderate to severe cognitive, emotional and/or behavioural disturbance across the developmental continuum.

As a teenager Stephen began working as a volunteer with children with mental and physical disabilities. For over thirty years he has worked professionally with people of all ages with varying disabling difficulties. These have included children and adults with Autism, Selective Mutism, Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Learning Difficulties, severe anxiety and depression and many other difficulties.

Trauma clients have included children and adult victims and family members of victims, refugees, civilians, military, emergency services and government personnel and bystanders involved in violence, warfare, other political conflict, individual and mass homicides, sexual and other assaults, suicides, torture, religious cults, transport and industrial accidents and natural disasters.

From 1998 to 2003 Stephen worked in remote communities or the Northern Territory including with members of the Stolen Generation.

From 2003 to 2009 Stephen worked in Central and South East Asia and the Middle East with victims of conflict, child soldiers, freedom fighters, refugees, village communities and others with all mental health conditions. This included responsibility for the provision of services to one and a half million refugees in the Middle East.

After his return to Australia, Stephen worked in a specialist clinic for children and adults on the Autism Spectrum for three years, being referred some of the most complex and intractable cases by specialists, health services, government agencies and others.

Over his career Stephen has conducted over twenty thousand therapeutic consultations, as well as supervising trainees and practitioners, conducting training and public information sessions, managing mental health programmes and providing expert reports, around the world. In addition to his therapeutic work, Stephen provides reports for legal matters in the Family and other courts. He has been expressly commended by presiding judges in several recent matters.

Stephen is a Member of the College of Clinical Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society.