About
I came to psychology through philosophy.
It started with a long-standing interest in how we develop, and how culture, experience and the pressures of life shape us. I studied philosophy and psychology at Monash, then a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced), where my thesis looked at meditation, virtual nature, and how connected people feel to the natural world.
Now I'm in the second year of a Master of Psychology (Clinical) at the Institute for Social Neuroscience, on track for general registration in late 2026 and, after that, the clinical endorsement pathway. Placements have taken me from lifespan assessment at the ISN clinic, to adults with complex presentations at Mentis Assist, to young people at headspace Frankston and Rosebud.
In 2019 I set out to overcome a lifelong stutter through the McGuire Programme, which combines speech technique with a peer support community. I've stayed involved since and now coach there. The programme is peer and community work, not psychological treatment, and I keep the two roles separate. Living with a stutter has shaped my interest in anxiety and avoidance, and it's one of several areas of focus in my clinical work.
My clinical thinking leans on CBT and ACT, with a growing pull towards psychodynamic ideas. Contemplative practice has shaped not just how I think about attention and awareness, but how I use them in the therapy room.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy: training and policy work
Training and volunteer work, not a service I offer.
My interest is in how psychedelic-assisted therapy is introduced in Australia: safely, within the regulations, and on the strength of the evidence.
I'm in the second year of the Certificate of Psychedelic and Contemplative Therapies (CPACT) at the Anam Cara Centre for Psychedelics and Contemplative Therapies. It's a two-year training that covers psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, somatic and transpersonal approaches, and ethical practice.
I also volunteer with AMAPP, the Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners, on its credentialing and education committees and its events team. I helped redesign its membership and credentialing pathway, adopted in June 2026, and I review new research each week for its clinician and public education.
Note: CPACT is a training program. I am not an Authorised Prescriber and I do not provide psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Facts
At a glance
- Registration
- Provisional Psychologist, AHPRA registration PSY0002935778. Check the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) register
- Based in
- Melbourne, Victoria
- Training
- Master of Psychology (Clinical), Institute for Social Neuroscience, 2025 to now
- Placement
- headspace Frankston and Rosebud, since July 2026
- Clinical interests
- Anxiety, psychodynamic approaches, acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive and ADHD assessment, stuttering-related distress
- Seeing clients
- Not currently. Full general registration is expected in late 2026.
- Updated
Background
Clinical training, study, research and the volunteer work that led here.
Clinical placements
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Jul 2026 to now
Master of Psychology (Clinical) placement headspace Frankston and Rosebud (YSAS)
Brief, formulation-driven therapy with young people aged 12 to 25, using ACT and CBT within the Orygen brief interventions model.
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Feb to Jul 2026
Master of Psychology (Clinical) placement Mentis Assist
Adults with complex and longstanding difficulties in a community setting. Formulation, treatment planning, and care coordinated with case managers, GPs and multidisciplinary staff.
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Aug to Dec 2025
Master of Psychology (Clinical) placement ISN Psychology Clinic
Cognitive and diagnostic assessment across the lifespan, CBT-based intervention, and psychological report writing, including an assessment for an NDIS access request.
Education
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2025 to now
Master of Psychology (Clinical) Institute for Social Neuroscience (ISN Psychology)
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2025 to now
Certificate of Psychedelic and Contemplative Therapies (CPACT), in progress Anam Cara Centre for Psychedelics and Contemplative Therapies
A two-year training program. I am not an Authorised Prescriber and I do not provide psychedelic-assisted therapy.
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2023 to 2024
Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced), H1 Monash University
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2016 to 2021
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy and Psychology, minor in Bioethics Monash University
Research
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2026
Roy, A., Williams, M., & Alder, J.-L. Beyond titles: Competency-based workforce governance in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Manuscript submitted for publication.
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2024
Alder, J.-L., & Anderson, R. Meditation and virtual nature on nature connection and psychological restoration. Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced) thesis, Monash University.
Service and volunteering
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2024 to now
Coach The McGuire Programme
Involved since 2019. One-to-one telephone coaching for new students after each intensive, plus weekly online and monthly in-person support groups. Peer and community work, not psychological treatment.
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2024 to now
Volunteer, credentialing, education committee and events Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP)
Helped redesign the association's membership and credentialing pathway, adopted in 2026, and review new research each week for clinician and public education.
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Apr to Dec 2024
Volunteer researcher The Signs of Life Psychology
Contributed to the course manual for Australia's first RANZCP-endorsed psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy training, and to a public harm-reduction resource.
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Mar to Dec 2024
Helpline volunteer Griefline
Telephone support for people living with grief and loss.
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Mar 2022 to Jul 2023
Crisis supporter, text and online chat Lifeline Australia
Accredited crisis support training, including risk assessment and suicide de-escalation.
Memberships
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2026
Australian Psychological Society, student subscriber
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2026
Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP), member
Questions people ask
A few things people often ask.
- What does Provisional Psychologist mean?
- I'm registered with the Psychology Board of Australia while I complete the supervised training required for general registration. All of my clinical work is supervised by a Board-approved supervisor, and my registration, PSY0002935778, is on the AHPRA public register.
- Are you seeing clients yet?
- Not yet. I expect full general registration in late 2026.
- Do you provide psychedelic-assisted therapy?
- No. I'm completing CPACT at Anam Cara, which is a training program. I am not an Authorised Prescriber and I do not provide psychedelic-assisted therapy.
- Is the McGuire Programme a kind of therapy?
- No. It's a peer-led programme for people who stutter. My coaching there is peer and community work, not psychological treatment, and I keep it separate from my clinical work.
Bookshelf
Books that have shaped how I think about clinical work. Grouped by area. A ribbon marks the ones I'm reading now. Select a book to open it.
Psychodynamic and attachment
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Psychoanalytic DiagnosisThe book I go back to most for case formulation. It reads like an experienced colleague talking you through their cases.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Psychoanalytic PsychotherapyReading now
McWilliams on the practice of psychoanalytic therapy: the frame, the relationship and what actually happens in sessions.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Psychoanalytic Case FormulationReading now
How to build a psychodynamic formulation of the whole person, covering temperament, defences, relationships and self-esteem.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-3)Reading now
A diagnostic manual that describes personality and mental functioning as well as symptoms, as a complement to the DSM and ICD.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Psychodynamic TechniquesReading now
A practical book on working with emotion in the therapy relationship, including the clinician's own reactions.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
The Analyst's VulnerabilityOn how a clinician's own feelings and vulnerability show up in the therapy room, and how to use them well.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
The Efficacy of Psychodynamic PsychotherapyA single paper summarising the research evidence for psychodynamic therapy. Worth reading if you've heard it has no evidence behind it.
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Psychodynamic and attachment
Freud and BeyondThe clearest history I've found of how psychoanalytic ideas developed after Freud.
The craft of therapy
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The craft of therapy
Client-Centered TherapyRogers's foundational account of empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard in therapy.
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The craft of therapy
The Making of a TherapistCozolino on the personal side of becoming a clinician, written for people early in training.
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The craft of therapy
The Development of a TherapistA follow-up to The Making of a Therapist, on building clinical skill and self-awareness over a career.
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The craft of therapy
Therapeutic CommunicationReading now
How the exact words a clinician chooses can help or get in the way, with many worked examples.
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The craft of therapy
Existential PsychotherapyYalom's account of four ultimate concerns (death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness) and how they show up in therapy.
The craft of therapy
The Gift of TherapyShort chapters of practical advice from Yalom, written for clinicians early in their careers.
Stuttering
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Stuttering
A Handbook on StutteringThe standard reference text on stuttering research.
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Stuttering
Beyond StutteringThe book behind the McGuire Programme, written by its founder.
CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and BeyondMaster's text
The standard introduction to CBT, from case conceptualisation to session structure and core techniques.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
The Case Formulation Approach to Cognitive-Behavior TherapyMaster's text
How to build an individual case formulation and use it to guide CBT.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
ACT Made SimpleMaster's text
A clear, practical introduction to ACT for clinicians, with scripts and case examples.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
DBT Skills Training ManualReading now
Master's text
Linehan's manual for teaching the four DBT skills modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
DBT Made SimpleA practical introduction to using DBT skills in individual therapy.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
Schema TherapyReading now
The core text on schema therapy, covering early maladaptive schemas, modes and treatment.
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CBT, ACT, DBT and schema therapy
The Cambridge Guide to Schema TherapyMaster's text
A comprehensive, current guide to schema therapy, co-written by Australian clinicians.
Assessment and diagnosis
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Assessment and diagnosis
DSM-5-TRMaster's text
The standard diagnostic manual for mental disorders, in its 2022 text revision.
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Assessment and diagnosis
Handbook of Psychological AssessmentMaster's text
A core reference on psychological assessment: interviewing, choosing tests, interpreting results and writing reports.
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Assessment and diagnosis
Clinical InterviewingMaster's text
A practical guide to clinical interviewing, from building rapport to risk assessment and diagnosis.
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Assessment and diagnosis
Psychopathology: History, Diagnosis, and Empirical FoundationsMaster's text
Covers the history, diagnosis and research evidence for the major mental disorders.
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Assessment and diagnosis
Disorders of ChildhoodMaster's text
Child and adolescent psychopathology, seen through a developmental lens.
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Assessment and diagnosis
Neuroanatomy through Clinical CasesMaster's text
Teaches neuroanatomy through clinical cases, linking brain structures to the symptoms they cause.
Jung, meaning and philosophy
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Jung, meaning and philosophy
The Red BookJung's private record of his inner experiences from 1913 onwards, first published in 2009.
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Jung, meaning and philosophy
Man's Search for MeaningA short book that still shapes how I think about finding meaning when suffering can't be avoided.
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Jung, meaning and philosophy
Awakening from the Meaning CrisisA long lecture series on why so many people feel a loss of meaning. It has influenced how I think about some of what comes up in therapy.
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Jung, meaning and philosophy
The Courage to BeTillich on anxiety, and the courage to affirm life in the face of it.
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Jung, meaning and philosophy
The Archetypes and the Collective UnconsciousJung's essays on archetypes and the collective unconscious, central to his psychology.
Jung, meaning and philosophy
The Master and His EmissaryMcGilchrist's argument that the two brain hemispheres attend to the world differently, and what that means for culture.
Trauma, parts and the body
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Trauma, parts and the body
No Bad PartsAn accessible introduction to Internal Family Systems, which sees the mind as made up of parts around a core Self.
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Trauma, parts and the body
Waking the TigerLevine's early account of trauma as something held in the body, and the basis of Somatic Experiencing.
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Trauma, parts and the body
Trauma-Sensitive MindfulnessHow to teach and use mindfulness safely with people who have experienced trauma.
Clinical psychology and ethics
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Clinical psychology and ethics
The Handbook of Adult Clinical PsychologyMaster's text
An evidence-based guide to assessing and treating the main adult mental health difficulties.
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Clinical psychology and ethics
The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical PsychologyMaster's text
The child and adolescent counterpart, taking a family and contextual approach.
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Clinical psychology and ethics
Systems of PsychotherapyMaster's text
A comparative tour of the major systems of psychotherapy, from psychodynamic to integrative.
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Clinical psychology and ethics
The Elements of Ethical PracticeMaster's text
Applied ethics for psychologists, with a focus on the Australian context and professional codes.
Contemplative practice
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Contemplative practice
A Field Guide to Nature MeditationPractices for meditating outdoors and feeling more connected to the natural world. Close to the topic of my Monash thesis.
Contemplative practice
Radical AcceptanceBrach on meeting difficult feelings with mindfulness and self-compassion, drawing on Buddhist practice.
