Mindstate Psychology

"As a victim of stalking I needed a psychologist with knowledge of this complex crime. Dr Lorraine Sheridan is globally recognised as a leading Forensic Psychologist who specialises in this field. Dr Sheridan has provided expert advice that only someone of her calibre could. Heartfelt gratitude."

"I started seeing one of the mindstate psychologists for complex ptsd from over a decade of childhood trauma, specifically to try emdr as I hadn't found talk therapy helpful. Initially we spent a couple of sessions discussing my history, then a couple more practising some mindfulness exercises to manage any difficult emotions brought up by the therapy. In hindsight, I can now see how woefully under-prepared I was for emdr, understanding conceptually how it worked but not how intense revisiting trauma blocked out for ten years would be, and how much I'd be re-traumatised. We stopped after a few sessions as I had found it a bit too much, spending the next few sessions talking generally, without providing me with any techniques to deal with the fallout of the emdr. I subsequently ended up in Perth Clinic, the first time I'd ever been to a mental health facility, as a result of the trauma caused by the emdr. When I eventually saw my therapist again, I advised the emdr had triggered a lot of memories and flashbacks I wasn't prepared for, landing me in PC. Her response, "oh no, that's no good". The lack of duty of care and general care for their patients is pretty alarming considering they're dealing with traumatised individuals. It's their job to get to know the patient, and understand their level of support / capacity to deal with these therapies and provide tools to suit. Having no support network, this therapist told me she would provide her personal number for if I was in a state of emergency (didn't happen), and knowing I had no support network, left me vulnerable by spending only a few sessions on some basic mindfulness techniques (which were dismally inadequate). The emdr was effective but we obviously didn't resolve the issues given I wasn't prepared to continue. I hope they take this on board for future clients, as this therapy can be dangerous for the individual if they're not adequately prepared to revisit painful trauma, particularly if it was recurring as mine was."

"Annette Paul needs to be careful in dealing with patients. Everyone’s trauma is different some are very bad so if doing trauma therapy it’s best to thoroughly go through what will be a safe place and make sure they have one that works for them first before even going through the therapy process, if not prepared it can be dangerous as you reliving trauma again. The therapy is like ripping a bandaid off so knowing what is safe before starting is different to knowing what will be safe after going through your emotions. My therapy ended up going bad and I was told lightly ‘just find a safe place’ it’s actually not easy. Also I thought she was a caring person that I can trust but I feel like I regret opening up to her because she doesn’t seem to be as caring as I thought if you have no money. It’s always good as a psychologist to check up on your patients, especially if you know their circumstances, but it’s been almost a month and hasn’t bothered to check up only ask if she got paid. So…i don’t trust anyone now. Oh and there needs to be more than one secretary, the lady at the desk seems like she’s having a hard time answering the calls because the place can get really busy."