Keren Geddes

Senior Clinical Psychologist

An experienced and engaging new member (2022) of the Aresolution team. Keren Geddes is a Senior Clinical Psychologist who brings with her a wealth of passion and experience with infants, young mothers, children, parents and families.

Keren has a warm, consistent and sensitive approach in her application of psychotherapy with children, adolescents, couples and families. She is able to work with those struggling with minor concerns or those with more complex emotional, psychological/social and behavioural difficulties.

Keren has over 20 years of experience within the government and private sector and her clinical experience and knowledge has been an invaluable asset to the numerous volunteer roles and community projects she has participated in.

Some highlights include:

  • Lifeline WA volunteer counsellor
  • Health Volunteers Overseas: Clinical Psychologist, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, Thimpu, Bhutan
  • Member of the Child and Adolescent Family Therapy Team
  • Chair of the Peel/Rockingham district Child Attachment Steering Committee
  • Family Therapist – Sai Organisation of Family Therapy.
  • Clinical supervision with Aldo Gurgone (William Street Family Therapy Centre)
  • Member and occasional Chair of the Children of Parents with a Mental Illness interest group

Infant Mental Health and Perinatal Health

 Keren has extensive training in infant mental health including attachment, psychoanalytic and Circle of Security models of care.

Keren works with expectant mothers and parents during the pre and postnatal period (up until three years after birth) to help them connect to their beliefs and values, reach their potential and enhance their emotional wellbeing during a time of big adjustments. Keren can assist with anxiety, stress, grief, loss, trauma, relationship difficulties and parenting support.

Family Therapy and Relationship Counselling 

Keren has extensive experience working with families, couples and significant others through two years of training at the William Street Family Therapy Centre. Keren is able to assess and bring in to awareness, interaction patterns between family members and couples experiencing marital, sibling and family discord/breakdown and separation. Positive and lasting change in family and couple dynamics is achieved by supporting families and couples to recognise the underlying differences in beliefs, behaviours and communication styles that result in repetitive solutions that may have become ineffective over time and contribute to a sense of frustration and stuckness. The changes that can occur through improved understanding of those important to you are heartwarming.

Family and relationship counselling usually occurs on a weekly/fortnightly or monthly basis and enables people to reflect on ideas and apply solutions over a period of time in a safe and containing environment.The number of sessions is dependent on the presenting concerns and their complexities and can range between 10 to 20 appointments per year.

Trauma/Significant Stress

The experience of trauma or significant stressful events on children, adolescents and adults can be devastating on one’s ability to cope with daily life.  There may be a chronic sense of helplessness, panic or anxiety that persists despite your efforts to manage the symptoms.  These experiences can be linked via the neural network of images, thoughts, and emotions associated with single or multiple trauma’s and can be triggered when experiencing similar situations or events.  EMDR together with mindful CBT and ACT techniques provide a highly recommended evidence-based treatment for the resolution of these experiences.  Trained in EMDR Keren can work with you to map and process the interplay of emotion, core beliefs or thoughts and triggering events/experiences whilst supporting you to apply effective coping and management skills for distress.

Children aged 2 to 10

For children within the 2 to 10 age range Keren incorporates art and the creative therapies with the 8 principles of Child Centred Play Therapy, an evidence based treatment and the philosophy that every child has an innate ability to express their innermost feelings, thoughts and challenges; to learn to modulate their feelings and behaviours; develop a positive sense of self; problem solve solutions and improve resilience in even the most challenging of situations. The number of sessions is dependent on the nature and severity of the presenting problem/s ranging from 6 weekly consultations to weekly sessions over a period of up to 2 years.

Adolescents and DBT

As part of her Doctor of Philosophy dissertation Keren developed, co-ordinated and evaluated a Dialectal Behaviour therapy treatment program for adolescents presenting with self-harm and suicidal behaviours within child and adolescent mental health clinics. As one of the founders of establishing DBT for teens and their parents in Western Australia, Keren has significant experience in helping adolescents to learn how to regulate their emotions, thoughts and behaviours and parents to manage their own distress in difficult situations.

Formal Psychology Qualifications

  • Member of the Institute of Clinical Psychologists
  • Registered Psychologist AHPRA including full registration as a Clinical Supervisor
  • Member Australian Association of Infant Mental Health
  • MAppPsych (Clin) (Murdoch University)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Murdoch University)
  • BA (Psych), First Class Hons. (Murdoch University)

Additional Professional Training Highlights

  • Diploma Clinical Hypnosis – George W. Burns
  • EMDR Training – Health Department – Christopher Lee
  • Infant Observation programme, run under the auspices of the Australian Association for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Western Australia (APPWA): one-year observation of infant within family setting under weekly supervision.
  • Circle of Security 10 day workshop – Bert Powell
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy for paediatric post-traumatic stress disorder (2 days), Sean Perrin, Barcelona Spain.
  • Counselling the Bereaved – workshop, Lifeline LivingWorks.

Keren is passionate about working with clientswith these concerns!

Trauma and PTSD Family therapy
Stress, panic and anxiety Relationship and couples counselling
Depression Parenting infants, children and adolescents
Grief and loss Family separation
Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment reports for Motor Vehicle Accident Claims (ICWA)
Anger Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA)
Sleep disorders Postnatal depression/anxiety
Perinatal loss and birth trauma Separation anxiety/school refusal