About The Emotions Clinic Australia

 

 

The Emotions Clinic Australia was initially established by Dr Belinda Ratcliffe in 2012 (previously know as Interactive Feelings) as a clinical practice providing gold standard assessment, diagnosis and therapy in autism, intellectual disability and mental health.

 

Dr Ratcliffe expanded the The Emotions Clinic Australia’s clinical team in 2020 to meet the overwhelming demand for high quality clinical services in this space.

 

Dr Ratcliffe also expanded the Emotions Clinic Australia to include a dedicated professional development service to provide professional training and clinical supervision to practicing mental health professionals across Australia and internationally. Belinda aims to arm clinicians with the knowledge, skills and confidence to support individuals with autism, intellectual disability and/or co-occurring mental ill-health in their own service.

Our Team

Dr Belinda Ratcliffe

Dr Belinda Ratcliffe

Dr Belinda Ratcliffe (Phd, MPsych(Clin) BSc(Psych)(First Class Hons & University Medal) FAPS, MCCLP), Lead Author of the award winning Westmead Feelings Program 1 for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder is a highly qualified Principal Clinical Psychologist. Dr Ratcliffe was a Lecturer in Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychology at Western Sydney University from 2017-2020. She continues to conduct clinical research in Autism with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Dr Ratcliffe has a PHD in Autism Spectrum Disorder from the Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

 

Belinda is sought after by Government and Non-Government agencies in providing consultation and training for staff in Autism, Intellectual Disability and Mental Health.

 

Belinda is an AHPRA Board Approved Supervisor, and Senior Clinical Supervisor. Belinda provides Clinical Psychology Registrar supervision and supervision to practising allied health professionals across Australia.

 

Belinda leads a boutique practice in South-West Sydney (Padtsow) providing specialised assessment, diagnosis and therapy to children, adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Developmental Disability and mental health issues.

Read more

In addition to her private practice Belinda is a lecturer in Postgraduate Clinical Psychology (Child & Adolescent) and provides teaching, supervision and conducts research in Autism, Intellectual Disability and Mental Health. Belinda maintains strong links with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead where she worked for over a decade in the development, evaluation and dissemination of the award winning Westmead Feelings Program (formerly called Emotion-Based Social Skills Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability). Belinda has published her research in peer reviewed journals and regularly presents on developing emotion and social skills for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability at national and international conferences.

 

Belinda has received multiple awards and prizes in recognition for her work, including the 2018 People’s Choice Award in the Western Sydney University Research Impact Competition for her work in “Preventing Mental Health in Autism”. Belinda was previously awarded the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability (IASSID) MENCAP Early Career Research Scholarship in 2016. Belinda was also awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award and a University of Sydney Merit Award to undertake her PHD research, as well as a scholarship under the Mental Health Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme to undertake a Masters of Clinical Psychology at Charles Sturt University. Belinda completed her Bachelor of Science (Psychology) at the University of Sydney where she received First Class Honours and the prestigious University Medal.

(Selected) Publications

 

  • Gardner, A., Wong, M., & Ratcliffe, B. (2020). Social-Emotional Learning for Adolescents of the Autism Spectrum: High School Teachers Perspectives. Australasian Journal of Inclusive and Special Education. 1-16.
  • Burton, T., Ratcliffe, B., Collison, J., Dossetor, D., & Wong, M. (2020). Self-reported emotion regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder, without intellectual disability. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 76 1750-9467. Doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2020.101599
  • Ratcliffe, B., Wong, M., Dossetor, D., & Hayes, S. (2019). Improving Emotional Competence in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability in Schools: A Preliminary Treatment Versus Waitlist Study.Behaviour Change.
  • Wong, M., Lopes, A, Heriot, S., Brice, L., &, Carrol, L, Ratcliffe, B., Dossetor, D., (2018). The Westmead Feelings Program 2. Emotion-based Learning for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder without Intellectual Disability. Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Ratcliffe, B., Wong, M., Dossetor, D., Grahame, V., Brice, L., &, Carrol, L (2017). The Westmead Feelings Program 1. Emotion-based Learning for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability.Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Wong & Ratcliffe (2016). Social Skills For Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Raising Children Network
  • Ratcliffe, Belinda, Wong, Michelle, Dossetor, David, & Hayes, Susan. (2015). The Association Between Social Skills and Mental Health in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, With and Without Intellectual Disability. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2411-z. Available at link.springer.com
  • Ratcliffe, B., Wong, M., Dossetor, D., & Hayes, S. (2014). Teaching social–emotional skills to school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A treatment versus control trial in 41 mainstream schools. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 8(12), 1722-1733
  • Ratcliffe, B. (2011). Developing emotion-based social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. In D. Dossetor, D. White & L. Whatson (Eds.), Mental health of children and adolescents with intellectual disability: a framework for professional practice. Melbourne, Australia: IP Communications.
daniella_bio pic

Daniella Saleme

Daniella is a Clinical Psychology Registrar. She holds a Master of Clinical Psychology (with Distinction) and Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) (Honours) from Western Sydney University. She also obtained a Master of Brain and Mind Science (with Distinction, University of Sydney); and Bachelor of Arts (Psychology; Macquarie University). She is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society.

Read more

Daniella has a special interest in child and adolescent mental health. She has undertaken specialist training in these areas and in psychometric testing with Dr Belinda Ratcliffe.
Daniella brings warmth and empathy to the therapeutic space, and is committed to excellence in clinical psychology. She is passionate about taking a person-centred approach to evidence-based practice. This means Daniella utilises treatments that are supported by scientific evidence and will work collaboratively with you to tailor those treatments to your needs. Daniella prioritises a multidisciplinary approach to practice by liaising with other healthcare professionals that may be involved in your care.
Daniella has had extensive training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She works from a trauma-informed approach and has training in Internal Family Systems therapy, amongst other treatment approaches.
Daniella has experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families. She has worked with individuals across the lifespan in community, inpatient and forensic mental health settings, in both private and public health organisations.
Daniella is an accredited Westmead Feelings Program for Children with Autism & Mild Intellectual Disability facilitator, and an accredited Cool Kids program facilitator. Daniella delivers these programs at The Emotions Clinic in individual and group formats. 
In addition to her role at The Emotions Clinic, Daniella is a Clinical Psychologist at Prince of Wales Hospital, where she is collaborating on projects involved in screening for autism and mental health treatment in autism.
Daniella is passionate about working in research to inform clinical practice. She has published her research in peer reviewed journals and has co-authored a textbook in neuropsychology. Daniella is also a Sessional Academic at Western Sydney University, teaching units on neuropsychological disorders and counselling in Psychology Honours.

 

Publications

  • Saleme, D. M. (2020). The multifaceted nature of risk-taking in drug addiction. In A. A. Moustafa (Ed.), Cognitive, Clinical, and Neural Aspects of Drug addiction (41-60). Academic Press: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816979-7.00003-0
  • Saleme, D. M., Kluwe-Schiavon, B., Soliman, A., Misiak, B., Frydecka, D., & Moustafa, A. A. (2018). Factors underlying risk taking in heroin-dependent individuals: Feedback processing and environmental contingencies. Behavioural brain research, 350, 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.04.052
image0

Laura Dunne

Laura is a Clinical Psychology Registrar. She holds a Master of Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) (First Class Hons & University Medal) from Western Sydney University. She is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Read more

Laura has a special interest in autism and intellectual disability and has undertaken training and extensive individual supervision with Dr Belinda Ratcliffe in this area.

In addition to her role at the Emotions Clinic, Laura works in a specialised multidisciplinary intellectual disability and mental health team within NSW Health. In this role, she provides clinical assessment, consultation to other psychologists, and engages in research in intellectual disability and mental health. Indeed, Laura is passionate about research and has published several research articles in peer reviewed journals. Laura continues to collaborate with Western Sydney University, where she also teaches in psychology.

 

Previously, Laura has worked as a School Psychologist, based in a High School in South-West Sydney, and in a non-government disability service in Southern Sydney.  Laura takes a warm, empathetic and non-judgemental approach to working collaboratively with all patients.

 

Publications

 

Garrido, S., Cheers, D., Boydell, K., Nguyen, QV., Schuber, E., Dunne, L., & Meade, T. (2019). Young people’s response to six smartphone apps for anxiety and depression: focus group study. JMIR Mental Health.

 

Garrido, S., Stevens, C.J., Chang, E., Dunne, L., & Perz, J. (2019). Musical Features and Affective Responses to Personalised Playlists in People with Probable Dementia. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias.

 

Dunne, L., Perich, T., Meade, T. (2018). The relationship between social support and personal recovery in bipolar disorder. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.

 

Garrido, S., Stevens, C. J., Chang, E., Dunne, L., & Perz, J. (2018). Music and dementia: Individual differences in response to personalised playlists. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

Garrido, S., Dunne, L., Perz, J., Chang, E., & Stevens, C. J. (2018). The use of music in aged care facilities: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Health Psychology.

 

Garrido, S., Dunne, L., Chang, E., Perz, J., Stevens, C. J., & Haertsch, M. (2017). The Use of Music Playlists for People with Dementia: A Critical Synthesis. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

Novembre, G., Knoblich, G., Dunne, L., & Keller, P. E. (2017). Interpersonal synchrony enhanced through 20 Hz phase-coupled dual brain stimulation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

Talia_pic

Talia Burton

Talia is a Clinical Psychology Registrar who holds a Master of Clinical Psychology (with Distinction, Deans List) at Western Sydney University and a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at University of Wollongong. She is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Read more

Talia has a special interest in autism and intellectual disability, and enjoys working with children, adolescents and young adults. Talia has also conducted and published research under Dr Belinda Ratcliffe at Western Sydney University in the area of emotion regulation of children with autism. This research was presented at the Asia Pacific Autism Conference at Singapore in 2019.

In addition to her role at the Emotions Clinic, Talia is a Clinical Psychologist (registrar) at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Ward at Campbelltown Hospital/ (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at Liverpool Hospital). This role involves Talia working within a multidisciplinary team (such as psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, occupational therapists) to holistically support young people with complex mental health needs. Talia is trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), and has previous experience as a support person in the disability sector.

Talia is also an online facilitator for the Westmead Feelings Program (WFP): Facilitator Certification Course at the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) Institute, where she assists the learning of professionals to achieve certification in the WFP course.

Talia takes a warm, kind and empathic approach when working with all individuals within a collaborative framework.

 

Publications

  • Burton, T., Ratcliffe, B., Collison, J., Dossetor, D., & Wong, M. (2020). Self-reported emotion regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder, without intellectual disability. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 76 1750-9467. Doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2020.101599.

 

  • Camfield, D.A, Burton, T.K., De Blasio, F.M., Barry, R. J., & Croft, R.J. (2018). ERP components associated with an indirect emotional stop signal task in health and depressed participants. International Journal of Psychophysiology 124 12-25. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.12.008.

Dr Anne Devlin (Coming Soon!)

Dr Anne Devlin is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with significant experience in Public Mental Health. Anne has undertaken Clinical Research with Dr Belinda in screening and assessment for Autism in Psychosis and has presented her research in a variety of forums. Anne is an experienced Board Approved Supervisor. She is trained in the ADOS and ADI-R and has a special interest in diagnostic assessment of Autism in adults with co-occurring mental ill-health.

Read more

Stephen Kelly (Coming Soon!)

Stephen (Steve) is Clinical Psychology Registrar who holds a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Western Sydney University, as well as a Graduate Diploma and Honours degree in Psychology from The Australian College of Applied Psychology. He also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Sport Science and Exercise Physiology) from the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA) and the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Read more

Position Available!

Please get in touch to find out more! (Click here for more information)

Read more