THE HEALTH CONTINUUM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Clinical Psychologist & Board Approved Supervisor - Director
• Endorsed Clinical Psychologist

Manal Darwish is an Endorsed Clinical Psychologist with over ten years of clinical experience within a range of mental health settings. She has held senior hospital management positions, leading a team of allied health professionals to deliver psychiatric and addiction services. Manal currently consults at The Health Continuum with people seeking to address a range of mental health difficulties, which may include; anxiety, depression, grief, issues of identity, and trauma. She supports clients to honour their personal strengths and resilience, by tapping into mind and body resources that can be tools for awareness, understanding, and re-connection. Manal is a trauma-informed therapist, drawing on the science of our brains and basic hardwiring (neurobiology and Attachment Theory) as a foundation for therapy. She engages clients in interventions that match their needs and preferences. These may involve; EMDR, sensorimotor psychotherapy strategies, Mindfulness, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Manal is also passionate about self reflective practice and self development for professionals, and as such is a Board-approved supervisor for psychologists, as well as other mental health professionals seeking to learn about themselves and their therapeutic craft.

Job Titles:

• Counselling Psychologist, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist & Board Approved Supervisor - Director

Susan Cavarra is an AHPRA Endorsed Counselling Psychologist with twenty years experience working within the private, psychiatric and drug and alcohol sectors. Susan has training in relationships and couples counselling and undertook a further four years training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy . She has held senior management positions in a private psychiatric hospital, Psychosocial Community Sector and also within the Dual Diagnosis Community Sector. Susan is an APS Board approved student supervisor providing supervision to both provisional psychologists and experienced clinicians. Susan predominantly works within a Psychodynamic, Trauma-Informed and Attachment Theory framework assisting clients to build insight and self-awareness, as a precondition for change. She views a client's presenting difficulties through the lens of their experiences growing up in their first family. Her work is strongly underpinned by the principles and practices of Mindfulness in order to support clients to build awareness and live more intentionally. Susan incorporates elements from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into her work. Susan is also trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR).