Meet Kirsten Chalmers

Kirsten is the founder and principal psychologist at myturn2talk Psychological Services, which has been operating since 2010. She completed her Masters degree at the University of Melbourne (2009) and is endorsed by the Australian Health and Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) as a specialist in the area of Educational and Developmental Psychology and is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Prior to this, Kirsten worked for 10 years in Human Resources for large corporates such as Deloitte and Accenture.  Her area of interest included recruitment, training and development, management and marketing.

In her clinic work Kirsten has worked with children and adolescents but now focuses exclusively on adults with the anxiety, depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), panic disorder and woman wanting to take a break from alcohol. (for more information on this refer to the GET CURIOUS tab).

​She draws on the following therapeutic approaches in her work with clients:

• Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) which focuses on thoughts, feelings and actions,
• Personalised integrative (PI) therapy focuses on the influence diet, exercise, sleep and social connection have on mental health,
• Motivational therapy (MT) to find the means and motivation to change,
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and
• Mindfulness.

The paperwork
Memberships, Qualifications & Recent Training

• Registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
• AHPRA endorsed Educational & Developmental Psychologist
• AHPRA registered Primary & Secondary Supervisor
• Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS)
• Fellow of the College of Educational and Developmental Psychology (FCEDP)
• Master of Educational & Developmental Psychology (University of Melbourne)
• Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT Australia)
• ADDICTIONS & COMPLEX MENTAL HEALTH : Healing the whole family with a Systems approach to supporting impacted individuals & families
• Substance use during the COVID- 19 pandemic: Screening and intervening​

Special Interest

Kirsten has always been interested in coping.  The psychological coping mechanisms, commonly termed coping strategies or coping skills, we employ and how we use various helpful and unhelpful coping strategies across the lifespan.
​
From her early research into children's coping in which she co-published a journal article in Children Australia (vol 36 No 3) about “An Exploration into the Coping Strategies of Preschoolers: Implications for Practice" to more recent interest in woman's coping and specifically the use of alcohol as a coping method for dealing with the many roles woman currently hold including mother, career woman and partner.

CONTACT KIRSTEN